Surprising Benefits of Cashew Nuts: Your Friend For Good Health.

Among all kinds of nuts cashew nut is very popular one. Everyone is now aware of the benefits of cashew nuts. It is very good and convenient snacks in between large meals of the day. It has a creamy and crunchy taste that makes it popular among a great population.

Cashews are low in Omega-3 fatty acids, but rich in omega-9 fatty acids. They are a good source of protein, iron, magnesium and other minerals. Cashews are lower in fat than many other nuts and somewhat higher in carbohydrates. The omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acid ratio in cashew is 0.11. The recommended ratio is below 10 by World Health Organization (WHO).

It has higher amounts of selenium and vitamin E. These are anti-oxidants by nature. They reduce the free radical oxidation process. So that they can act as strong anti-cancerous agents.

Cashew has rich amount of iron and zinc. It has protein also. Those who are vegan, they can incorporate cashew as a source of protein in their diet. Its calcium and magnesium content increases the cognitive capacity as well as increases blood HDL and decreases LDL level. But in case of reducing weight and diabetes control, cashew has no significant function.

One serving (28 gm) of cashew can give:

• Energy: 157 Cal
• Fat: 12.4 gm
• Protein: 5.2 gm
• Carbohydrate: 9 gm
• Fiber: 1 gm
• Calcium: 10.5 mg
• Iron: 2 mg
• Phosphorus: 168 mg
• Potassium: 187 mg
• Magnesium: 82.8 mg
• Zinc: 1.64 mg
• Selenium: 5.64 µgm
• Vitamin C: 0.142 mg
• Vitamin K (Phylloquinone): 9.67 µgm

Cashews are also good sources of thiamin (vitamin B1), niacin (vitamin B3) folate (vitamin B9), riboflavin (vitamin B2), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxin (vitamin B6), vitamin E.

Their very unique property is they contain several monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).

But they are not any good source of vitamin A and D. Cashews are rich in certain nutrients so benefits of cashew nuts are very wide in our body.

Benefits of Cashew Nuts On Our Health

Nuts and seeds are very beneficial to our health. Among them cashew nuts are unique one. There are lots of research have been done to know the possible merits and demerits of cashew nuts. Let’s dive into them.

Cardiovascular Health And Diabetes Management

Cardiovascular diseases are health burden for any country. So, it is a high priority to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Hyperlipidemia and high blood pressure are two main contributors for cardiovascular diseases. They can be easily prevented by lifestyle and dietary modifications. Among these modifications benefits of cashew nuts can pose highly helpful to prevent these diseases.

Taking regular cashew nuts help to prevent cardiovascular diseases. A meta-analysis was done with 246 participants. They were given with same number of calories with and without cashew nuts to test group and placebo group. It is showed that cashew nut consumption helps to reduce total tri-glyceride (TG) level. It also helps to improve systolic to diastolic blood pressure.

Diabetic patients are highly prone to develop cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies have confirmed that cashews can improve LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio in type 2 diabetic patients. It is proved that cashews can affect the lipid profile of a diabetic patient.

Theses nuts are helpful to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes by reducing insulin resistance level.

Studies have showed the reduction of insulin resistance test (HOMA-IR) with the daily consumption of cashews.

This state of the body leads to various diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome, sleep apnea, fatty liver etc. people who have insulin resistance, can have benefits of cashew nuts by incorporating them within their daily calorie need.   

Cashews have good amount of fiber and polyphenols. They can significantly improve our gut microbiome level. Better gut can help to reduce the chances of gut related diseases.

This is a good way to prevent and treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. They influence our proper glucose management of our body.

Reducing Oxidative Stress and Inflammation

Cashews give a good amount of magnesium and arginine. These components of cashews help to reduce the oxidative stress inside our body.

They also reduce the inflammation level of our body. Inflammation

We have lots of blood vessels those carry our blood through out the body carrying nutrients. These blood vessel cells need to be healthier for a good blood and nutrient flow. These endothelial vessels dysfunction tend to develop cardiovascular diseases. Benefits of cashew nuts include anti- oxidant properties which help to maintain these blood vessels healthy.

Benefits Of Cashew Nuts For Cognitive Health

As we age, our immediate and delayed memory, attention, processing speed, visual -spatial ability, executive ability reduces slowly.

Studies have proved that regular consumption of nuts has a protective effect on memory reduction.

Dementia is a leading burden worldwide.  MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neuro-degenerative Delay) diet is established to reduce the burden of dementia. This diet contains a good amount of nuts along with green leafy vegetables and berries. This combination is proved to reduce the cognitive decline with age.

The unique nutritional composition of cashew nuts can help to reduce the incidence of dementia. Benefits of cashew nuts also extends to improve our memory and allover cognitive health.

Cancer Prevention

Oxidative stress poses high risk for cancer creating inside the body. Several studies have shown us that daily consumption of 28g cashews can reduce 11% of death from cancer. Benefits of cashew nuts also extends to the reduction of death from cancer.

It is reported that cashew consumption is associated with reducing the risk of developing several cancers. These cancers include endometrial, colon, pancreatic, gastric and lung cancer. Nuts incorporate their defense mechanism to reduce these cancers.

Better Control Over Satiety

Cashew nuts have a creamy texture and crunchy feeling in the mouth. Removing high carbohydrate snacks with cashews can help to reduce calorie intake . And thus can give a high satiety with low calorie intake. High calorie intake is associated with developing metabolic diseases. Hence benefits of cashew nuts help to have a high satiety level from healthy food intake. 

Cashew nuts are calorie dense nuts. But it does not stimulate weight gain. Hence taking cashews counting ones’ own calorie need may help to control weight and don’t increase weight.

Final Thoughts

Benefits of cashew nuts are a huge in our healthy living. Their MUFA, PUFA, proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibers and all other bioactive compounds with anti-oxidative properties make them unique tree nuts for our health.

With giving satiety they also increase the quality of any food. Every one should have some cashew nuts in their daily food intake.

Sabeka Rahman

B.Sc, M.Sc (Food And Nutrition) (DU)

Clinical Dietitian and Nutritionist.

Lubana General Hospital & Cardiac Center.

Dhaka, Bangladesh.