9 Awesome Things About Cashews That Will Improve Your Life Today!
9 Awesome Things About Cashews That Will Improve Your Life Today!
I think you’ll agree with me when I say:
There are 154.7 million Americans that are obese and sick right now. If you listen to many weight loss “experts” you probably think nuts like cashews and other tree nuts are fattening and should be avoided.
Here’s the deal:
While most all nuts are completely healthy to eat, I want to talk about cashews today so you can learn all of the awesome ways that cashews will make your life better.
You do not need to avoid nuts and in this post I am going to tell you the 9 things about cashews that will improve your life.
Want to know the best part?
After reading this post you will be able to eat tasty cashews guilt-free.
Unless you are allergic to them…
Health Benefits: When cashews are not being salted to death their nutritional value isn’t being destroyed by the roasting process, cashews are very healthy and so delicious to eat. When so-called experts talk about eating many types of nuts, the first thing they always say is that you should avoid nuts because of their fat content.
This is nonsense, but in the case of the cashew it doesn’t matter anyway, because 82% of the fat content in a cashew is unsaturated, healthy fat that your body needs. In other words, the dreaded fat that you will find in a cashew is a completely healthy fat, and there is no reason to fear it.
Some other health benefits of cashews:
Cashews have copper: Copper plays a lot of important roles in our body, and lucky for you, cashews are rich with it. When you get copper from your diet, it interacts with the iron in your body to create new red blood cells. Copper also helps your cells produce energy and it is also required to produce collagen, which keeps your bodily tissues healthy and strong.
Cashews have magnesium: Magnesium is necessary in your body to build strong bones that are healthy and ready to take on the world. You may already know that when your body becomes low in magnesium, you can start to have a variety of health issues such as muscle spasms, migraine headaches, fatigue and even higher blood pressure, as magnesium is a natural calcium channel blocker, something that many thousands of Americans take by prescription daily to combat their blood pressure.
Cashews help prevent gallstones: Gallstones are hard masses typically found in the gallbladder or the bile duct, and can be caused from cholesterol in the bile that is not broken down properly due to its fatty nature. Studies have also shown that eating nuts such as cashews were helpful in preventing gallstones in women.
Cashews Help Prevent Weight Gain: I will say it again – do not listen to experts who say you should avoid nuts because they are fattening. But don’t take my word for it, because there are studies to back this up! 8865 people were studied for a period of 28 months and their dietary and exercise habits were studied. It was found that people who ate nuts 2 or more times a week had a much lower risk of weight gain than people who do not eat nuts at the same frequency.
What this means is simple. If you are avoiding eating nuts such as cashews, almonds, walnuts and other types of nuts for fear that you are going to gain weight, there is nothing to worry about. Of course this doesn’t mean you should eat roasted and salted nuts as part of your everyday diet, because that process leaves the cashew less beneficial to your health than the raw (pasteurized) unsalted variety.
Cashews help prevent cancer: The British Journal of Cancer looked at the relationship between various types of nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios, pecans and pine nuts) and pancreatic cancer in 75,680 women with no previous history of cancer. And once again, women who ate 2 or more servings of nuts per week saw a significant reduction in cancer rates.
Cashews Taste Awesome: Who cares how healthy cashews are if you don’t know what to do with them though, right? There are a lot of insanely good things you can do with cashews besides simply eating them in their nut form.
If you don’t believe me, I have added 2 of my favorite recipes here using cashews in some form. These are completely healthy, using all natural ingredients (except maybe the liquid smoke) and they are delicious.
If you have never heard of cashew cheese before and have had an awful shake with almond milk, you must try these! The cashew cheese I originally found at the store, but for some reason I couldn’t get it anymore, so I found a way to make it myself. I use this cheese for dipping so I don’t need it to be thick. I have included the ingredient you need to make it less soft if that is how you want to make it.
The shake is the most delicious thing you’ve ever tried, I guarantee it! Although cashews are not the main ingredient, the sweetness they add to this shake can not be underestimated. The few times I’ve made the shake without them because I ran out left me wondering why the shake wasn’t as good as normal, so they are important.
Cashew Cheese:
1/2 cup cashew butter
1/2 cup chick pea miso
1 tsp red pepper flakes (if desired not necessary)
1/2 tsp Liquid smoke
3/4 cup almond milk
1 pinch salt
1 smidgeon of pepper
1 pinch of garlic powder
1 pinch of onion powder
1/3 cup naturalized yeast
1/2 cup Agar Flakes (If you want it cheese-consistency ONLY)
Directions:
Throw it all together in a blender and blend. If it comes out too thick add a little bit more almond milk and it will be a little more liquid. I eat this cheese with chips, so I want it to be more liquid instead of like a brick of actual cheese.
Almond-Cashew Milk Shake: (Makes 1)
1/2 cup ice
1 frozen banana
1/2 almond milk
1 tbsp cacao powder (Optional but awesome!)
1/2 cup carrot juice
3 pitted dates
1 small handful of cashews
Directions:
Make sure the banana is frozen or it’s just not the same. Also, cut the banana in quarters so that in its frozen form it will blend up a bit more easily. Without frozen banana, you are going to end up with shake-soup!
The carrot juice comes from juicing actual carrots. But more and more I am seeing pre-made carrot juice (no added ingredients) in health food stores, so you should not have much trouble finding it. The cacao powder is optional. Without it this shake is awesome, but with the cacao it is on another level. You can also add frozen blueberries to spice it up too, just use your imagination and enjoy!
There you have it. There are tons of benefits of eating cashews, and now you know a few more. Cashews and other nuts are so healthy for your body its a shame to not eat them. Just remember to avoid salted and roasted nuts for maximum benefits to your health.
Oh, and don’t forget to ignore anyone who tells you these awesome foods are fattening!