Cashew Nuts

The delicate flavour of cashew nuts makes it a popular snack and a culinary delight. But the value of cashews exceeds far beyond its great taste. Cashews are nutritiously dense with a variety of essential fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals which can bring you a number of health benefits. Including cashews as a part of your healthy diet can enhance your body’s function and performance and reduce your risks for debilitating diseases. Eating a handful every day can cut your risk of heart disease.

Nutrition and benefit
The cashew nut is a popular snack and food source. Cashews, unlike other oily tree nuts, contain starch to about 10% of their weight. This makes them more effective than other nuts in thickening water-based dishes such as soups, meat stews.

The fats and oils in cashew nuts are 54% monounsaturated fat (18:1), 18% polyunsaturated fat (18:2), and 16% saturated fat (9% palmitic acid (16:0) and 7% stearic acid. Cashews, as with other tree nuts, are a good source of antioxidants. Alkyl phenols, in particular, are abundant in cashews. Cashews are also a good source of dietary trace minerals copper, iron and zinc.