Have I Got Cashews For You

 Have I Got Cashews For You:

Newsflash - nuts are the original energy snack, and versatile to boot

Nuts are natures little helpers – they pack a lot of goodness into their diminutive frame. Packed with protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals and essential fats, they are up there with the best pound for pound food sources; the protein equivalent of Floyd Mayweather Jr, except they have great taste. With so many different nuts out there, here’s a quick guide to who’s who in the nut scene.

Cashews – the curly nut

Higher in protein than other nuts, these also contain good amounts of minerals, including iron and zinc. Cashews are also great for vegetarians as they’re rich in magnesium, plus they can be made into a butter which is unbelievably good. If you want to make some yourself just roast the cashews first to release the natural oils then blitz with olive oil.

Almonds – the hard nut

Don’t let the description fool you; I would be happy to encounter this kind of hard nut in the pub. Almonds are a great source of calcium, handy for any lactose intolerant folk who can’t get it from the usual dairy source. They’re also high in Vitamin E which is good for your complexion; where possible try and buy whole almonds, as the skin contains the heart protecting compound flavonoid.

Pistachios – the fiddly nut

Tackling these nuts takes you right back to the ascent of man; you’ll need those opposable thumbs for cracking open the shells. Once you get in you’ll find a great tasting but that’s high potassium and fibre. Pistachios are also rich in vitamin B-6 which regulates the hormone balance in our bodies.

Walnuts – the weird nut

These are rich in omega-3 which makes it a great substitute for oily fish if you don’t eat much of them (you should, they’re great). I say they’re the weird ones as they almost look as if they have veins, which does conjure up odd imagery of a nut circularity system. They are oilier than other nuts, but that screams natural food to me. The oil is actually the source of heart friendly fats, and studies have shown that they can help lower cholesterol.

Peanuts – the wee nut

The humble peanut is probably the most ubiquitous in the UK – look beyond those covered in chocolate and a crisp shell, however, and you’ll find a great all-rounder that’s good in sweet and savoury dishes as well as on their own. Peanuts are a great source of Vitamin E as well as containing many important B-complex vitamin groups such as riboflavin, thiamine, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6 and folates. Natural peanut butter can be a godsend for getting nut goodness into meals. Stick it in your morning porridge, for example, and you’ll have that slow release energy to help you get through the day. Buying decent peanut butter in bulk is a good idea cost wise, and you’ll only need a half tablespoon-sized portion as a rule of thumb which will keep you right.    

Hazelnuts – the posh nut

Not just for chocolate bars and praline – these tasty nuggets are a source of folate which acts as a kind of regulator for keeping homocysteine within normal levels.

One word of caution throughout all this nut love, however – as with everything life, nuts should be eaten in moderation. As a rule of thumb, limit your daily intake to 20 – they can be eaten either as a snack or alongside your meal to make up a balanced plate of food. A good example would be seasoned chicken or turkey breast (protein), Sweet potato mash (carb), broccoli (carb, plus essential vitamin) and 10 almonds (good fat). A plate like this will tick all the boxes in terms of hitting your daily macro nutrients quota.

These are just a small selection of the wider nut pantheon that’s out there – what one wins out if we imagine some kind of nut-off between them? In this war of nutrition-attrition, walnuts lead on points but coming up from the rear is cashews with that classic one-two combo of goodness paired with amazing taste. 

With so much choice and health benefits, nature’s little nuggs are truly the bee’s knees; the cat’s pyjamas; the, um…the cocos nut.