We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: cashews are a life-saver. They are so packed up with awesome nutrients and are so delicious in all their various forms that they have literally become our favorite nuts for home remedies. We have already detailed 12 Health Benefits of Cashew Nuts, so today we will be focusing specifically upon the health benefits that cashew butter possesses.
These special nuts grow on the so-called cashew tree as part of edible fruits called cashew apples.
Cashews have been in use in a variety of cultures’ cuisines for quite some time, contributing both flavor and texture to a wide range of dishes like curry and sweets. Cashew oil is also used in cooking as salad dressing and more.
A single cashew is comprised of up to 44 percent healthy fat, and 18 percent protein. Loads of important dietary minerals, including phosphorous and magnesium are found in cashews as well, making them a filling and functional source of nutrition.
Aside from the fact that it’s one of the creamiest spreads you could ever enjoy, you will soon find out 7 amazing health benefits of cashew butter that you probably didn’t know until now. Check them out and reconsider your choice of butter next time you’re craving a sandwich, a quick snack or even a home-cooked meal!
Like we said before, this type of butter is incredibly yummy and almost everybody who has tried it out has not regretted it. It has a unique, creamy texture and a very rich taste of the nuts it is made from. Little do people know that cashew butter contains super high levels of nutrients that allow you to eat and remain healthy at the same time. This type of butter is high in a wide range of proteins, vitamins and unsaturated fats, which are known to build up both your immune and your nervous system, maintain the health of cells and increase muscle and skin tone. It also contains a lot of essential amino acids and has proved to work wonders for individuals on a high-protein and low-carbohydrate diet. Even more so, butter made from unsalted cashew nuts contains no sodium and no cholesterol. To top it all off, cashew butter is loaded with phosphorus, copper, iron and magnesium, which all present wonderful health benefits both independently and in combined various kinds of food. Cashew butter also contains half less sugar than peanut butter and significantly less additives. As opposed to many other types of nuts and butters, cashew butter is contains a lot less fat (1 tablespoon = 94 calories).
Even though cashew butter is all-around healthy in both raw and roasted varieties, quite a few specialists recommend the former choice. It is said that raw cashew butter contains higher levels of nutrients and is therefore friendlier for your body. Iron is essential for your well-being, as it maintains healthy circulation and assists in transmitting oxygen to your body tissues. A lack of iron can result in fatigue, weakness and even anemia. The great news is that raw cashew butter contains more iron than its roasted variety, 1.9 milligrams in one ounce instead of just 1.7 milligrams in the same amount of roasted cashews. Furthermore, studies show that raw cashew butter also presents higher levels of selenium than the roasted one. Selenium is also critical for the human body, as it prevents cell and DNA membrane damage from free radicals and has even proved to work in battling cancer. One ounce of raw cashews contains 5.6 micrograms of selenium, whereas roasted cashews present just 3.3 micrograms. Nevertheless, significant sources such as Harvard Medical School state that any form of cashew butter will make a great impact on your diet, by protecting your heart and preventing cardiovascular conditions.
You have a lot to owe your heart for you keeping you happy, healthy, and basically alive, for that matter, so why not treat it with amazing foods that protect it from evil? This is exactly why you should take more interest in adding cashew butter to your diet. The high levels of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in cashew butter have proven to decrease cholesterol levels and visibly reduce the risk of developing a heart condition. The high amount of magnesium in cashew butter also gives love to your ticker, as it aids in maintaining normal heart beats and blood pressure levels, also building up the strength of your bones. Moreover, cashew butter has demonstrated to be a great soldier for warding off diabetes, as it assists in controlling blood sugar levels. If you consume cashew butter, it is very likely that you will not end up developing Type 2 diabetes. The Iowa Women’s Health Study has conducted a research on the impact of nut butter consumption on general life-span. The study showed that the risk of death from cardiovascular-related illnesses decreased by 11% by consuming nut butter one time a week. If you want even better results, eat some cashew butter between 1-4 times a week and you will successfully lower the risk of dying from a heart disease by no less than 19%.
Oh boy, can gallstones become nasty. Scientifically speaking, choleliths or gallstones are calculi (stones) that form “within the gallbladder as a concretion of bile components”. If you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, it means that you might be experiencing severe abdominal pain, high temperatures, an increase in your heart rhythm, itchy skin and even a change of color in the whites of your eyes and your skin. It sounds horrible, we know, but that is why we want to present cashew butter as a super hero for fighting off gallstones. A study carried out by Nurses’ Health over a 20-year period of time on 80,000 women has proof to strengthen this argument. The conclusions prove that women who eat at least one ounce of nuts have a significantly lower risk of being affected by gallstones, an amazing 25%. One ounce is basically nothing, weighing around 2 tablespoons of cashew butter, so you can easily fit it into your diet on a daily basis.
Whoever thought there is such an outstanding super food out there that actually helps you lose weight instead of gaining? Yes, you heard us right; cashew butter can literally prevent weight gain for quite a few reasons, all supported by research. Generally speaking, many individuals tend to steer away from nuts, as they consider them a key factor in gaining weight. Myth busted! A serious of studies, such as one published in the “Obesity” journal prove that if you consume cashews in any form at least two times a week you are more likely to avoid gaining weight than if you don’t consume them. Furthermore, specialists in Spain have reported that more than a whopping 5 kilograms can be prevented if you frequently consume cashews or, implicitly, butter made from the nuts. That is equivalent to an incredible 11 pounds. Can you imagine that?
Yes, healthy fats exist! Even though nuts are known to be quite fattening, cashews contain less fat than most other kinds of nuts. Also, the fats that cashew butter actually contains are healthy fats. An unbelievable 82% of fats that cashews contain are unsaturated (also known as healthy fats). This allows cashew butter to maintain the super smooth taste it’s reputed for while remaining completely harmless for your body. Cashew butter has also been compared to olive oil, as around 66% of the unsaturated fats are monounsaturated in both. This amount of unsaturated fats has proven to be optimum for low-fat diets, as they lower high triglyceride levels. This takes us back to the pro-heart properties cashew butter possesses, as healthy triglyceride levels can help prevent heart disease and diabetes. The American Heart Association supports this argument, as members recommend unsaturated fats as an alternative for saturated fats for maintaining normal levels of cholesterol.
So you say that you’re head-over-heels in love with peanut butter. You love making PB&J sandwiches for both yourself and your family, you enjoy spreading it on biscuits for adding extra flavor and you sometimes take a spoonful just for a quick treat. It is kind of hard for the average American to picture their lives without peanut butter, but rest assured that we have the perfect healthy alternative for you. Cashew butter has countlessly presented many more advantages than peanut butter, even proving to have a richer taste! We have picked out our top advantages in the battle of peanut butter vs cashew butter and detailed them in a former article, but we will shortly mention a few here. In a nutshell (no pun intended), peanut butter is made only from roasted peanuts (whereas cashew butter can be made from both raw and roasted nuts), it also contains dextrose, sweeteners, salt and hydrogenated vegetable oils, while cashew butter is fully unprocessed. Also, peanut butter is packed with fats and calories, whereas cashew butter is nutritious and full of healthy fats, like we mentioned above. Even though peanut butter can seem a lot more accessible than cashew butter, seeing as you can find it at practically any super market, you should know that you can you can make cashew butter yourself at home. It doesn’t take up a lot of your time and we guarantee that the personal satisfaction of a do-it-yourself job is incomparable.
Now that you know the health benefits of cashew butter, we are sure that you can’t wait to try it out. Give it a go and let us know how the short or long-term experience is for you in the comment section below. Enjoy & stay healthy!
Photo credits: Fitfoodiefinds.com, Keepitinkind.com.
