Healthy with nuts: Brazil nuts

Yesterday we published an article about eating nuts and staying healthy longer. There were quite a few responses to that. That is why we are going to take a closer look at it today and highlight a certain note that has special properties: the Brazil nut.

First of all, it is good to explain which nuts you should buy and eat.

When are nuts healthy?

Nuts are very healthy if they are consumed as pure as possible. If you choose healthy nuts, it is important that you pay attention to the following:

• The nuts should not be roasted or roasted.
• The nuts are allowed not salted or sugared.

It is best to buy nuts in a health food store, a bit more expensive but of good quality and without harmful pesticides.

Brazil nuts: Super healthy!

Brazil nuts are very healthy! Did you know, for example, that 2 to 5 Brazil nuts a day can already have a positive effect on our immune system, fertility and in the prevention of cancer and infections?

Brazilian Nut

The Brazil nut grows on a tree that can grow up to 60 meters high. Although the English word for Brazil nut 'Brazil Nut' suggests that the nut only comes from Brazil, you can also find the tree in Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. A tree produces thirty to forty fruits per year. In such a fruit there are about eight to twelve seeds. We know these seeds as the Brazil nut.

S

Nuts naturally contain a lot of healthy fats, proteins and many minerals. In addition, each variety contains different nutrients that make a nut unique. The Brazil nut is a powerful food thanks to the large amount of selenium (selenium) it contains. There are approximately 100 micrograms of selenium in 1917 grams of Brazil nuts. This is equivalent to 3500 times the recommended daily allowance (RDA). However, you can also consume too much selenium. With about six Brazil nuts a day you stay below the maximum recommended amount.

The beauty of the Brazil nut is that it also contains a reasonable amount of vitamin E, about 52 percent of the RDI. Vitamin E (tocopherol), a fat-soluble vitamin, plays a role in the production of red blood cells and the maintenance of muscle and other tissues. It is also important for the resistance. Vitamin E is an antioxidant: it protects the cells in the body against free radicals.

Prevention against cancer?

A Brazil nut is therefore packed with the mineral selen. Selenium has the same effect as an antioxidant and counteracts the formation of harmful substances in the body. There is some evidence that it makes heavy metals that enter the body through contaminants less toxic. In addition, selenium may offer protection against the development of prostate cancer. Selenium is also important for good resistance, for the development of sperm cells and for healthy hair. 

In addition to selenium, Brazil nuts also contain other minerals such as copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus and zinc. Phosphorus in particular is highly present in the nut. Phosphorus gives strength to the skeleton. The mineral is also involved in the energy supply of the body and is part of the DNA. Phosphorus is also needed for carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism.

Two Brazil nuts a day

People living in countries where the soil contains little selenium – such as the Netherlands – should eat two Brazil nuts every day. This increases the concentration of selenium in their bodies, researchers from selenium-poor New Zealand write in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Brazil nuts contain a form of selenium that is more absorbable than the selenium in expensive supplements.

In short, eat two Brazil nuts a day and you're doing great!

Source: Health Net, Vitamin Information Bureau and Ergogenics.