As you probably already know we use cashews as one of the ingredients in our cashew + chia puddings, and it is important to know pros and cons of this nut when deciding if you want to eat it. Let’s start with positive effects that come with cashew consumption:

• Heart health ❤️
• Gallstones 🤢
• Central nervous system

Multiple studies were done to explore the effects of nuts and cashews on heart and cardiovascular system overall. The results of these studies prove that daily cashew consumption reduces total and LDL cholesterol. Moreover, several other studies of coronary heart disease and nut consumption found evidence of 37% lower chance of having coronary heart disease for those who eat nuts more than four times a week vs who never or rarely eat nuts.

As for gallstones, in general terms is a stone formed within the gallbladder that may be very painful in some cases. The interesting part is that the study from 2004 found that women who eat nuts frequently have lower risk of cholecystectomy (operation to remove the gallbladder).

Finally, Oregon State University published a research about micronutrients, where they checked how much copper different products have and outlined which organs and body functions require copper or it’s sub-products. Interestingly enough, one ounce of cashews contains 622 micrograms of coper and “a number of reactions essential to normal function of the brain and nervous system are catalyzed by cuproenzymes”.

Now that we know the benefits, it’s important to mention detrimental effects that cashew nuts might have. Some people have severe allergies on cashew nut. For those who have allergies eating a cashew nut may trigger symptoms like itchy mouth and throat, difficulty swallowing, runny nose, shortness of breath nausea, anaphylaxis or other symptoms. So, it is important to know if you have an allergy on cashew before consuming it!