It's all about the Cashews

Another day to learn something new!
Welcome to this post dear reader.
If you've read my 2 #learnwithsteem posts, you'll realise I'm talking more on plants/fruits and their importance to the human health.
The first was about soursop and the second, coconut. If you've not read them, I urge you to do so to learn some facts about these plants. Sometimes I doubt if anyone reads these posts but all the same, I'm gonna keep them coming.
Today's post is about cashews. You might have heard about the fruit, cashew or cashew apple but haven't really learned some benefits of it. There's also the common cashew nuts which is eaten in many countries; it also has some nutritional values.

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So today, we are going to learn about the benefits of the cashew fruit itself, the nuts and the leaves of the cashew plant.

The Fruit

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The cashew apple has a sweet-sour taste even when fully ripe and leaves a funny taste or feeling in the throat.
Cashew is very common in my place and I used to eat it a lot as a kid but it's been so long since I ate any. When eating, we always made sure the juice didn't get in our shirts since it could decolorise the part it gets into contact with. I didn't understand this as a kid but I think the cashew apple's juices contain some sort of acids.
One thing we should know is that, the cashew apple we eat isn't the actual fruit of the plant; the real fruit is found in the bottom part of the apple which is the seed or what we call the cashew nut(it's not a nut).
The cashew apple is mostly ignored by farmers because of it's low shelf life so much attention is given the other part, the seed or nut.
However, the cashew apple has a lot of benefits when eaten. Some of them are discussed below.

• Just like most sour fruits, the cashew contains vitamin C. It also gives the body magnesium, copper potassium and iron. All these have their roles to play in the human system.

• The "fruit" of the cashew contains a lot of fibres and as we all know, fibre in our foods help the digestive a lot.

• Eating the fruit also keeps the blood healthy and also help with the blood flow in the body.

Helps with proper blood flow

• Cashew is also believed (not scientifically proven) to be a fruit that prevents cancer, precent gallstones, prevent headaches and also treat diabetes.

There are many interesting benefits of the cashew fruit but I hope these few will convince you to eat more cashews.

The seeds or Nuts

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I remember when I first heard that cashews had nuts in them and they can only be eaten after roasting. I guess I didn't fully understand what that meant, I just put the seed in fire and when I felt it was done, I took it out and decided to chew the whole thing. It was a horrible experience! 😪
Well, that was just by the way 😄.

Cashew seeds are globally termed as cashew nuts, but they're not really nuts 🤔. They only look like nuts and also have some nutritional values like that of some nuts. Cashew nuts can be processed into cashew butter just like peanut butter or cashew cheese 🧀.
Some of the health benefits of the cashew nuts are discussed below.

• Can prevent heart diseases. Cashew nuts have important fatty acids and some antioxidants that are essential to the heart. Reduces bad cholesterol in the body and can also prevent any inflammation that could later cause cardiovascular problems.

• Just like the fruit, the nuts can also help in preventing and controlling of diabetes in the body.

• The zinc and other minerals that are found in the cashew nuts help boost the immune system. This helps the body in fighting numerous infections.

• Other benefits of eating cashew nuts include, strengthening bones, controlling weight, helping in the proper functioning of the brain, prevention of eye problems and also nourishing the human hair.

The Leaves 🍃 .

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When it comes to leaves used for medicinal purposes, they're either boiled and drank or crushed and applied. Those are the common processes and and it's no different with the cashew leaves.
I've never tasted a brew of cashew leaves but from my research, I found out about some benefits of the cashew leaves, either boiled or pounded(crushed).

• Immune Booster. I think this property runs through the whole plant. The seed, fruit and leaves all have qualities to boost the immune system of the human body.

The body's defences get fortified

• Cashew leaves have been found to have a strong antioxidant quality. It can be used to treat numerous cancers and tumors.

• The brew of cashew leaves help in reducing cholesterol in the human body.

• Cashew leaves have wound-healing abilities. When grounded, cashew leaves are very effective in treating wounds, boils and skin burns.

Conclusion.

Just like many plants out there, the cashew plant also has many benefits to offer us. Eating the fruits and seeds and also using the leaves will help us to live healthier and happier lives. Some of these facts can only be proven locally but not scientifically, but like usually say, it's working for some people.

Too much of everything is bad, as the saying goes so it's always important to be wary about the intake of cashew and cashew products since there can be toxicity levels and also allergic problems.
And there were also rumors that said you'd die if you ate the cashew fruit along with milk. Well, there are no scientific back ups to this but I still wouldn't try it. Who eats cashew fruits with milk anyway?? 😄

I hope you learnt something today too. Thanks for reading and hope to bring you the next "update" soon.