Cashews Benefits (Ayurveda Insights)

CONSTITUTIONAL MEDICINE INSIGHTS

Sweet and heavy, cashews calm the nerves and satisfy your belly. The crescent shaped cashew is dense and warm, building strength and leaving you feeling sustained, particularly in cooler months.

Initially crunchy, these nuts become creamy and smooth with each bite. You can satisfy your crunchy cravings by sprinkling cashews on top of curries, adding to stir-frys, or crumbled on top of your morning oatmeal.

Cashews blend to one of the smoothest consistencies of any nut, and can be turned into a creamy nut butter spread, silky homemade cashew milk, or soft cashew cheeses.

Native to Brazil, these nuts are technically the seeds of the cashew apple. Once you see how cashews are grown, you will understand why they are some of the more expensive nuts on supermarket shelves.

Just a single cashew grows out of the bottom of each apple. It is encased in a shell that contains a toxic residue that must be cleaned before eating too. Cashews are a member of the poison ivy family, so some people are highly sensitive to them.

They balance Vata and Pitta, but are too heavy and difficult for Kaphas to digest.

Soothe Your Nerves

The heavy and grounding qualities of cashews help stabilize a frantic nervous system. They are particularly beneficial in autumn, the season when the nerves are most easily aggravated. The nourishment in these nuts balance Vata dosha. Their high magnesium content may also help soothe your nerves.

Your nervous system carries out countless jobs every single day, and can become easily agitated. The magnesium in cashews has a mild depressant effect on the nerves that helps ward off feelings of stress and anxiety, relax the muscles, and promote sound sleep throughout the night.

This relaxing effect of cashews can be too sedating for Kapha types. These heavy nuts can burden a Kaphas already sluggish digestive system and leave them feeling weighed down and wanting to nap. This weight is, however, attractive to Vatas.

Satisfying & Strengthening

Cashews build tissue, strength, and stamina, due to their dense, heavy and sweet qualities. A few nuts will curb your appetite, but give lasting energy. No wonder they are a popular ingredient in trail mix.

Provided digestion is strong, cashews can nourish the blood as they are a rich source of both copper and iron. You need iron to build strong blood, but copper is required so you can absorb the iron. These two minerals, packed neatly in this tiny nut, work together to form hemoglobin and red blood cells, known as rakta dhatu in Ayurveda. When the blood is strong, every cell, tissue, organ and system will be stronger.

Warm & Content

Cashews are warming and sweet, making them a worthy addition to your pantry in autumn and winter.When the blustery winds have you feeling chilled to the bone, cashews can be a hearty addition to your diet, providing the energy your body needs to sustain warmth in winter. Cashews help satisfy your cravings for something sweet and warm you up from your tummy to your toes.

Effect on Digestion

Provided digestion is strong, cashews can improve the quality of elimination. We conjecture that this is due to oily quality of the cashew and fiber content.

The oiliness of nuts can also bog down an already sluggish digestion, causing stagnation and constipation. Cashews, as all dried foods, can create a thick, indigestible paste in the gut. Drink warm water if you plan to eat many cashews at once. When undigested, cashews can provoke gas and bloating, leading to constipation.

Any undigested pieces of nut in the stool points to the fact that nuts in general are difficult to digest, especially if not thoroughly chewed.

Soaking overnight can improve digestibility and elimination of cashew.
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