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    Cancer Preventative: Eat Two of these Nuts a Day For Selenium

    14.4KViews Modified: Mar 27, 2021 · Published: Mar 21, 2013
    By Jacqueline 23 Comments

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    Cancer Preventative: Two Brazil Nuts a Day. oranges

    What is so special about Brazil nuts? It has a lot to do with selenium.

    The ultra-trace mineral selenium has been in the news a lot lately. It has been shown in many studies both in this country and abroad to either totally prevent, or at least delay the appearance of cancer. That is pretty special!

     

    Some studies have shown overwhelmingly that those patients with either low selenium blood levels or diets low in selenium had proportionately greater incidence of cancer of the ovary, breast, prostate, rectum, colon, esophagus, stomach, liver, lungs and lymphatic system. (Brit Med J 85;290:417) (Bioinorganic Chem 77;7:23) (Biological Trace Element Res. 85;7:21) (source)

    Cancer Preventative: Two Brazil Nuts a Day. drying Brazil nuts

    Selenium is lacking in many people’s diet due to low soil levels, possibly one underlying cause of the high levels of cancer.

     

    Two Brazil Nuts a Day

    Selenium is so important that it could be wise to eat 1-2 Brazil nuts regularly.

    A large nut has 140 micrograms, or 254 percent of the RDA. It’s much better to get your selenium from food than from supplements, which have largely struck out in clinical trials testing them for various health benefits, and may actually pose risks. (source)

    Keep in mind, however, that selenium becomes toxic in high amounts and that for adults 1-2 Brazil nuts per day is enough.

    Brazil nuts contain the highest level of phytic acid of all nuts which can rob us of some minerals, but like Mark’s Daily Apple recommends, if you’re worried about phytic acid from nuts, you can play around with food-timing.

    I soaked Brazil nuts for years, but later read you should not soak them. I could not find out why. Now we just skip the soaking and eat 2 per day between meals because they are high in phytates.

     

    What About Roasting?

    Studies also indicate that vitamin E, thiamine and carotenoids are lost during roasting. However, the extent of the loss really depends on the nut type and roasting temperature. Also, roasting might damage the healthy polyunsaturated fats in nuts. (source)

    Where to Buy Brazil Nuts?

    Trader Joe’s carries them already shelled all year round and they are very fresh and good! I’ve also seen them year round at Fresh Thyme, Whole Foods, HEB, and a few other healthier food stores. They are traditionally found in heavy brown shells around the holidays, but they are hard to shell without soaking or roasting first.

    Take them as a snack separate from meals. If you are eating to prevent cancer or to help cure it, this video mentions the Brazil nut plus other helpful foods:

    Where Do Brazil Nuts Come From?

    I’m always curious as to where such delectable things such as Brazil nuts come from on God’s green earth, so I thought it would be fun for us to learn together!

    Interestingly, Brazil nuts are not native only to Brazil. In fact, much of the Brazil nuts we buy are imported from Bolivia.

     

    Here is what I found: The Brazil nut tree is a large tree, reaching 160 ft tall and up to 6.6 ft in diameter, making it among the largest of trees in the Amazon rain forests. This arrow-straight tree may live for 500 years or more.

     Brazil nut tree, Amazon rainforest

    Brazil nut trees produce fruit almost exclusively in the most pristine forests; the unhealthy forests cannot sustain the strong, fuzzy large-body bees of specific genera, the only ones capable of lifting the coiled hood on the flower and with tongues long enough to negotiate the complex-coiled flower.

     botanical art on the Brazil tree fruit

    No normal nut cracker is getting through that armour-plated capsule. Each fruit pod contains twelve to twenty-five seeds held tightly together like the sections of an orange.

     big tree nut casing

    We live in an age when it is not very difficult to get so many other healthy unadulterated foods such as Brazil nuts with their unique benefits. Sometimes, but not often enough, I realize how spoiled we are and thank our Creator for His provision and goodness.

    “And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.” ~Genesis 1:29

    One last benefit:

    Brazil nuts contain rather high levels of an amino acid by the name of methionine. This little guy fights off chronic illness and signs of aging.

    oranges and 2 br. nuts
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    « Trying To Make Sense Of Our Messed-Up, Upside Down World
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    Related

    Hi! I’m Jacqueline!

    Thanks for being part of this journey with me.
    Welcome to my own little place on the internet! Home is where I love to be. I feel there is no greater place to incubate souls. These days you’ll find me using my experiences here to write about herbal remedies and natural health research — a big passion of mine. But being a wife and mother is not easy. It is challenging and potentially lonely. I get that. I wanted to create a place to connect with and support other moms for creating a natural, healthy, and fulfilling home life.
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Toni

      March 21, 2013 at 6:31 pm

      Brazil nuts are one of my favorite nuts. I didn’t know about the bees that pollinate them. We used to keep bees so learning that was interesting. Yank you!

      Reply
      • Jacqueline

        March 23, 2013 at 4:14 pm

        Haha!! Toni, It is OK 🙂 Yank you, yourself :-0)

        Reply
    2. Toni

      March 21, 2013 at 6:35 pm

      Oh my. Auto- correction on my phone has dealt me an inappropriate word in my comment above. So sorry.

      Reply
    3. Adrienne

      March 21, 2013 at 9:53 pm

      Thanks! I soak and dehydrate my nuts so I am not worried about the phytic acid. Also, just a point…more is not better in this case. Brazil nuts can be toxic so staying to 1-2 a day is a good idea. 🙂 Thanks for the great info!

      Reply
      • Jonathan

        August 03, 2019 at 4:11 pm

        Not true! If you eat too much, at most you will get a little nauseous at most. Show me the evidence of a case where someone was legitimately poisoned!!!!!

        Reply
    4. Nabila Grace

      March 21, 2013 at 10:37 pm

      How neat! My mother eats them! I might just have to grab a few next time I am at the store! 🙂

      Reply
    5. LindaG

      March 21, 2013 at 10:44 pm

      I like Brazil nuts, but gosh are they hard to crack!
      I need to remember to look up Trader Joe’s!
      Happy Friday to you! ♥

      Reply
    6. Judy K.

      March 22, 2013 at 7:42 am

      So, is it still better to soak and dehydrate all nuts? Or just eat them raw? I’m a newbie.

      Thanks!

      Judy K.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline

        March 22, 2013 at 5:37 pm

        You know, Judy, I was thinking about this post and that I didn’t even mention soaking them :-/ I wrote it when I was sick and under-slept, but that is no excuse!! I did soak them, but later read that you shouldn’t for some reason (I never found the reason). I dehydrated them at around 170 degrees. They were mellow, crispy, and wonderful… I was just simply lazy to pull it out 🙂
        Now, we just eat them between meals unsoaked and only 2!

        Reply
    7. Rhonda Devine

      March 22, 2013 at 9:53 pm

      A fascinating post–thanks for sharing!

      Reply
    8. Jesse

      April 19, 2013 at 10:25 pm

      Personally, I have only read info that talks about soaking them (if you do find the info though on not soaking them, I would love to read it!) 🙂
      — http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/2009/06/01/soaking-nuts-and-seeds/ —
      …and actually, any temperature above 115, will destroy the enzymes in them. I have an Excalibur Dehydrator and it also has a setting on it that says for “living food”, which says between 105˚-115˚. It’s unfortunate that a lot of ovens do not go lower than 150-170. Mine did not and I couldn’t dry my nuts until my sweet mother-in-love bought me my dehydrator.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline

        April 20, 2013 at 11:53 am

        Jesse,
        Here is one of the sites I found (there are others, but they don’t say why) that tell us to NOT soak Brazils… interesting…I wish I knew, too 🙂 Many blessings! http://nouveauraw.com/raw-techniques/soaking-nuts-dried-fruit/

        Reply
    9. PY

      June 17, 2013 at 3:29 pm

      Here’s a clinical study on Brazil nut’s effect to HDL and LDL cholesterol level:

      http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnume/2013/653185/

      Reply
      • Jacqueline

        June 17, 2013 at 4:09 pm

        Thank you so much PY! I will read it tonight 🙂

        Reply
    10. Sue

      September 28, 2015 at 3:26 pm

      If I am eating Brazil nuts for the selenium, does the phytic acid bind the selenium so I am not able to digest and absorb it unless soaked? So if one brazil nut has 50 mcg of selenium, am I getting any of it?

      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Jacqueline

        September 28, 2015 at 6:39 pm

        Sue, I think the answer is yes, but after researching this for over 2 hours when I wrote the post, I found very little to give me any hard answers. I did find/read in several reputable places that soaking Brazil nuts is not productive due to the high ‘good’ fat content. Water just doesn’t seem to get into the meat. I DO have an anecdotal testimony though. When our daughter was young (5-7 yo) I really desired to prevent her having an early onset menses like so many now starting at 8-9 years. Dr. David Williams wrote a newsletter (hard copy) that said if mothers would give their daughters plenty of nuts and seeds, it would delay menarche and it would decrease the overall amount of estrogen over a lifetime. He felt that was good as too much estrogen can be cancer -feeding… I tend to agree with him on that. I fed all our kids a generous amount of nuts and seeds (not near or after mealtime – as a lite snack only), and our daughter started her period at 13. I know I cannot assume that is what delayed it, but I am glad I did what I did dietarily. I hope that helps, Sue 🙂

        Reply
        • Sue

          September 29, 2015 at 11:03 am

          Thanks for your reply and your research. Will skip the soaking then, and eat them between meals.

          Reply
        • Jeannette

          August 19, 2020 at 10:12 am

          This is all so fascinating. I have recently learned of having extremely low estrogen levels. I might skip these, or reduce my normal snacking of them for now.

          Reply
          • Jacqueline

            August 21, 2020 at 2:31 am

            Hi, Jeannette, If I’m understanding you correctly, it sounds like you’ve been snacking and eating more than would be good as selenium can build up if too much is consumed. I would hold of for a week and then resume at just 2 a day. The excess will be excreted in that time. Irregardless of your age, I’d still consider TRS for low estrogen as it removes toxins and metals that can be the root cause those kinds of imbalances. ~J

            Reply
    11. patrick

      July 26, 2020 at 9:16 pm

      so you read something that said not to soak but the reason why not to soak was missing? if brazil nuts are high in phytic acid, common sense would dictate to soak them ..

      Reply
      • Jacqueline

        July 26, 2020 at 11:10 pm

        Hi, Patrick… yes, good question! Brazil nuts contain too much dense fat/oil and are pretty impossible to soak.
        Since water and oil don’t mix, water can’t even get in to soak them!
        I also read that but didn’t believe it until I tried!

        Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Sharing With You says:
      March 24, 2013 at 8:28 pm

      […] Health benefits of Brazil nuts. […]

      Reply
    2. For Healthy Weight, Eat Nutrients: The Secret That Junk Food Makers Don’t Want You To Know – The Inquisitr | Information says:
      April 17, 2016 at 3:52 am

      […] That’s a trace mineral that your body needs to function properly, and low amounts of it have been linked to cancer. One easy and delicious way to get an adequate amount of selenium is to eat one Brazil nut per […]

      Reply

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