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 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)
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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Thanks for reading!
Toni says
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!
Jacqueline says
Haha!! Toni, It is OK 🙂 Yank you, yourself :-0)
Toni says
Oh my. Auto- correction on my phone has dealt me an inappropriate word in my comment above. So sorry.
Adrienne says
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!
Nabila Grace says
How neat! My mother eats them! I might just have to grab a few next time I am at the store! 🙂
LindaG says
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! ♥
Judy K. says
So, is it still better to soak and dehydrate all nuts? Or just eat them raw? I’m a newbie.
Thanks!
Judy K.
Jacqueline says
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!
Rhonda Devine says
A fascinating post–thanks for sharing!
Jesse says
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.
Jacqueline says
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/
PY says
Here’s a clinical study on Brazil nut’s effect to HDL and LDL cholesterol level:
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnume/2013/653185/
Jacqueline says
Thank you so much PY! I will read it tonight 🙂
Sue says
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!
Jacqueline says
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 🙂
Sue says
Thanks for your reply and your research. Will skip the soaking then, and eat them between meals.