Hi Gang!
I recently bought some raw cashews and then read in Cordain's book on the paleo diet that they contain a toxin and we shouldn't eat them. Does anyone know more about this? I was wondering if this would mean that I can't feed them to the birds. Jean?
Love,
Polly
Raw Cashews
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Raw Cashews
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
I've read that recently, Polly. I'd been buying a bag at Whole Foods to avoid the processing of the roasted ones, even though I like the taste of the roasted ones better.
What I was using them for was in my stir fry veggie dishes. Hmm, I wonder if the short cooking time (I just boiled them in water on top of the stove, actually) was adequate to destroy that toxin?
For a while there, I did munch on the raw ones, but not as much as the roasted ones.
I sort of burned out on those dishes and the cashews as well, so perhaps it's a good thing.
Did Cordain say anything else about them?
Thanks. Luce
What I was using them for was in my stir fry veggie dishes. Hmm, I wonder if the short cooking time (I just boiled them in water on top of the stove, actually) was adequate to destroy that toxin?
For a while there, I did munch on the raw ones, but not as much as the roasted ones.
I sort of burned out on those dishes and the cashews as well, so perhaps it's a good thing.
Did Cordain say anything else about them?
Thanks. Luce
Hi Polly,
The toxin is actually present in the dark green nut shells. It's called urushiol, and its the same toxin found in poison ivy, poison summac, etc. The kernel of the cashew is contaminated with urushiol during the process of removing the shells. Heating removes the toxin, but if you do it yourself, don't breathe the fumes. That would be equivalent to inhaling smoke from a fire in which poison ivy is being burned--serious business.
http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/seeds/cashew.htm
But the cashew only has that one toxin, (at least that's all that I'm aware of). Some other foods are much worse. Soy beans, for example, have a list of toxins and antinutrients as long as your arm, and most of them are not removed by heating, or other processing. Yet, some people eat them every day. We, as a species, have some strange eating habits.
http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/avoid_soy.htm
Love,
Wayne
The toxin is actually present in the dark green nut shells. It's called urushiol, and its the same toxin found in poison ivy, poison summac, etc. The kernel of the cashew is contaminated with urushiol during the process of removing the shells. Heating removes the toxin, but if you do it yourself, don't breathe the fumes. That would be equivalent to inhaling smoke from a fire in which poison ivy is being burned--serious business.
http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/seeds/cashew.htm
But the cashew only has that one toxin, (at least that's all that I'm aware of). Some other foods are much worse. Soy beans, for example, have a list of toxins and antinutrients as long as your arm, and most of them are not removed by heating, or other processing. Yet, some people eat them every day. We, as a species, have some strange eating habits.
http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/avoid_soy.htm
Love,
Wayne
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Actually, apparently the cashew is a tree nut, and it is high in both protein and carbohydrate. Here's a site with information on nuts and seeds:
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/nutsseeds.html
Here is an opinion from a proponent of the paleo diet, on the suitability of cashews in a paleo diet. Note also, the comments about drinking milk and eating other dairy products, from a historical viewpoint:
http://www.theomnivore.com/gray_area_paleo_foods.html
Tex
P S Incidentally, I found Anthony's home page to be very interesting:
http://www.theomnivore.com/home.html
His article entitled Why the Low-Fat Diet is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous should be required reading for everyone, especially anyone considering dieting. I can find no fault with his logic:
http://www.theomnivore.com/Low_Fat_Diet ... erous.html
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/nutsseeds.html
Here is an opinion from a proponent of the paleo diet, on the suitability of cashews in a paleo diet. Note also, the comments about drinking milk and eating other dairy products, from a historical viewpoint:
http://www.theomnivore.com/gray_area_paleo_foods.html
Tex
P S Incidentally, I found Anthony's home page to be very interesting:
http://www.theomnivore.com/home.html
His article entitled Why the Low-Fat Diet is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous should be required reading for everyone, especially anyone considering dieting. I can find no fault with his logic:
http://www.theomnivore.com/Low_Fat_Diet ... erous.html
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.