Macadamia nuts are one of the most famous and healthiest tree nuts in the world. They are found on the Macadamia tree, which is commonly sighted in Australia. These nuts are packed with so many nutrients that they are not only consumed in their whole form, but used in medicines as well.
Apart from being excellent sources of healthy fats, these nuts are also loaded with nutrients such as manganese, proteins, copper and more.
What are the benefits of macadamia nuts? Keep reading to know more about it.
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Nutritional Profile Of Macadamia Nuts
| Calories | 718 kcal |
| Total fat | 76 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 5 mg |
| Potassium | 368 mg |
| Total carbohydrates | 14 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
Source: USDA
Benefits Of Macadamia Nuts
1. Protects You From Heart Ailments
One of the major health benefits of macadamia nuts is that they reduce your risk to heart-related ailments. This is because they are great sources of monounsaturated fats, which help to keep your cholesterol levels under control.
In a study conducted during 2007, men with high cholesterol were asked to eat macadamia nuts for a month.
At the end of one month, they reported a decrease in cholesterol levels and hence became less prone to coronary heart ailments. These monounsaturated fats are the prime reasons why these nuts help to reduce the bad cholesterol (LDL) and increase the good cholesterol (HDL) in your body.
2. May Reduce Your Risk To Certain Cancers
Macadamia nuts are rich in a Vitamin E component known as tocotrienols. Studies have been conducted previously to prove the cancer-fighting properties of this component.
In addition to this, macadamia nuts are also good sources of flavonoids, a plant compound that is known to reduce the oxidative stress in your body and boost your body’s ability to fight the cancer-causing cells from forming.
3. Helps In The Overall Functioning Of Your Brain
One of the important benefits of macadamia nuts that you cannot ignore is that they are very important for the overall health of your brain. The Tocotrienols in these nuts keep the brain safe from a dangerous component known as glutamate. It is this component that results in brain-related diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer’s Parkinson’s, etc.
Oleic Acid, one of the monounsaturated fats present in macadamia nuts, played a vital role in protecting the brain from the harmful effects of free radicals and oxidative stress.
4. Keeps You Full
Most of the times, you start binging on unhealthy snacks when you don’t feel full from your regular meals.
Macadamia nuts are one of the healthiest snacks available today because they are loaded with dietary fiber, proteins, copper, manganese and other nutrients that make you feel full and keep hunger pangs at bay.
5. Helps In Weight Loss
Tests conducted on mice and sheep have shown that macadamia nuts do help in weight loss. Though these haven’t been tested on humans yet, these animal-tests are enough to prove that nuts do play an important role in weight loss.
The palmitoleic acid, also known as Omega 7, present in monounsaturated fats, is the main element that helps you lose weight.
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When sheep were fed this acid for 28 continuous days, it was noticed that 77% of them showed a visible reduction in weight. Mice, which were given macadamia oil as a supplement for 3 months, showed an obvious reduction in their fat cells.
6. Helps To Reduce Your Risk To Metabolic Syndrome
When you have Metabolic Syndrome, you are highly prone to ailments such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, strokes, and other cardiac-related ailments.
Macadamia nuts are excellent sources of MUFAs (Monounsaturated fatty acids), which help to lower your risk against these deadly ailments. A research conducted in 2016 proved that when people consumed foods rich in MUFAs, it made them less prone to type 2 diabetes.
HbA1C, the average blood sugar level for 3 months, also reported a positive reduction, when diabetes patients ate foods rich in MUFAs and combined it with physical exercises. If you are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, you have to include macadamia nuts in your diet regularly, because these nuts help to improve your body’s glycemic control.
7. Helps In Bone Health
Macadamia nuts are good sources of calcium, manganese, and potassium, the three most important minerals that are responsible for the overall health of your bones and teeth.
When you include these nuts in your diet regularly, you can stay safe from ailments such as bone demineralization, brittleness, and osteoporosis.
8. Keeps Your Digestive System Healthy
One of the lesser-known benefits of macadamia nuts is that they aid in digestion and play a vital role in the overall health of your gut.
These nuts are a good source of copper, which produces the right enzymes to improve your digestive health and prevent gastric issues such as bloating, gas, liver inflammation, etc.
9. Helps Improve Skin Health
Macadamia nuts have palmitoleic acid, which helps in keeping the cells in your skin hydrated. When you start consuming these nuts regularly, you will notice a natural glow on your skin. It also prevents your skin from developing aging symptoms such as wrinkles, fine lines, sagging, etc.
10. Helps Prevent Hairfall
Palmitoleic acid’s hydrating properties help macademia nuts give a boost to your hair health as well! Consuming these nuts regularly will result in an improvement in the overall texture and quality of your hair as well. These nuts encourage the growth of hair follicles and keep issues such as frizz and breakage at bay.
Side Effects Of Macadamia Nuts
Even though macadamia nuts have health benefits, but there are some demerits of excess consumption of these nuts.
1. Allergic Reactions
People suffering from allergies of tree nuts, must not consume macadamia nuts. For such people, macadamia nuts should be completely avoided, as even inhaling them may trigger the allergic reactions.
2. Excess Sugar, Salt Or Oil
All macadamia nuts are not healthy choices. You must always check the ingredients before buying them. They should not contain added sugar, salt or oil.
3. Macadamia Nuts Can’t Be Roasted
Macadamia nuts can be eaten raw or roasted as well. But roasting of macadamia nuts at a high temperature may lead to a loss in nutrients of the nuts. This theory was suggested in a research by ScienceDirect.
Hence, the best way to consume macadamia nuts is either in the raw form, soaked form or when roasted at a low temperature.
4. Rich In Calories
Macadamia nuts are highly rich in calories. A cup of macadamia nuts has approximately 950 calories. You must limit the consumption of macadamia nuts. They should not be over eaten as it may lead to gain in weight instead of losing weight.
How To Eat Macadamia Nuts? Some Important Points You Should Know About Macadamia Nuts
- From the above points, you might have understood about the various health benefits of macadamia nuts. Does this mean that you can eat; however many nuts you want in a day? Of course, not! You should limit your macadamia nuts to anywhere between 40 and 90 grams per day. This might work out to around 17 to 37 nuts per day.
- It is always better to eat raw or soaked macadamia nuts instead of the roasted ones. When you roast these healthy nuts, you are taking away most of the nutrients from them.
- Though macadamia nuts are a safe food and don’t contain any serious side-effects associated with it, you have to avoid them, if you have an existing tree nut allergy.
- Always choose the natural macadamia nuts for best results. The salted, sweetened and other flavored varieties may be tasty, but they aren’t healthy options.
Quick Facts About Macadamia Nuts
- Macadamia nuts are rich in proteins and minerals and can be included in a healthy diet.
- They have high content of monosaturated fatty acid and may aid in reduction of cholesterol levels.
- United States is the largest consumer of macadamia nuts followed by Japan.
- The shell of macadamia nuts is hardest to crack.
- These nuts are not picked from trees, instead they are allowed to fall after being fully ripened and then they are harvested.
- 4th September is National Macadamia Nut Day.
- Macadamia nuts are mostly grown on the island of Hawaii.
- This nut was introduced in Hawaii and was utilized as an ornamental.
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A Tasty Recipe Using Macadamia Nuts
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Energy Balls
Ingredients Needed
- 2 cups of quick ½ white chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes
- ½ cup of peanut butter
- ½ cup of honey
- ½ cup of chopped macadamia nuts
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon each of ground flaxseeds and chia seeds
- ¼ tablespoon of salt
Process
This is a very simple recipe as all you have to do to is mix all the ingredients in a bowl and make medium-sized balls from them. Refrigerate the balls for an hour before you consume them. These balls stay good for one week when you refrigerate them properly. Quite a healthy and tasty recipe, isn’t it?
Wrapping Up!
We hope this article would have convinced you about the benefits of macadamia nuts and why you should include them in your daily diet. You only need to watch your labels properly before buying a packet of these nuts. You need to be absolutely sure about the source of the macadamia nuts and have a good idea about the additives, if used. You need to stay away from nuts that come with additional flavors, added salt & sugar, roasted ones and the ones with preservatives as it will take away the nutrients of these nuts considerably.
References
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1100/macadamia-nut
