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Nuts - varieties, health and effects
contents
- Nuts - an overview
- Real nuts
- "Wrong" nuts
- Nutrients in nuts
- What should you look for in nuts?
- Store nuts
- Roast nuts
- nut oils
- nut butter
- nut drinks
- The cashew nut
- hazelnut
- Macadamia
- The walnut
Nuts - an overview
Botanically, only a few of our "nuts" are really nuts, for example hazelnuts, walnuts or macadamia nuts. All nuts are very high in calories, healthy and full of minerals, fiber and vitamins. They impress with their variety, because you can enjoy them pure, use in sauces and soups, use them as side dishes and desserts.
Nuts are generally especially rich in valuable nutrients. (Image: raven / fotolia.com) Real nuts
From a scientific point of view, nuts are:
- beechnuts,
- Sweet chestnuts (chestnuts),
- Hempnuts,
- walnuts,
- hazelnuts,
- macadamia nuts,
- water chestnuts
- and acorns.
Lychees are also nuts, but only the inedible hard part, not the fruity inner shell. Although peanut is structurally nuts, it is more akin to legumes such as peas or beans.
"Wrong" nuts
Botanically no nuts are:
- Cashew,
- peanut,
- Coconut (core of a stone fruit),
- Almond (core of a stone fruit),
- Nutmeg (seed of a Balg fruit),
- Pistachio (stone core of a stone fruit),
- Sheanuss (a berry),
- Pecan nut (stone core of a stone fruit)
- and Brazil nut (seeds of a capsule fruit).
Nutrients in nuts
Nuts are not suitable for losing weight, however, in the best case for the rapid supply of energy. They contain a lot of fat, depending on the type between 45 and 70 grams per 100 grams, and correspondingly many calories. These are saturated fatty acids. These reduce blood lipids such as cholesterol and prevent long-term heart and blood diseases. Salted nuts, on the other hand, can cause hypertension because of the amount of salt.
Nuts contain a lot of protein, as well as vitamins, trace elements and fiber - including vitamins from the B complex and a lot of magnesium. Both support brain functions, concentration and performance. Nuts are rightly considered "Brainfood".
What should you look for in nuts?
It is best to harvest hazelnuts and walnuts in your own garden between October and December. They can be stored for a long time, but taste the best from the tree. Instead of ground nuts, you should buy whole and grind them yourself, then you will get more nutrients. Crushed nuts can be stored airtight a month, frozen a year.
Store nuts
Fall time is nut time, but the abundant whales and hazelnuts are often "too much of a good thing". Fortunately, nuts can be stored well and for a long time, at least when it is dark, cool and dry. But some basements and attics are ideal. Suitable containers are wooden boxes or nets. Unpeeled, they last up to a year, peeled for three to six months.
Caution: Almonds, Brazil nuts, pistachios and peanuts are very susceptible to mold that you can not see but can taste. Smell or taste the drupes striking, then throw them away.
The peanut is botanically no nut, but a legume. (Image: GSDesign / fotolia.com) Roast nuts
Nuts taste roasted more intense. We take a pan without fat and heat the nuts in it for a short time. The emphasis is on short, because with nuts are only seconds between special aroma and burning. After roasting, the nuts must immediately from the pan, because the residual heat otherwise destroys the taste.
By roasting, however, the amount of folic acid and vitamin B decreases, because both are heat-sensitive. However, vitamin E, iron, calcium and magnesium are retained.
nut oils
Nut and stone fruit oils are part of the fine cuisine and are too good to just burn them. In the food trade, coconut, earth, whale and hazelnut oil are now available almost everywhere. Generally, however, all nuts contain enough fats to make pure oils from them. Peanut oil is suitable for searing, because it tolerates high temperatures. It is often found as a base for Asian and African food. On the other hand, whale oil and hazelnut oil should not be added to hot food until it cools down. It tastes great in the Iranian Fesendschān, which is a dish made from poultry in a walnut and pomegranate sauce.
Otherwise, hazelnut oil and walnut oil go well with salads, such as lamb's lettuce with pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Both oils have an intense taste, so that the salad hardly needs seasoning.
nut butter
Nutmus tastes excellent even for children and is a good alternative to commercial "nut nougat creams", which have a very high sugar content. It's best to make such a mush from raw nuts.
nut drinks
Vegans often use "nut milk" instead of cow's milk. For such a drink, nuts are roasted, ground, doused with water and then filtered off. The content of nuts is very low, usually not more than seven percent.
In a smoothie mixer you can make healthy nut drinks yourself, for example in combination with apples, pears, plums or quinces. Simply pour the halved fruits and a handful of peeled nuts into the blender - ready.
The cashew nut is often used in Asian cuisine. (Image: amy_lv / fotolia.com) The cashew nut
In the biological sense, the cashew nut, which is also called elephant louse, is not a nut but a drupe. It is the seed of the Kaschu or kidney tree. The association with human kidneys comes from the kidney form of the seeds. The Kashubaum is native to both South and Mesoamerica and is now commercially grown in Africa, India, Brazil, China and Indonesia.
Cashew kernels are energy rockets: 100 grams contain 572 calories, 35 percent carbohydrates and 42.4 percent fat. they offer
- protein,
- calcium,
- iron,
- zinc,
- sodium,
- Vitamin A,
- B vitamins,
- Vitamin E,
- a lot of magnesium
- and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Medically proven, they prevent cardiovascular diseases, lower the level of blood fat and strengthen the nervous system.
Kidney trees form thick fruit stalks that develop into equally thick fruits, yellow-orange or red-bright, that taste sweet and juicy. At the end of each fruit sits a cashew nut with a cream-colored core surrounded by a very fine seed skin. The cashews are softer than real nuts.
An all-rounder
The cashew nut won the cuisines of the world. Usually we nibble the drupes either natural or salted, roasted, sweetened or caramelized. The natural cashews are the healthiest. The nuts taste mild and similar to almonds with a very unique aftertaste.
They are suitable for poultry and rice, most meats and even fish, muesli, mixed lettuce, vegetable stews and soups. Cashew nutmeg is an excellent spread, so you can also thicken soups or prepare desserts.
Cashews shopping
The kidney tree is a tropical plant and therefore does not grow outdoors in Germany. So we get cashew nuts usually only peeled in the trade, either in tinplate cans or wrapped in foil.
You should pay attention to the following: The cores must be light and dry. When you open packages, seal them again airtight, because the aroma is otherwise quickly lost. Do nuts taste stale or musty? Then they are too old.
You should store cashews alone because they are permeable to other flavors. The place should be dry, because moisture leads to mold in the cores. This can be dangerous because the mold is aflatoxin. This poison is considered a carcinogen. In any case, you should eat cashews immediately, because the oil of the nuts is rancid after a short time.
The hazelnut is still tasty even after prolonged storage. (Image: Algus / fotolia.com) hazelnut
Well-known is the hazelnut, which ensures that the squirrels delight us in gardens. It grows more or less everywhere, likes sun like partial shade, forests, hedges or roadsides. Nevertheless, there is hardly any commercial cultivation in Germany. This focuses on the Mediterranean countries, especially Turkey and Italy. Also in the state of Oregon in the US, they are produced in large quantities and sold worldwide. We can buy them in many variants:
- ground,
- roasted,
- peeled off,
- planed,
- as whole cores,
- with shell
- or hacked.
Not every workmanship is optimal. It is best to buy or collect whole nuts with peel, then grind or chop them later. This preserves the full flavor that crushed nut kernels quickly lose. To get the flavor out, put the nut kernels in the oven for ten minutes at 200 degrees - no more.
Crushed hazelnuts are good with salad and fish. Much more well known in this country, however, is an abundance of cakes, biscuits and desserts containing shredded hazelnuts and / or hazelnut sauce. A spread of pure hazelnut is a good alternative to Nutella.
Store hazelnuts
Whole hazelnuts in the shell can be stored very well and for a long time. After a year you will still taste good. For a temperature of eight to nine degrees is ideal. The nuts should not be damaged, moldy and loose. You can easily tell if the nuts are fresh. For that you shake the nuts in their shell. Fresh nuts fill these out perfectly, "rattling" dried up nuts. If you already buy shredded hazelnuts, pay attention to the color. Fresh nuts are very light inside, old nuts become dirty yellow.
When to harvest?
Hazelnuts ripen until September. At the end of this month they are fully mature and now the harvest season begins. Ripe hazelnuts can be recognized by the fact that a brown cuticle has developed in the shell above the core. They notice the maturity but also because the nuts fall from the trees. So to harvest them, you just have to pick them up from the ground.
Even the Aborigines used the macadamia as a protein and high-fat food. (Image: aedkafl / fotolia.com) Macadamia
The macadamia nut belongs to a genus of ten species, two of which are edible. She comes from the forests in Queensland, Australia. Today it is commercially grown in Australia, Hawaii, California and South Africa. It grows in bunches of up to 20 nuts and the trees grow up to six meters high. The whitish core is surrounded by a hard brown shell, which in turn lies in a solid green shell.
nutrient
Macadamia nut is a calorie bomb with 727 kilocalories per 100 grams. To lose weight, you should do without it, because even a relatively small pack contains the daily dose of calories for a normal-weight person. But high in calories does not mean unhealthy, on the contrary. Macadamia is fully involved
- calcium,
- iron,
- magnesium,
- potassium,
- B vitamins
- and fiber.
The nut fats are very healthy and prevent cardiovascular disease.
Eat macadamia
Macadamia is considered the tastiest but also the most expensive nut. It tastes sweet and mild. In main dishes it harmonizes with poultry, beef, lamb and fish. Their talents are best developed in desserts, cakes and pastries. Macadamia oil is a not cheap delicacy and an excellent salad dressing.
Purchase and storage
The peel of macadamia nut is extremely hard. That is why the nuts come peeled in the trade, in foil or in airtight cans. Unopened, both variants last a very long time. When open, you should quickly consume the sensitive contents or store them at least cold, dry and airy. When baking or cooking, chop the nuts just before preparation so as not to detract from the aroma.
Walnuts are often found in myths because of their special structure. (Image: weyo / fotolia.com) The walnut
Like hazelnut, walnut has been an important food source since the Stone Age. So it is hard to determine their original distribution. Many archaeobotanists assume the origin of the north of Iran. There she is still wild to find and from the culture indispensable. Walnuts, like pistachios, are among the snacks that are served to every guest when they enter an Iranian apartment. Presumably, the ancient Greeks brought them from Iran to the Balkans, later they came via Italy to France and thence to Germany.
curative effect
Already in ancient Persia and ancient Greece, walnut was considered a medicinal plant. She is always healthy. Of all nuts, it has the highest content of linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid. There are also four forms of vitamin E, a lot of zinc and potassium. This is how walnuts support the heart, liver and hair. Furthermore they contain:
- magnesium,
- iron,
- calcium,
- sulfur,
- phosphorus
- and vitamins A, B 1, B 2, B 3 and C.
Extremely high amounts of vitamin C are contained in the semi-ripe nuts and leaves in summer. A tea made from walnut leaves is suitable for preventing a cold. According to studies, walnut is also suitable for preventing type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, walnut helps against high blood pressure and dilates the blood vessels. Investigations are under way to detect a suspected effect of walnut on prostate cancer.
Moist envelopes covered with a mash of half-ripe walnuts and walnut leaves were a traditional home remedy for ulcers, eczema and acne. A tea from the same parts of the plant should purify the blood and is a home remedy for worms. This is not scientifically proven.
mythology
There are hardly any plants that contain so many myths as walnuts, which, in addition to their actually positive effect on their health, is probably due to the "brain-shaped" nut fruits. In the case of Christians, the nut kernel stands for the flesh of Jesus, who grew in the shell of Mary's belly, just like the nut fruit in the nutshell. Some representations show Joseph at the wedding with Mary with a walnut branch.
However, since the walnut stood for the child ripening in the uterus, that is for fertility, the sex-hostile church saw in it a danger. The walnut fruit was considered a sign of sinful lust. Presumably, therefore, monks were careful not to sleep under walnut trees, as it was a pity to their health.
The reference to fertility is also evident in popular belief. For example, in Styria many boys are to be born after a good walnut year.
Long wait
If you plant a walnut tree to eat walnuts you have to be very patient. It is not without reason that gardens with many of these tree veterans are considered particularly valuable in Iran. Such a tree is up to 160 years old, grows half of it in the air and forms a broad crown. Only after five to ten years, the tree is the first fruits.
The nuts are made of leaf organs, are round, oval or ovate, up to eight inches long and up to five inches wide. The nut is divided into four quarters, whose furrows are reminiscent of a brain - which created curious medical fantasies that are still widespread in the esoteric scene today.
Fesendschān is an Iranian dish with either chicken or lamb served with pomegranate and walnuts. (Image: uckyo / fotolia.com) Harvest walnuts
The trees provide good yields only from the age of about 40 years, the yield depends strongly on location and sun. Good crops yield up to 150 kilograms per tree. In Germany, the harvest falls in the period from late September to October. Then the green, intensely smelling shell bursts, the nuts dissolve out of the shell and fall to the ground.
At harvest, they are shaken out of the trees, put into rows, the remains of the outer shell are removed and the nuts are washed. Then they are stored airy and dry. Larger quantities are turned regularly, so that no mold can form. For drying nets are suitable. After drying, the nuts weigh only half and contain at most eight percent moisture. The nuts can be consumed throughout the year, because they last for many months.
Eat walnuts
Walnut is a jack-of-all-trades and plays a significant role in the kitchens of Iran, the Caucasus, Greece, Italy and France, be it Greek yogurt with walnut and honey, French goat cheese with walnut pieces or tortellini with walnut-gorgonzola sauce. Nut-liqueur is produced from semi-ripe green nuts, which is called Nocino in Italy and Orahovac in former Yugoslavia. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)