How do Barukas, also known as Baru Almonds, compare to other nuts?
There is a new nut on the market called Baru almonds labeled “barukas” or Baru nuts. Technically, it’s not a nut, but a seed native to the Brazilian Savannah. known as Cerrado that is now among the most threatened ecosystems on the planet. Over the past 30 years, much of the Cerrado ecosystem has been destroyed by extensive ranching and the production of food crops to fatten said livestock. If it is profitable not to cut down native trees and instead sell baru nuts, this can be good for the health of the ecosystem. But what about our health?
“Although it’s nuts are common and widely consumed, few studies report on their biological properties. They are high in polyphenol phytonutrients, which probably account for their high antioxidant activity. (About 90% of their phytonutrients are found in the skin.) Are they nutritious? Yes, but do they have any special health benefits – beyond that to treat dirty mice?
Researchers found that individuals who ate baru nuts showed lower cholesterol, suggesting that walnuts have “great potential for dietary use” in preventing and controlling cholesterol problems. But the individuals were rats, not humans, and walnuts were compared to lard. Almost everything lowers cholesterol compared to fat. However, there did not have There are no reports on the effects of baru nut consumption on human health, until: A randomized, controlled study in humans found that eating less than one ounce per day for six weeks resulted in a 9% reduction in LDL cholesterol. Twenty grams will be about 15 nuts or one date.
As with many other nut studies, even though study subjects were told to add nuts to their regular diet, there was no weight gain, possibly because nuts are so filling that we inadvertently reduced our intake of other foods throughout the day. How good is a 9.4% drop in LDL? This is the kind of drop we can get from regular almonds, although macadamia and pistachios might work even better, but they were at much higher doses. 20 grams of walnuts seems to work as well as 73 grams of almonds. So, on a per-serving basis or on a calorie basis, baru nuts seemed really special.
There are small studies of walnuts that show similar or even better results. In this case, for example, there were people given 25 grams of almonds for four weeks and achieved a nearly 6% reduction in their LDL cholesterol. In another study, after consumer with just 10 grams of almonds per day, or just seven individual almonds per day, study participants experienced a greater than 30% reduction in LDL over the same time period as bar nuts. Three times better LDL in half the dose of regular almonds, as you can see below and at 2:47 in my video Are Baruka Nuts the Healthiest Nut?.
Our biggest reason are Regular almonds are more reliable than baru almonds because studies have been repeated in more than a dozen randomized controlled trials, while in the only baru nut cholesterol trial, researchers found for LDL cholesterol there is no significant benefit, even at the same dose of 20 grams for even more – for eight weeks.
It’s disappointing, but it’s not the main reason I recommend choosing other nuts over bar nuts. I would do it because we can’t get raw walnuts. They contain certain compounds that must be inactivated by heat before we can eat them. The reason for raw peanuts are better because of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), so-called glycotoxins, which are known to contribute to increased oxidative stress and inflammation.
Glycotoxins are naturally present in uncooked animal foods, and cooking with dry heat like grilling can make things worse. The three highest levels on record were in bacon, fried hot dogs and fried chicken skin – nothing even comes close, not even Chicken McNuggets, as you can see below and at 3:50 in my video.
However, any food containing fat and protein can create AGEs at high enough temperatures. So, although plant foods tend to be relatively low in “even after cooking,” there are some high-fat, high-protein plant foods. But, again, AGEs are not a problem in most plant foods. Look at the content of AGEs in boiled tofu (for example, in soup), fried tofu, raw apple, baked apple, veggie burger – I was surprised that veggie burgers are very low in AGEs even when baked or fried – and nuts and seeds that are in the territory of tofu, especially when I see roasted nuts and it is recommended. seed oils when you have a choice. See below and at 4:33 in my video.
Dr.’s comment
In me List of tens of daysI recommend eating a quarter cup of nuts or seeds or two teaspoons of nut or seed oil each day. Why? See related posts below.
For those unfamiliar with advanced glycation end products (AGEs), check out the first two videos I made on them way back when: Glycotoxins and Avoid glycotoxins in food.
