Brazil nuts are the rockstars of trail mixes: They’re easy to spot, staking their claim in an otherwise-crowded space. But these oversized nuts do more than just look cool—they can also do your health a major solid.
That’s the big takeaway from a new study that linked regularly eating Brazil nuts with reduced inflammation and better gut health. Here’s what the research found, plus how to incorporate Brazil nuts into your life.
Meet the expert: Jessica Cording, RD, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety.
What did the study find?
For the study, which was published in The Journal of Nutrition in September, researchers conducted an eight-week controlled trial where 56 overweight or obese women were divided into two groups. One group was asked to have eight grams of Brazil nuts a day in addition to having a calorie-restricted diet, while the other group was on a nut-free plan.
At the end of the study, the researchers found that the Brazil nut group had lower values of various inflammatory markers. The women who ate Brazil nuts also had lower levels of gut permeability, which is means less material passed from the inside of the gut wall to the cells lining it.
Do Brazil nuts reduce inflammation?
That’s hard to say for sure, given that this was just one study—and it was pretty small, as far as studies go. But this isn’t the first time Brazil nuts have been linked to lower levels of bodily inflammation.
“Brazil nuts provide healthy fat and are a good source of the antioxidant selenium, which has been noted for its anti-inflammatory benefits,” says Jessica Cording, RD, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. “One nut has 68 to 91 micrograms of selenium, which is more than the 55 micrograms recommended per day for most healthy adults.”
How can I incorporate Brazil nuts into my diet?
Keep in mind that there is a sweet spot with Brazil nuts, and more isn’t necessarily better. You can develop something known as selenium toxicity if you have too many, so it’s best to moderate yourself with just a few a day, Cording says. (Symptoms of selenium toxicity include nausea, vomiting, nail discoloration, fatigue, and more.)
The National Institutes of Health lists the tolerable upper limit of selenium as 400 micrograms a day for most adults, and Brazil nuts have 544 micrograms of selenium per one-ounce serving, which is six to eight nuts. To be safe, you really shouldn’t have more than four or five Brazil nuts in one day.
But, if you’re into adding Brazil nuts into your diet, Cording says you can eat them as-is or mixed with other nuts. “You can put them in a smoothie, or chop them up and add to oatmeal, a yogurt bowl, or a salad,” she says.
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
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