The cashew nuts are produced mainly in India and Africa, although, the birth of the cashew crops took place in Brazil. India is the chief producer and exporter of the cashew nuts.

The coverings of these cashew nuts, known as apples, are taken off and the nuts extracted out from the shell are subject to various treatments to eliminate the presence of the caustic oil that is naturally present in these nuts.

This is the reason behind the fact that these nuts are always available in the dried form. The cashew nuts, which are called raw nuts, are sometimes roasted to remove the oil.

The Health Benefits of Cashew Nuts

India is known for having the credit of growing the most popular variety of cashews. This variety is found in the form of consumable seeds of the species, Anarcardium occidentale, which is a tree of subtropical evergreen forests.

This species is the member of the other species group mainly found in Central and South America. The Portuguese are said to be responsible for bringing this species to India and East Africa.

It is interesting to know the fact that the cashew nuts are available in the form of a single variety as mentioned above. There is no information on the availability of any other variety.

These cashew nuts that are of bean shape, are grown on the tree that belongs to the group related to poison ivy. Thus, the covering of these nuts is found to contain the type of poison that causes irritation to the skin. It might be the case that by touching the shell, one develops the rashes on the skin.

This poison can be easily removed by carrying out the process of roasting on them.

The cashew nuts contain a variety of nutrients that include Vitamin B, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, the popular minerals like calcium and phosphorus and also, some other substances like thiamine, niacin, and riboflavin.


The cashew nuts have shown their potential in benefiting the health by helping in building the body muscles, removing problems from teeth and treating the loss of energy. This has been proven that the consumption of cashew nuts is helpful in decreasing the level of cholesterol in our body and thus, this leads to the lower risks of various heart-related problems.

The nuts are rich in other vital nutrients that are helpful in strengthening the immune system of the body, thereby making it strong enough to fight the various kinds of diseases and infections.

There are other nuts like almonds and walnuts that are also recommended along with cashew nuts over the other varieties of food items to diminish the amount of cholesterol in the body.