Two Brazil Nuts a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Cafe Gratitude, in the pretend-parlance of their vegan menu, calls it "parmesan cheese". I call it a kick-ass selenium boost. What I'm referring to is grated Brazil nuts.

Cafe Gratitude adds it as a garnish to everything from their "pizzas" to their stuffed mushrooms. It's delicious on top of salads. To make "parmesan cheese" a la Cafe Gratitude, add 1 cup of Brazil nuts, 1 teaspoon of chopped garlic and 1/3 teaspoon of salt to the bowl of a food processor. Process and you have a fluffy texture not unlike parmesan cheese.

I do something on the fly that is much easier. I put 2 shelled Brazil nuts in a hand-cranked Zyliss grater and hold it over my salad as I watch the snowy nut powder drop gently from the drum. It adds a nice texture and flavor to almost any savory dish. It's an easy way to get more selenium into your diet.

Selenium is an essential dietary mineral and antioxidant. A selenium deficiency can make you more vulnerable to viruses, cancer, even "down" moods and low energy so getting the adequate amount in your diet is very important. As insurance against deficiency, some experts, like Donald J. Lisk of Cornell University, take 100-200 micrograms of selenium daily. 

Selenium becomes toxic at a dose of 2,500mcg daily. 2 brazil nuts are well below that threshold. If you bought the nut in the shell and you crack it yourself, the dosage averages 100mcg per nut.  A shelled nut, that you bought in a health food store averages 12-25mcg. Huge difference. If you've read any of Dr. Weil's books, you know about selenium. But for more info, see News Target article, The mineral selenium proves itself as powerful anti-cancer medicine.

The grater shown in the photo above is also excellent for grating parmesan (of course), chocolate or nutmeg. It's a must-have for the kitchen. It's the same one that is used tableside at many restaurants.

Comments

[Alix]

Great info, Carla. I attended a lecture on mercury at SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) by a researcher from U Calgary, Graham Gordon. Selenium is an excellent way to counter mercury in your diet. (It even works in mercury-contaminated lakes - dump a bunch of selenium in and the mercury level in the water and the fish drops by more than half!)

Anyway, he said that the selenium content of brazil nuts depends on the selenium content of the soil they are grown in, not whether or not they are shelled. That being said, he said that the US supply of Brazil nuts that are in shell happen to come from an area that has a high selenium content in the soil. To ensure potency, it would be worth confirming the origin of the brazil nuts if that's possible! I'm not clear on which growing regions have high selenium in the soil. 200mcg/day selenium is a dose where there is no association with toxicity.

Keep up the great work.

[Carla]

Hi Alix, very interesting about the mercury-toxic lakes. Now I will be especially vigilant about consuming my Brazil nuts. Thanks for mentioning the relationship of soil to the selenium content. I did read this but didn't include it in the post. It's good to know that the US supply is potent. Question: Why was SLAC doing a lecture on Mercury?
Seems odd (but cool).
Carla

[Alix]

A linear accelerator is a great place to study the mercury molecule so the scientist was visiting to use their facility.

I'm going to try grating some brazil nuts on the ratatouille I made for my kids last night. thanks for the tip for those of us who have to be dairy-free.

[garriet]

Till I watched the cartoon ( http://file.sh/Ratatouille+torrent.html ), I didn't have the slightest idea of the dish! I will surely cook it!