Nuts are an integral part to the caveman diet. In fact, a special someone ranting about eating too much nuts is what jumpstarted my reseach on the Caveman diet in the first place! Who would’ve known that someone else’s negative energy would’ve turned into one my biggest and most life changing discoveries? Thanks cupcake! But back to the subject, I wanted to talk about nuts today.

A lot of folks are misinformed about nuts. They are scared off by the same ridiculous rhetoric that influences them to buy such products as reduced fat oreos, and non fat yogurt.  These unfortunate souls are victims of sleek marketing and skewed medical research. It’s not the fat in oreos that makes you fat, it’s the sugar!  Time to move on to some REAL food and an excellent choice for daytime snacking: nuts.

Nuts are absolutely packed full of nutrients and energy. Monosaturated and omega 3 fats, B and E vitamins, protein, and other necessary minerals. The best way to eat them is RAW! While I do like the crunch and aroma of roasted nuts, I like the flavor and nutritional benefits of raw nuts more. Just the way nature intended. Remember that heat kills or alters nutrients in food to the point where they aren’t as beneficial, one of the many reasons I try to eat everything raw.

Check out this website on the 6 healthiest nuts and their many benefits. Being a proud Texan, I personally like pecans the most. I am not a huge fan of brazil nuts, but brazil nuts are usually cheap, and just look at how much Selenium they have! Nuts are awesome. Go to the bulk bins and load up all kinds of species. Nuts, unfortunately, are not subsidized like corn and soy are, so they are much more expensive, but a little goes a long way, and the benefits are 10 fold what you get from corn and soy anyways. If you want to save some money, buy them unshelled and find a shelling device for them. My York Texan Sheller works pretty well with the pecans I bought from Berdoll Farms (check these guys out if you’re driving between Austin and Bastrop on Hwy. 71! ). If you are lucky enough to have a pecan tree in your backyard or know someone who does, they almost always have an abundant harvest in the fall so stock up while you can! Unshelled pecans can last up to 9 months in the freezer!

Notice neither the link nor I made mention of peanuts. To me, peanuts are to nuts what corn is to vegetables. Sure, corn is sort of a vegetable, but nutritionally it’s more like a grain. It’s a cheap, mass produced readily available source of energy. Peanuts have some good stuff in them, but it’s like comparing a Natural Light canned beer to a finely crafted Shiner Bock Beer on tap. I won’t call peanuts bad, I just won’t call them good, although they are quite tasty at the rodeo or the Irish bar on the riverwalk in San Antonio. Go for the better nuts instead.

Go nuts, and enjoy.

Caveman