2024

Why eat Brazil nuts? (Besides their irresistible taste, of course!) For starters, they are high in vitamin E and selenium, which help to protect cells from oxidative stress. Brazil nuts are also high in magnesium, which helps to reduce fatigue, contributes to the maintenance of normal bones, and has been associated with lower blood pressure levels. They are also high in unsaturated fat, vitamin B1, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, copper and manganese, and are a source of calcium and iron.[1]

Science has shown that the nutritious Brazil nut offers a plethora of health benefits. In 2022, the journal Foods published a systematic review [2] of 24 clinical trials that analyzed the effects of regular Brazil nut consumption on health. The findings showed improvement in antioxidant status through increased selenium levels in all studies that looked at antioxidant status regardless of the health status of the participants. Moreover, healthy individuals saw improved lipid markers and fasting glucose. Individuals with obesity saw improvement in markers of lipid metabolism. Participants with type 2 diabetes also experienced improved oxidative stress. The study also found that older adults with mild cognitive impairment improved verbal fluency.

In short, the review found that Brazil nuts offer potential health benefits in a wide range of areas. Read on to learn more about some of the most striking scientific findings involving this tasty nut.

Obesity and Weight Management

A randomized controlled trial from 2011[3]  investigated the effects of Brazil nut intake on antioxidant capacity, lipid and metabolic profiles and nutritive skin microcirculation in 17 obese adolescents. The study found that consumption of Brazil nuts improved participants’ lipid profile and microvascular function, possibly due to the high level of unsaturated fatty acids and bioactive substances in the nuts.

More recently, a randomized controlled trial from 2022[4] assessed the effect of eating Brazil nuts as part of an energy-restricted diet on body weight, body composition, cardiometabolic markers, and endothelial function in 40 women at cardiometabolic risk. The study found that participants who incorporated 15 g of Brazil nuts and 30 g of cashews into their diet each day had higher plasma selenium concentration, lower total body fat and improved lean mass percentage compared to the control group.

Cognitive Performance

A randomized controlled trial from 2016[5] assessed the cognitive effects of Brazil nut consumption compared to a control group avoiding nut consumption. Participants in the treatment group consumed one Brazil nut daily for six months. At the end of the study period, improvements in verbal fluency and constructional praxis were significantly greater in the supplemented group, suggesting that Brazil nut consumption can have positive effects on some cognitive functions in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.

Selenium Status

Brazil nuts are one of the richest known sources of selenium. In addition to protecting cells from oxidative stress, this nutrient is important for reproduction, thyroid gland function, DNA production, and protecting the body from damage caused by free radicals and from infection, according to the US National Institutes of Health.[6] A robust body of evidence shows that regular consumption of small amounts of Brazil nuts —just one per day— is highly effective at improving selenium status.[7] -[10]

Eggplant and Brazil Nut Crumble

Servings: 5

Eggplant ingredients:

2 eggplants

100 ml olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

Sauce ingredients:

250 g Greek yogurt

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground garlic

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp dijon mustard

¼ tsp ground pepper

4 tbsp olive oil

50 ml water

Crumble ingredients:

40 g rice flour

70 g oat flakes

70 g coarsely chopped Brazil nuts

4 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 minced garlic clove

60 ml water

50 g softened coconut oil

1 tsp sea salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°
2. Cut the eggplant into cubes and put them in a baking dish.
3. Sprinkle with oil and salt. Mix well with your hands.
4. Roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the Greek yogurt, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, dijon mustard, pepper and salt.
6. In another medium bowl, mix the crumble ingredients and work with your hands until you get the texture of moist earth.
7. Once the eggplant is ready, remove from the oven and mix with the yogurt sauce.
8. Scatter the crumble over the top and then return to the oven for around 30 minutes until the top is golden and the filling is bubbling.
9. Once ready, serve immediately.

References
 

[1] Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006.
 

[2] da Silva, A., et al. (2022). Effects of Regular Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa H.B.K.) Consumption on Health: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials. Foods, 11(18), 2925.
 

[3] Maranhão, P. A., et al. (2011). Brazil nuts intake improves lipid profile, oxidative stress and microvascular function in obese adolescents: a randomized controlled trial. Nutr Metab (Lond), 8(1), 32.
 

[4] Caldas, A., et al. (2022). Brazil and cashew nuts intake improve body composition and endothelial health in women at cardiometabolic risk (Brazilian Nuts Study): A randomized controlled trial. Br J Nutr, 1–38.
 

[5] Rita Cardoso, B., et al. (2016). Effects of Brazil nut consumption on selenium status and cognitive performance in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled pilot trial. Eur J Nutr, 55(1), 107–116.
 

[6] National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Selenium Fact Sheet for Consumers. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Selenium-Consumer/
 

[7] Cominetti, C., et al. (2012). Brazilian nut consumption improves selenium status and glutathione peroxidase activity and reduces atherogenic risk in obese women. Nutr Res, 32(6), 403–407.
 

[8] Cominetti, C., et al. (2011). Associations between glutathione peroxidase-1 Pro198Leu polymorphism, selenium status, and DNA damage levels in obese women after consumption of Brazil nuts. Nutrition, 27(9), 891–896.
 

[9] Stockler-Pinto, M. B., et al. (2012). Effect of Brazil nut supplementation on plasma levels of selenium in hemodialysis patients: 12 months of follow-up. J Ren Nutr, 22(4), 434–439.
 

[10] Rita Cardoso, B., et l. (2016). Effects of Brazil nut consumption on selenium status and cognitive performance in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled pilot trial. Eur J Nutr, 55(1), 107–116.
 

At a very young age, Tomás Treschanski left Argentina to train at Le Cordon Bleu and gain culinary experience in some of Europe’s most storied kitchens, including those of Azurmendi (Spain), Frantzén (Sweden) and 108 (Denmark). He later returned to Buenos Aires and opened Trescha, which recently earned one of the first Michelin stars ever awarded in Argentina. The restaurant’s experimental laboratory —known as the test kitchen— gives free rein to the chef’s creativity and experimentation.

You spent several years working in some of Europe’s top restaurants. How did these experiences shape your approach as a chef?

I believe that all the restaurants I’ve been through are part of me and shaped me into what my personality is within a kitchen. I was fortunate to be able to choose the restaurants where I worked. Also, many travels, both for eating and cooking, have contributed to my development. Beyond learning to cook in these restaurants, I learned to work within a kitchen, navigate teams and lead. I learned something different from each of them, and they all contributed different values to shape who I am today, which is obviously still evolving. One of the things I love most about this profession is that one never stops learning.

How would you describe your cooking style?

In our restaurant, we don’t adhere to a specific cuisine. Instead, we create a synergy between various cultures, regions, countries, ancient eras and modern techniques to develop a cooking style that resonates with us at Trescha. We aim to work without borders, without constraints, which is why we avoid fitting into any particular category, although we do have a definite French base and Nordic and Asian influences in many dishes.

What prompted you to return to Argentina and open your own restaurant?

The arrival of the pandemic was certainly what brought me back to the country, which I hadn't planned. That’s when the opportunity arose. But I believe that from the first day I stepped into a kitchen, I began to conceptualize my restaurant. There’s undoubtedly a challenge that all chefs in our country share —to continually grow the culinary culture and encourage producers to work towards delivering better products every day.

How would you describe the experience of dining at Trescha?

An intimate experience, centered on flavor and the product, creating a relaxed yet enjoyable dinner where people can get to know us and see what goes on in our day-to-day. Expect to interact extensively with everyone working in the restaurant —sommeliers, chefs and the front of the house.

The test kitchen is one of the most fascinating features of Trescha. What role does this space play in the development of your dishes?

I consider myself a very anxious person; I always enjoy changing dishes, exploring new ideas, and constantly enhancing our experience. The test kitchen is the place that allows us to focus exclusively on the development of dishes, techniques and ferments. We embrace mistakes, which are typically frowned upon in the kitchen. That’s the beauty of R&D —through errors, we discover fantastic things.

In your opinion, how can nuts and dried fruits improve a dish?

Nuts have been part of our recipes for thousands of years, holding significant value in our culture. Personally, I am a big fan of them, using them for both flavor and texture.

What’s next for Chef Tomás Treschanski?

Right now, I’m 100% focused on the restaurant and continuing to improve every day, which has been the goal from day one. Constantly challenging ourselves to be better than the day before. In the future, I would definitely like to create other spaces to share our ideas with more people.

QUICK-FIRE ROUND!

What do you enjoy the most about being a chef?

Eating is happiness —at least that’s how I see it. We consistently deliver joy.

What is your personal favorite dish with nuts or dried fruits?

I love romesco sauce, a typical Spanish sauce made with tomatoes, almonds and hazelnuts, perfect for accompanying proteins or vegetables.

What is the next big culinary trend?

For me, flavor is the most important aspect when sitting down in a restaurant.

What nuts or dried fruits do you always have in your kitchen at home?

Hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, pine nuts and pistachios, among others.

Jodie Johnston leads technical teams to implement and deliver market-leading innovation to ensure that food safety standards and best practices are met across store operations and with global supplier partners small and large. She has worked within many areas in both manufacturing and retailing, including fresh, ambient and quick service restaurants. Her extensive experience in the manufacturing industry includes setting up new factories from scratch, working for major global/UK brands, and leading technical and new product development teams for Tesco across the UK, Europe and Japan to support a sushi project. She is passionate about the food industry and engaging with schools and universities to support future talent. A massive coffee lover, she set up a coffee tasting experience from farm to cup in Guatemala.

Let’s start with the big picture. In your view, what are the big consumer trends of the moment?

The biggest consumer trend at the moment is health, in particular high protein and gut health.

And what does this mean for nuts and dried fruits?

It’s a great time for the nut industry, as nuts are such an important part of the diet and trends going forward. Nuts provide important nutrients, including fibre, plant protein and vitamins and minerals. People who eat more nuts tend to have a lower risk of heart disease, cancer and death from all causes. Although nuts have high fat and therefore calorie content, the majority of this is the “good” fat: unsaturated fat. There is some evidence to suggest that the physical structure of nuts —that is, the food matrix— means that our bodies can’t actually extract all of the energy (calories) that they contain when we eat them.

Unfortunately, consumption in the UK is currently low. Nut spreads have increased in popularity, with new varieties such as cashew and almond spreads offering us more choices. Nuts are also handy for snacking and make a tasty addition to stir-fries, curries, stews, pasta dishes, salads, breakfast cereals, porridge and yogurt.

Nuts and dried fruits are key to maintaining our health strategy through our “Eat Well” brand, where customers follow the flower to select the healthier options within our foodhall. This area also supports our compliance with the UK’s new HFSS legislation. Under these rules, any product which is considered to nutritionally be too high in fat, salt or sugar cannot be stored at the front of stores or at till points. This, in turn, is giving the dried fruit and nut industry more merchandising opportunities in these store locations, which is increasing the customer base and sales of these products.

In terms of product development, how is Marks & Spencer responding to key consumer trends?

At M&S, we are all about innovation and creating trends, such as our high-protein and gut health ranges, as well as our collaboration with the nutrition science company ZOE, which led to the launch of the M&S Food x ZOE Gut Shot. We also take a lot of pride in our dried fruit and nut category, which features market-leading quality, innovation and depth of range.

What are some of the main challenges you are currently facing in the supply chain, and what is Marks & Spencer doing to address these issues?

The main challenge within the dried fruit and nut industry would be around traceability, in particular being able to complete traceability within the supply chains back to the grower for each nut commodity. M&S are addressing this through understanding the risks presented at each stage of the supply chain from both a food safety and a responsible sourcing perspective. Where challenges present themselves, the dried fruit and nut industry needs to drive and improve this and implement mitigation measures to ensure that supply chains are as safe as possible for both the product and the people working in the industry.

Food safety is always a top concern. How do you ensure that the food products sold by Marks & Spencer are safe and high-quality?

At Marks & Spencer, we are committed to ensuring that our products are safe, legal and produced in line with our brand integrity and quality standards. Our wonderful supplier partners from which we source our products are responsible for delivery against their legal obligations, in addition to our food safety, quality and integrity requirements. Our Food Technology team are then accountable for working alongside our supply base in achieving the requirements for food safety, high quality and technical innovation that we are famous for. We have a robust set of monitoring procedures in place to ensure that risk is effectively managed and mitigated where appropriate, including independent auditing, a robust product testing program and regular visits to our supplier partners.

How does Marks & Spencer view the issue of sustainability and what efforts are you making in this area?

Sustainability is part of how we do business at M&S —it’s in our DNA. From the beginning, M&S has built trust by doing the right thing by our people and the communities we serve, and this remains one of the core values we live by today.

The unique relationship of trust between M&S and its customers runs much deeper than our community impact —it runs right through our entire value chain. You will hear us talk about protecting the magic of M&S, and that magic is summed up in the trusted value promise we make to our customers.

Our founders knew that value means much more than price; it means giving customers assurance that raw materials are sourced responsibly to protect the planet for tomorrow, providing confidence that the people who make and sell our products are treated fairly. It also means setting the standards that others follow, whether in terms of animal welfare or product traceability.

Equally, there is a new EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which will apply to all EU companies and parent companies. It aims to enhance the protection of the environment and human rights within the EU and globally, so I would recommend it as a topic of discussion at future INC meetings to understand how the dried fruit and nut industry will comply. In addition to this, at M&S we are also updating our nut sourcing policy for publication to our suppliers this year.