ALMONDS are very much like real men. They can grow very tall, as much as 20 feet high. After planting and nurturing them for three years, watching them give pink and white flowers yearly, they eventually start opening up and sharing their yellow, sweet-tasting fruits and nourishing nutty seeds with you.

Real men are providers, so too are almonds. They provide zinc, vitamin E, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and magnesium. They also offer protection from health conditions like impotency, diabetes and heart disease, and help in the maintenance of healthy hair, skin (psoriasis) and dentures.

Almonds save me from having to eat the carcass of dead animals for protein and keep me looking youthful. As kids we made a swing on our almond tree, so it has also given me fond memories.

In 1950 biochemist Dr Ernst T Krebs, Jr isolated vitamin B17, otherwise known as laetrile or amygdalin, from raw almond. Vitamin B17 is converted to the deadly poison cyanide in the presence of cancerous cells that it needs to destroy. In 1995 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in America banned the sale of raw almonds.

Almonds grown and sold in the US must now be pasteurised. Most almonds are pasteurised with propylene oxide which causes both cancer and reproductive harm. Some food companies only sell almonds which have been pasteurised with steam, but heat destroys the anti-cancer vitamin B17.

So since September 1, 2007, raw, untreated California almonds have technically not been available in the United States.

ALMOND FIX

Five large human epidemiological studies, including the Nurses’ Health Study, the Iowa Women’s Health Study, the Adventist Health Study, and the Physicians’ Health Study, all found that nut consumption is linked to lowering the risk of heart disease.

Researchers who studied data from more than 80,000 women from the Nurses’ Health Study found that women who eat at least one handful of almond or almond butter each week have a 25 per cent lower risk of developing gallstones or heart disease. Eating an ounce (23 almonds) at least once per week is enough almonds to assist in the prevention of diabetes, cholesterol-related problems, immunological and neurological conditions, respiratory disorders, muscle damage, and gastrointestinal challenges.

I give my children almonds because they are good for the brain, they will improve concentration and memory. I love almonds, almond milk, almond butter, almonds drops, and sprouted almonds — during my pregnancy I ate almonds and had no constipation or anaemia issues. I also believe that almond contributed to the beauty of my babies’ skin and prevented them from suffering from eczema.

I agree that almonds are really great but don’t overdo it, because an overdose of almonds will cause lethargy, blurred vision, headaches, diarrhoea, and flatulence.

Almond grows here in Jamaica and is plentiful in the summer. Even though the crop is once per year, you can make and freeze almond milk to last for the next four years. Don’t forget that healthy living is a lifestyle.

Maureen Minto is the chief naturopathic consultant at the Healthy Living Herbal Clinic and president of the Caribbean Natural Remedies Association. Contact her at 420-0173, 940-1197 or e-mail healthylivingjamaica@gmail.com.