Nutritional Powerhouse
Maya Nut has historically been used by native people and traditional healers to treat a wide variety of ailments including colitis, gastritis, arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, infertility and lactation problems. Research supports some of these claims. Studies of the roasted, ground seed have found that Maya Nut is extremely high in anti-inflammatory compounds, antioxidants, and prebiotic fiber that would effectively treat these conditions. The ratio of calcium to magnesium in Maya Nut is optimal for calcium absorption, which supports indigenous claims that it is good for arthritis and osteoporosis.
Maya Nut is not a true nut. It is very low in fat. It contains no toxic alkaloids or allergens. It is not affected by aflatoxin and is 100% gluten and caffeine free. It has a low (<29) Glycemic Index, indicating it is ok for diabetics or those on a low carbohydrate diet.
Maya Nut has the same antioxidant content as raw cacao. The protein of Maya Nut has a more complete amino acid profile than other plant sources. This is because it is very high in tryptophan, an amino acid that is limiting in most plant foods. Compared with soy flour, Maya powder has 1.12g/100g tryptophan, whereas soy has .68 g/100g.
Maya Nut is very high in minerals Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium. Because of the minerals, Maya Nut can help to alkalinize the body and can help prevent or mitigate osteoporosis and arthritis. Maya Nut is excellent to help heal broken bones and to keep bones strong.
Maya Nut is Very high in prebiotic (soluble) fiber. This type of fiber feeds our gut biome (bacteria), increasing the population and diversity of good gut bacteria and reducing the bad guys. A healthy gut produces abundant short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which are critical for colon health. In fact, SCFAs are the main source of nutrition for the cells in your colon. SCFAs also play an important role in health and disease. They may reduce the risk of inflammatory diseases (Alzheimer’s, asthma, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and others) as well as autoimmune and allergic diseases.
For more information about the role of SCFA’s in health click here.
Baked goods made with Maya Nut
Maya Nut has exceptional nutritional, culinary and storage qualities. It can be prepared fresh or dried in more than 100 recipes for drinks, bread, salad, cookies, soup, tortillas, sauces, desserts and much more. It has free radical scavenging (preservative) activity higher than that of BHT, a commonly used food preservative. We have stored raw dried Maya Nut for 10 years and testing reveals that it retained all of its nutritional value, and that it had no mold or fungus infestation at all after all that time in storage!
Maya Nut Seeds
Fresh Maya Nut seed can be boiled for eating and tastes like potatoes. Once boiled, it can be diced, mashed, ground or pickled to create delicious, sweet or savory dishes. We have not yet discovered a means of packaging fresh Maya Nut to make it available outside its native range. If you are in the US and are fortunate enough to live in Florida, there are trees there and you may be able to harvest from them, contact us to find out more!
The seed can be dried, roasted and ground to use for baking, hot and cold drinks, sauces, or a condiment. Once dried, Maya Nut can be stored for more than 10 years with no adverse effect on its flavor, aroma, nutrition, or appearance. Maya Nut cannot be eaten whole once it is dried, it MUST be roasted and ground to be edible. You cannot rehydrate or cook Maya Nut seed once it has been dried. We sell whole dried Maya Nuts on our website. For roasted Maya powder, please visit www.mayasuperfoods.com