You may wonder if eating too many Brazil nuts is a bad idea. If you love these nuts so much, yet you want to make sure that you are not eating an excessive amount, it’s best to know these things.
After all, while these nuts are healthy, too many Brazil nuts can actually cause more harm than good to your body.
Let us explore what happens when you eat more Brazil nuts than you should and how many of these nuts are safe to eat per day.
Eating Too Many Brazil Nuts – What Can Happen?
How many Brazil nuts should you eat a day?
This is a question that arises in some people, especially those who are concerned about the selenium toxicity possible when eating too much of these nuts.
As you all know, it is a very nutritious nut that has a good amount of protein, healthy fats, phytochemicals, and minerals. They are also rich in selenium, which is an excellent antioxidant and mineral.
Brazil nuts are at the top of the charts when it comes to selenium content. This is a key mineral for promoting thyroid function and healthy metabolism. A single Brazil nut contains as much as 68 to 91 micrograms of this mineral. As for the RDA for selenium, it is 55 micrograms per day for adults.
With that in mind, a Brazil nut has 175 percent of the total RDA. But then again, the amount of selenium is not the same for all, depending on the water and soil condition where these trees grow.
You should also not eat too many of these nuts since it can lead to selenium toxicity. The upper limit for this mineral is 400 micrograms per day. ‘
Risks Of Eating Too Many Brazil Nuts
Too many Brazil nuts is definitely not good for you. With so much selenium, you can be prone to symptoms of excessive selenium in the body. These include a metallic taste in the mouth, nail loss, hair loss, diarrhea, fatigue, skin rashes, mottled teeth, and nausea.
But chronic symptoms are even worse. Among these are facial flushing, severe gastrointestinal issues, lightheadedness, tremors, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and cardiac failure. Or worse, death.
It is also worth noting that there are some people who have nut allergies, and they are not even supposed to be eating Brazil nuts.
This is why sticking to the normal amount is important to make sure you are getting the health benefits of selenium in Brazil nuts while at the same time preventing the nasty symptoms.
Final Thoughts
Brazil nuts are most certainly one of the healthiest foods that vegans should include in their diet.
But just to stay on the safe side, you need to limit your intake of these nuts to prevent having too much selenium in your body. This is particularly true if you are eating other foods high in selenium or taking a selenium supplement.