Some of the nut shells found during an excavation above Staffin Bay [©UHI]
Some of the nut shells found during an excavation above Staffin Bay [©UHI]
They were Picty eaters.
Like me, they would have been Nutella lovers.
I’ve met Hazel.
She has no nuts.
They look like filberts to me.
The only use I know for hazelnut is as a flavoring for coffee by the hoity toity types.
Therefore, the stone-agers at Sky were hoity toity coffee drinkers.
This would also explain the desire to develop the herding of cows. Gotta have flavored creams to go with that hazelnutted coffee.
They had a Starbucks back then?
Pre-deluvian?
The benefits:
◾Hazelnuts are very high in energy and loaded with numerous health-benefiting nutrients that are essential for optimum health. 100 g nuts carry 628 calories. They are rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids like oleic as well as essential fatty acid, linoleic acid that helps lower LDL or bad cholesterol and rise HDL or good cholesterol. Research studies suggest that Mediterranean diet plentiful in monounsaturated fatty acids help to prevent coronary artery disease, and strokes by favoring healthy blood lipid profile.
◾The nuts are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals and packed with numerous health promoting phyto-chemicals. Altogether, they help protect from diseases and cancers.
◾Hazels are exceptionally rich in folate, which is a unique feature for the nuts. 100 g fresh nuts carry 113 µg; that is, about 28% recommended daily intake of this vitamin. Folate is an important B-complex vitamin that helps prevent megaloblastic anemia, and most importantly, neural tube defects in the newborn. Good news for the expectant mothers!
◾Hazel nuts are an excellent source of vitamin E; contain about 15 g per 100 g (providing 100% of RDA). Vitamin E is a powerful lipid soluble antioxidant required for maintaining the integrity of cell membrane of mucusa and skin by protecting it from harmful oxygen-free radicals.
◾The nuts, like in almonds, are free from gluten, and therefore, safe alternative food sources that can be employed in the preparation of gluten-free food formulas for gluten-sensitive, wheat allergic, and celiac disease patients.
◾Besides being rich in folates, they are packed with many other important B-complex groups of vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, and pyridoxine (vitamin B-6).
◾They are rich source of minerals like manganese, potassium, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium. Copper and manganese are essential co-factors for anti-oxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron helps prevent microcytic-anemia. Magnesium and phosphorus are important components of bone metabolism.
◾Hazelnut oil has nutty aroma and has excellent astringent properties. It helps keep skin well protected from dryness. The oil has also been used in cooking, and as “carrier or base oil” in traditional medicines in massage therapy, aromatherapy, in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.
Selection and storage
Hazelnuts can be available in the market year around. In the stores, several different forms of hazels can be sold such as shelled, unshelled, salted, sweetened, or ground, etc. Try to buy unshelled (with the outer shell) raw nuts instead of processed ones. The nuts should feature bright brown-yellow color, compact, uniform in size and feel heavy in hand. They should not feature any surface cracks, molds, and spots and free from rancid smell.
Unshelled hazels can be stored in cool dry place for years. Store shelled (without their outer coat) nuts, however, inside an airtight container and place in the refrigerator to avoid them turn rancid.
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