If you need to fulfill a salty craving, nuts are a good go-to snack. Everyone has their favorites, but there are a few nuts that you should probably just avoid. Sure, eating any salted nuts for too long isn't too healthy, but there are a lot of other reasons to avoid some nuts as well. In some cases, the conditions they're produced under aren't exactly ethical or good for the environment, while others are even poisonous or can cause long-term damage. From pine nuts to horse chestnuts, let's take a look at some nuts that you should not be eating.
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00:00If you're looking for a wholesome snack, nuts might seem like a surefire win.
00:05But some nuts are wildly unhealthy, or even harmful, and the human cost of harvesting
00:09them can sometimes be disturbingly high.
00:12Here are a few picks from the nut and seed aisle you may want to think twice about.
00:18Almonds
00:19Not only are these perennial favorites tasty, but they're good for you, too, and are used
00:23to make a popular alternative to milk for those looking to avoid dairy.
00:27But all that goodness comes at a price, and if you're trying to make more environmentally
00:31friendly choices, you might want to stop eating almonds.
00:35More than 80 percent of the world's almonds come from California, and it's a multibillion
00:39dollar industry.
00:40You've heard the horror stories of drought and wildfires in the States, now consider
00:44that every single almond you eat took a little more than a gallon of water to grow.
00:49That toll has led to a domino effect, even impacting the local salmon population, which
00:54is plagued by low water levels.
00:56But wait, almonds get worse.
00:59Bitter almonds
01:01Almond production is problematic, but bitter almonds can be straight-up deadly.
01:06Not to be confused with common sweet almonds, bitter almonds are actually apricot kernels.
01:11They lend almond flavor to things like marzipan, but eating them raw is dangerous.
01:16Raw bitter almonds have a compound inside them that the body converts to cyanide unless
01:21they're properly prepared.
01:22Case studies of people who eat them raw are nothing short of terrifying, including one
01:27case where a 67-year-old woman ate only a handful of bitter almonds, thinking they were
01:32medicinal.
01:33Just that small amount gave her lightheadedness and nausea, and when she had a dozen more,
01:38she was incapacitated and on her way to the emergency room within 15 minutes.
01:43Despite many claims online to the contrary, actual medical professionals advise people
01:47to avoid eating raw bitter almonds entirely.
01:50So, don't get medical advice from anonymous internet strangers.
01:54And speaking of horrible poisons...
01:56Cashews
01:58The majority of cashews come from India and Vietnam, and picking and processing them isn't
02:03easy.
02:04Cashew apples have several tough layers that need to be discarded, and those layers are
02:08toxic.
02:09Workers earn a pittance for shucking cashews, and many of them have suffered permanent damage
02:13from the toxic liquid that the shells release.
02:16An exposé by Time magazine uncovered that Vietnamese cashews are often the product of
02:21forced labor camps staffed by people addicted to drugs, and they coined the term blood cashews.
02:27If you love cashews, you might want to look into your favorite brand's source.
02:31But wait!
02:32Poisonous nuts don't end there.
02:35Horse chestnuts
02:36Healthy and delicious chestnuts are one of the nuts you need to eat more of.
02:40But you should never, ever eat horse chestnuts.
02:43They look similar, but horse chestnuts are completely smooth.
02:47The good kind of chestnuts have a little point, and the difference is crucial.
02:51Every part of the horse chestnut has a toxin that causes vomiting, and, in large enough
02:55doses, paralysis.
02:58Macadamia nuts
02:59Sure, macadamia nuts are delicious, but they're not as healthy as you might think.
03:04That's because a one-cup serving of macadamia nuts contains almost 1,000 calories, and it's
03:09incredibly easy to eat half your daily calorie allowance while you're munching.
03:13That same serving also has 102 grams of fat, which is more than you should get in a whole
03:18day.
03:20Pine nuts
03:21Popular in pesto, pine nuts might be just the finishing touch a recipe calls for.
03:26But there's a weird and completely unexplained thing that can happen to a small number of
03:30people who eat them.
03:32It's called pine mouth, or pine nut syndrome, and it's a temporary ailment that usually
03:37develops somewhere between 12 and 48 hours after eating the nuts.
03:41For a time, everything else will taste bitter, metallic, or rancid, and some people have
03:45had the taste last for months.
03:47The FDA issued an alert in 2011 that remains in effect today, but there's been no confirmation
03:53as to what causes it and how to prevent it.
03:56It's completely unpredictable, so if you have a special dinner coming up, you might want
04:00to skip the pine nuts just in case.