2 transl.: enough of nostalgia. «Enough of nostalgia, reality is that without her there is no peace, no beauty, it’s only sadness and melancholy... But if she comes back, if she comes back, such a beautiful thing, such a fool thing...» [Vinícius de Moraes, Chega de Saudade, 1958] Let's start with the cashew nuts, the anacardia. Their scientific name comes from the similarity of the fruit with the heart [from the Greek καρδιά, pron. kardia] but this could require an explanation, because cashew nuts do not match any heart-shape at all. If anything, they look like a kidney. And their scientific name does not only talk about heart, but also about a placement [ᾲνά, pron. anà, in Greek means 'above']: above the heart. In this case, in its entirety, the image of the fruit is worth a thousand etymologies, and it will make any alleged connection clear. As can be seen, cashew is only part of the fruit stemming from the Anacardium tree. The complete fruit, in fact, is composed of a fresh fruit - the apple cashew - and of a nut, our cashew nut, indeed. The part matching an apple actually looks like it and, just like it, it looks like a heart [a reversed one] too. On its side facing the ground lies the nutshell. If the apple were not upside down, cashew would be on its highest part. Indeed, upside down or not, cashew is still above... Even if it is a down from above. Therefore, cashew/kidney stands on the heart/apple - even if upside down - and hence its name anacardia, ‘above the heart’. However, suspicion is that being the most handy part, that ana- prefix, instead of ‘above’, could also be understood as ‘first’: first the kidney, then the heart. Translated into message for the human being [every plant got one]: at first you take the nourishment the kidney needs, and then you will be able to nourish your heart too. The fact that this indication is also the name of the whole plant seems to want to focus the spotlight on that specific part of the fruit. As if all the essence of the tree and its fruits were all about that. But why should we prioritise one side over the other? Kidney versus heart? The answer comes from Traditional Chinese Medicine, which assigns to each organ a psychic content, a mental energy. An emotion. Kidney matches fear leading to despondency and depression, heart matches joy. From here it comes easy to figure out of having to free kidney from fear, before being able to feel joy in our heart. What would kidney have to fear, especially in a Country like Brazil? That’s saudade. Which belongs to this land as the roots of the first cashew tree. Saudade is the seventh worldwide most difficult word to translate. A totally Brazilian feeling, pervading souls of those who live in this Country. Vague sadness, constant melancholy and deep nostalgia. This does not relate only to the past but also the future, to the extent that you cannot give up the hope of finding something that got lost, wasted, ended. And that depends on how much fear has made its way into kidneys, how much emotional space it has been able to conquer. Because if it is too much, the possibility of the future also vanishes along with hope, and from saudade it plunges into the swamp of depression. Precluding heart from the joy competing and belonging to it. However all is not lost, as demonstrated by the passage from the poignant texts of samba cançao to the odes to joie de vivre by bossa nova. As long as there will be cashews able to remove fear from kidneys and bossa nova to fill heart with joy, there will be the possibility of matar la saudade in its extreme emotional drift. Cashew nuts, natural antidepressants. What then is cashews’ secret? It is tryptophan, of which these nuts are an extraordinary source, therefore being excellent natural antidepressants. In fact tryptophan, crucial neurotransmitter in our body, is able to positively influence our mood. As an essential serotonin-precursor amino acid, it promotes the feeling of well-being and resting, and as a melatonin-precursor it also improves the quality sleep, key factor in psychophysical wellness. Two handfuls of cashews would be enough to get the most common and well-known antidepressant drugs’ benefits, without unwanted side effects but with all the advantages donated by other substances these nuts contain. Let's see them. - Magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, vitamin H, B1, B6, E, K, oleic acid, unsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Among all, vitamins H, B1, B6, then copper, potassium, magnesium and iron intervene to support our neural system. - On the other hand, phosphorus, which also helps the heart, and magnesium, preventing formation of kidney stones, come to cope with kidneys. - Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are effective against cholesterol, contributing to keep the HDL [or bad cholesterol] level low, while increasing LDL [or good cholesterol] levels. - By helping cells properly absorb sugars, cashew nuts are also effective in fighting against the type 2 diabetes. - Being rich in antioxidant substances, cashew nuts protect from free radical and oxidative tissue stress. In particular, zeaxanthin helps protect the eyes from the risk of ocular degeneration due to advancing age, which is often associated with depression. This further connection between cashew nuts and eyes closes the loop of an emotional process going from fear removal from kidney's place to joy’s enthronement above the heart’s place, which cannot be separated from a renewed ability to have the right vision of the past, the present and the future. In a word: hope. Translated into bossa nova: chega de saudade². 30 31 al nocciolo to the core
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