Nuts
Botanists today believe that Solomon’s “garden of nuts” referred to in Scripture was a rich
grove of walnut trees. At the time, walnuts were prized for the oil they produced, which
was regarded as only slightly inferior to olive oil. The fact that walnuts were a delicious
treat and highly nutritious was an added bonus.
In other cultures of the time, walnuts were thought to bring good luck and good health.
The Romans called it the “royal” nut.
Again, it was no accident that these people of biblical times who included nuts in their
diets apparently were not troubled by many of the health disorders that seem to plague
us in these modern times such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
The belief that nuts were a powerful healing food continued into the Middle Ages. Walnuts
were considered so powerful that they were included in a prescription to ward off even
the dreaded Black Plague that swept Europe throughout the Middle Ages.
We now know that nuts contain the right mixtures of natural ingredients whose benefits
include cancer prevention, a lower risk of heart disease and help for diabetics.
The oil found in walnuts is considered healthful because it is one of these “good guy”
polyunsaturated fats and tends to lower blood cholesterol levels.
Nuts are just as much a part of the daily life and diet today in the countries surrounding
the Mediterranean as they were in biblical times when Jacob instructed Judah to send
them as a gift to Joseph, the governor of Egypt.
