Tiger Nuts Review – Should You Try It?

Tiger Nuts are small root vegetables that purportedly made up 80% of our Paleolithic ancestors’ diets 2 million years ago. Is this really an “ancient superfood” or just another health craze? Here’s our tiger nuts review.

What Are Tiger Nuts?

Tiger Nuts, contrary to what you might expect from the name, are not nuts at all. Instead, they’re small root vegetables.

The vegetables have recently been making a comeback after 2 million years. The growth of paleo dieting has led to big growth in the nuts and grains industries. Tiger nut retailers often claim that our ancestors ate tiger nuts 2 million years ago.

Organic Gemini, for example, actually claims that tiger nuts “comprised 80% of our paleo ancestors’ diet around 2 million years ago”, citing an Oxford University study.

If you haven’t heard of tiger nuts, then you’re certainly not alone. However, some people know these tubers by another name, like chufa, nookon, chufa sedge, nut grass, yellow nutsedge, tiger nut sedge, or earth almonds.

The official taxonomical name for tiger nuts is Cyperus esculentus. It’s a type of sedge crop that is widespread across much of the world.

Tiger nuts are native to most of the Western Hemisphere but can also be found throughout southern Europe, Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, and India. Many other countries and climates around the world have been able to successfully naturalize the sedge, including Ukraine, China, Hawaii, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Java, New South Wales, and various oceanic islands around the world.

Why are you only hearing about tiger nuts now? Well, up until recently, Spain was the only country that actually consumed its tiger nuts (a drink called horchata de chufa is popular throughout Spain). In most other countries, tiger nuts and the Cyperus esculentus sedge are considered weeds.

Health Benefits of Tiger Nuts

Tiger nuts are prized as a valuable source of resistant starch, which is a prebiotic fiber that resists digestion and becomes fuel for probiotic bacteria within the body. Just one ounce of tiger nuts has 40% of our daily recommended fiber intake.

Some of the biggest fans of tiger nuts claim that they’re an ancient superfood unlike any other health snack product on the market. Some of the other benefits of tiger nuts include:

• Nut-free (they’re tubers, not nuts, and are probably safe if you have nut allergies)
• 100% gluten-free, 100% organic, 100% allergen free, 100% dairy free
• High in fiber
• Low in calories and fats
• Paleo-friendly

Not all tiger nut manufactures sell nuts that are certified organic. Organic Gemini, which is America’s number one retailer of tiger nuts, sells USDA-certified organic tiger nuts.

How to Buy Tiger Nuts

Tiger nuts are available from a small number of manufacturers around the world. Organic Gemini appears to be the industry’s biggest provider of tiger nuts. That company sells all of the following products, including certified organic tiger nuts:

— TigerNut Raw Snack ($6 for a 5 Oz Bag): Raw, organic, sun-dried TigerNuts that come with a sweet and slightly nutty flavor.

— Sliced TigerNut Raw Snack ($9 for a 6 Oz Bag): These are the same raw, organic, sun-dried TigerNuts but they come in thin wafers that are easier to chew. Organic Gemini recommends using them on top of salads, yogurts, breakfast cereal, or baked goods.

— TigerNut Snack Pack ($19 for a 3 Pack): This three pack contains peeled, sliced, and whole TigerNuts, helping you save 15% off purchasing the nuts at their regular price.

— TigerNut Raw Granola ($9 for 1 Package): The TigerNut granola is dehydrated instead of baking it to preserve the starch, vitamins, and nutrients inside the TigerNuts. Other ingredients in the granola include apples, maple syrup, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

— TigerNut Flour ($14 for a 16 Oz Bag): The TigerNut Flour is milled into a fine powder that can be used in baking recipes or as a smoothie booster. It promises to be savory and sweet while providing a nut-free, gluten-free alternative to flour. It also rises during baking.

— Peeled TigerNut Raw Snack ($7 for a 5 Oz Bag): Raw, organic TigerNuts where the outer skin has been removed to make the tuber softer and easier to chew.

— TigerNut Oil ($21 for a 250mL Bottle): TigerNut oil uses cold pressing to extract oil from the TigerNuts. The resulting oil has a higher smoke point than olive oil along with high levels of vitamin E and oleic acid. It also comes with over 10 grams of polyunsaturated fatty acid per serving and has higher oxidative stability than conventional cooking oils.

Organic Gemini claims that all its raw TigerNuts are made in small artisanal batches in Brooklyn. They also claim to be the only company making peeled TigerNuts without chemical treatments.

That company is the world’s major retailer of TigerNuts, although other companies have recently begun to offer their own products as well. However, Organic Gemini is the major TigerNuts retailer online. It’s important to note that Organic Gemini lists the nuts as TigerNuts, which is their branded form of tiger nuts. Tiger nuts themselves are not a branded item.

How to Eat Tiger Nuts

The Tiger Nut products listed above can be eaten straight out of the bag. Or, you can soak them in water to soften and enhance their flavor.

Some people also user tiger nuts to create something called horchata de chufa, which is a sweet, milk-like beverage popular in Spain.

Should You Add Tiger Nuts to your Diet?

Ultimately, tiger nuts are a rapidly emerging product that could be one of the next big health crazes. They’re rich with fiber and can be used to create oils or as a fiber additive for cereals and baked goods.

They’re also free from any nuts: they’re tubers / root vegetables and are not considered nuts – despite the name.

Tiger nuts haven’t quite given us enough evidence to show that they’re an “ancient superfood”, as Organic Gemini claims, but they’re certainly fiber-rich tubers you can use as a replacement for flours and conventional nuts in recipes and healthy snacks.