Flowering trees originated in northeastern Australia, and Aboriginal Australians ate walnuts. For this reason, eating too many Brazil nuts will cause selenium toxicity that causes hair loss, dizziness, irritability, fatigue, skin rashes, and other adverse effects. Despite being native to Australia, macadamia trees were first cultivated commercially in Hawaii. Hawaii has the perfect climate for trees.
They need a lot of rain, rich soil and warm weather to thrive, meaning regions that don't meet those requirements have to import macadamia nuts from Hawaii, South Africa, Latin America or Australia. At 20.9 grams of fat per pound, they contain more fat than any other nut, which is why people used to think that macadamia nuts were unhealthy. In Hawaii, unpeeled macadamias began the season with their highest net agricultural value in history, 100 cents per pound, and ended the season with a new record of 110 cents per pound. The Chinese are known for their consistent health practices, and walnuts are not primarily used in the kitchen, but are wound between the palm of the hand and fingers to improve blood circulation.
Brobible also discusses some other reasons for the high price, such as, although macadamia trees are available in 10 varieties, only two produce high-quality macadamia nuts. While there are ten species of macadamia trees, only 2 produce the expensive nuts, and it takes seven to 10 years for the trees to start producing nuts. According to Wikihow, it can take five years for an almond tree to start producing nuts, but other varieties can take up to 12 years before reaching their peak production point. Meanwhile, countries such as China, which import them on a large scale, are now working to grow their own crops because of the value of walnuts.
It takes 7 to 10 years for trees to start producing and flowering takes 4 to 6 months, which means that walnuts ripen at different times of the year. However, for the time being, demand for macadamia nuts exceeds supply, driving up prices. Nuts have many nutritional benefits, such as being a good source of iron, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. The high fat and sugar content makes macadamia nuts ideal for many healthy eating and weight loss programs, including the ketogenic diet, which reduces carbohydrates and emphasizes good fats.
And because trees take four to six months to bloom, all nuts ripen at different times of the year.