Soak Your Nuts!!!

Do you love to eat nuts as much as I do? Maybe you have heard that they are good for you. Yes, they are fattening, so too many nuts is not necessarily good. They also contain protein, but in order to access the protein you actually need to soak the nuts. This only works with raw nuts. I do not recommend eating roasted nuts for health. I like to put a handful or two of nuts in purified water overnight and then I have soaked nuts for the next day. You can soak more and just pour off the soaking water and rinse them and then add more water and refrigerate them for up to three days. I like to put these on my salad for lunch instead of meat. I make a yummy viniagrette from olive oil, raw apple cider vinegar and sea salt and pepper. I use half an avocado, and some sprouts and you can't get much healthier than for lunch.

Anyway, back to why you need to soak your nuts for maximum nutrition...seeds, beans, grains and nuts contain something called enzyme inhibitors. Enzyme inhibitors block the body's absorption of the enzymes/proteins. The purpose of these inhibitors is to prevent premature germination. When you plant a seed, it needs water to germinate. Once the seed germinates, all of the nutrients in the seed become available for the plant that begins to grow. It is the same with nuts and seeds that we eat, the nutrients are not actually available to the body unless the nuts and seeds have begun to germinate. Enzymes are one of the most important foods for us to eat. I will do a blog entry on them a little later. For now, soak your nuts! Make sure you use good water, not tap water. If your water has chemicals such as chlorine, your nuts will become toxic!! Always pour your soaking water off the nuts and rinse them. I believe the enzyme inhibitors are in the soaking water, anyway, don't use the water!! I would avoid peanuts, but almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, macadamia nuts are all great!