Nuts are a staple in a raw food diet, and are a great form of healthy fats and protein, among other things. Most of us raw foodies know about the importance of soaking nuts before their consumption. Being that I always am recommending to people to consume nuts as snacks, i thought i would share the importance of soakings and how it should be done!
Nuts contain high amounts of enzyme inhibitors. These enzymes are present because they prevent the nut from sprouting prematurely. You may relate to this if you grow plants or are into botany, when you have to soak seeds overnight sometimes before they will start sprouting. These enzyme inhibitors will put a major strain on your digestive system if they are not first removed due to the fact that the enzymes will not become activated and it will be left solely up to your body to try and break it down. This is why most of us get stomach aches from eating raw nuts. Soaking your nuts in warm water will neutralize these inhibitors and will increase the production of beneficial enzymes, leaving the food easier to break down and much easier to absorb the nutrients found in them.
Being a raw foodist, we are always speaking about how we must eat food in its original form, untouched. Through some readings, I found that when people would gather nuts or seeds (like the Aztechs) they would soak them in ocean water over night, and lay them in the sun to dry. This makes a lot of sense. I decided to try soaking nuts in a salt solution and just in warm water to see the difference.
Salt soaked nuts seemed to be even more easily digested than the water soaked ones! Soaking and dehydrating also seemed to bring out great flavor of the food!
Here is how your seeds/nuts should be soaked:
Pumpkin seeds/ Sunflower seeds
4 cups of raw seed/nut
2 tablespoons sea salt
filtered water
Soaking Time: 7 hours or overnight
Dehydrating time: 12-24 hours
Pecans/Walnuts
4 cups of nuts
2 teaspoons sea salt
filtered water
Soaking time: 7 hrs or overnight
Dehydrating time: 12-24 hours
Pecans and walnuts are more apt to go rancid and should be stored in an airtight jar in the refrigerator.
Almonds/Cashews/Macadamia nuts/Peanuts/Pine nuts/Hazelnuts
4 cups of raw nuts
1 tablespoon sea salt
filtered water
Soaking time: 7 hours or over night
Dehydrating time: 12- 24 hours
After you are done with your soak, be sure to rinse them very well! You will see that the soak water has become murky, this is what you want to get rid of!
Once you feel the difference in soaking your nuts you will always want to do it! If you dont want to dehydrate them you can store them in the refrigerator, but they will not keep for a very long time.
Before making milks or nutbutters be sure to soak them as well! It’s very important for ultimate digestion and absorption!
Nutrition Facts of Nuts and Seeds: (mg based on 100g of item)
Almonds:
- Vitamins B1, B2, and B3
- High amounts of calcium (254mg)
- Iron (4.4mg)
- Phosphorus ( 475mg)
- Protein (18.6g)
Cashews:
- Vitamins B1, B2 and B3
- Calcium (46mg)
- Iron (5mg)
- Phosphorus (428mg)
- Protein 18.5g
Macadamia:
- Vitamins B1,B2, and B3
- Calcium (48mg)
- Iron (2mg)
- Phosphorus (161mg)
- Protein (7.8g)
Pecans:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1, B2, and B3
- Vitamin C
- Calcium (74 mg)
- Iron (2.4mg)
- Phosphorus (325 mg)
- Potassium (300mg)
Pumpkin Seeds:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1, B2, and B3
- Calcium (51mg)
- Iron (11.2mg)
- Phosphorus (1,144mg)
- Protein (29g)
Sunflower Seeds:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1, B2, B3
- Calcium (120mg)
- Iron (47.3 mg)
- Phosphorus (6mg)
- Protein (24g)
Walnuts: (notice they are shaped like brains!! One of the only nuts high in Omega 3!)
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1,B2,B3
- Vitamin C
- Calcium (83mg)
- Iron (2.1mg)
- Phosphorus (380mg)
- Potassium (225mg)
- Protein (15g)
As you can see, not only are seeds and nuts great sources of protein, they are amazing bone builders due to the high amounts of beneficial calcium and phosphorus!
