Nuts!

When eating more RAW foods, nuts can be your best friend (if you don’t have an allergic reaction to nuts), I know that for a fact because I have quite a few recipes that include this versatile food. With nuts I make power house smoothies, smooth & crunchy nut butters, knobbly burgers, to run home for cheesecake and my infamous Kale Krispy Krisps.

Nuts vary in calories and have different levels of nutritional quality, here are a few of the most common ones in order of calories (per 100 gms)  starting with the lowest first:

Pistachio – 567

Cashew – 574

Almond – 578

Hazel nut – 628

Walnut – 654

Pecan – 691

Macadamia – 716

 Something to bear in mind……

Did you know that it is advisable to soak your nuts before you ingest them? Here’s why,

We have an inability to digest nuts comfortably due to not having the enzyme phytase to breakdown phytic acid .

Nuts contain phytic acid which is an enzyme inhibiter. Phytic acid love minerals and wrap themselves around them to stop any nutritional substance coming out until the nut is germinating. The nut begins to germinate when put in the right conditions e.g. when it comes into contact with water, hence the soaking.

When you soak a nut you are giving it the opportunity to germinate and it can then release the minerals it was holding onto so enabling your body to receive this goodness.

So if you feel uncomfortable after eating nuts this maybe the reason.

 Let’s take this further……

If you really really like your nuts you maybe thinking all this soaking malarky is not for me, fear not you can actually buy ‘activated nuts’. Yes, someone has already done the soaking for you,  you will pay a bit more for your nuts but that’s to take into account the soaking and drying process. Personally I think it’s great to know this option exists because  it could be life changing for the avid nut lover. See link below, there are even some flavoured nuts too.

http://www.rawecstasy.co.uk/product-category/plain-activated-nuts-seeds/