When eating a health-promoting diet, it is important to have a great variety of food in your diet. This includes both animal foods and plant foods. We are being encouraged to eat more and more plant-based foods. The challenge can be that many plant-based foods are difficult to digest. I will be doing a series on how to properly prepare foods to release the most nutrients and not challenge our digestive systems.
Nuts and seeds are extremely nutritious and make great snacks, but along with grains and legumes, they have components that are called anti-nutrients. In nuts and seeds, these are phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. If we have a lot of these anti-nutrients in our diet, there can be irritation to the digestive system and nutritional deficiencies. Let’s look at these anti-nutrients individually.
Phytic Acid
- Physiological protectant of the nut or seed until it is time to germinate.
- Binds to minerals in the gastrointestinal tract.
- Blocks absorption of many key nutrients.
Enzyme Inhibitors
- These are nature’s defense mechanism until the nut or seed is ready to germinate or sprout.
- Binds up minerals.
- Can cause digestive strain.
In order to neutralize these anti-nutrients and allow the nuts and seeds to be easily digested, proper preparation is required. This involves soaking the nut or seed in a salt-water solution for a specific time; then they can be dehydrated in the oven or dehydrator.
Soaking creates the moist environment that mimics nature. This process starts germination and neutralizes the enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid. The process makes nuts and seeds easier on our digestive systems, and ultimately allows for better absorption of the nutrients. It also helps breakdown complex carbohydrates.
How to Properly Prepare Nuts and Seeds
Things you will need include raw nuts/seeds (organic is best), clean filtered water, good salt such as sea, Himalayan, Celtic, and an oven or dehydrator.
This is for 4 cups (about 1 pound) of nuts or seeds
- Place nuts in a large glass bowl, cover with 1 to 2 inches of clean/filtered water.
- Add the amount of salt for the specific nut or seed per the chart below, stir.
- Cover the bowl with a large plate or towel and set on the counter for the allotted time.
- After soaking, drain. The salt can be rinsed but not necessary.
- To dry, spread out on a parchment paper lined sheet pan and place in the oven, or spread out on your dehydrator sheets and place in dehydrator.
- For oven, set at the lowest temperature, most ovens have a warm setting. Keep in oven for the amount of time suggested. The time will depend on the size of the nut, and the length of time they were soaked. For the dehydrator, set your dehydrator to the specified temperature and dehydrate for the suggested time.
- You will want to check how the nuts or seeds are drying by removing one, allowing to cool, and then tasting to see if it is to the point you want it.
- Once dry, allow to cool, and then place in glass containers and store in the refrigerator keep them fresh.
Here is the dehydrator that I use for drying nuts and seeds almost weekly.
Each nut or seed has specific salt requirements, soaking times, drying temperatures, and duration so check out the easy to use chart for specific nuts and seeds. You may not realize you have trouble digesting raw nuts or seeds until you eat them properly prepared. As a free gift, I am offering the information sheet how to properly prepare nuts. You can get it here. For additional information on properly preparing foods the book Nourishing Traditions is a great resource.
Do you enjoy nuts and seeds? Did you know that they contained antinutrients that can affect your digestion?
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Heather
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