Hey! So I’m obviously new to raw foods, I have been getting really into it lately as I feel strongly about the health benefits. I’ve been incorporating more and more raw meals into my week. I bought Ani Phyo’s cookbook, which has great recipes in it and is how I first heard about the live food lifestyle. She says in her book to soak all nuts and seeds, which I am doing, but after reading posts on here and other websites, I doubt that I am doing it right. I’ve been buying bulk nuts from Whole Foods that say they are raw and organic. But I’ve read that these nuts are not actually raw. Is this so? It kind of makes sense that maybe they are not, as they just sit in those bulk bins and are not refrigerated or anything. So when I soak these nuts am I just wasting time? Also what is the difference between soaking and sprouting and which is better? Why do one over the other? Can you buy nuts already soaked and dehydrated? I don’t have a dehydrator yet so I have just been drying nuts outside, is this ok? I am very confused!! Any advice is greatly appreciated, or maybe a recommendation of a book I can pick up to explain all this stuff? Thankssss :-)
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I’m going nuts, too!
I found this depressing (but informative) page yesterday:
http://chetday.com/nutprocessing.html
I think that soaking starts the germination process if a nut or seed is viable. In that case, the nutritional profile is altered. I think I’ve read that fats start turning into proteins and enzyme levels increase. If the seed is not viable, soaking may still be desirable from a texture and flavor standpoint. You’d have to try it and see if you like it better. I think dehydration after soaking or sprouting is yet another texture tweak.
In Alissa Cohen’s “Living On Live Food” book there is a table on sprouting. For each type of seed/nut/grain/bean (they’re all seeds, really), she suggests a soaking time, which is followed by some number of days in which you rinse and drain the seeds. Another handy
If you draw any conclusions in your reading, I’d be interested to learn about them.
i soaked a bunch of almonds overnight recently and then dehydrated them (although I may not have allowed them to get completely dry … being raw is taking way more patience than I have!!) They ended up getting moldy! Yuck! any suggestions to keep that from happening?
so i soaked some cashews for about 2 or 3 hours yesterday afternoon, put them outside on a tray to dry, brought them in once it started to get dark and put them in the fridge. This morning I noticed they were not dried out all the way and still kind of soggy. Are they going to make me sick now if I eat them? How long can you keep nuts like this or should I not be doing this at all? I have a sensitive immune system and it worries me! thanks for all your advice everyone!!
Thank you so much for all your advice, you are all so helpful! debbietook your article is so clear, it helped me out! I am trying to relax and take it slow, but there is so much to learn, it’s exciting. So, am I understanding this right; a lot of nuts are not actually raw, so not to worry about soaking, just eat them as they are? Doesn’t this mean I am not getting the nutritional benefits from them though?
I wanted the cashews for a recipe, but I don’t think I’m going to use them as they are still sitting in the fridge soggy. I don’t know enough about the safety of eating them if I didn’t fully dehydrate them. (They are not in water; after I put them outside to dry after I soaked them, then I wrapped them up in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. What would have been the proper way to do this? I need a dehydrator don’t I!?)
I have an un-common autoimmune disease (a white blood cell disorder) and cannot tolerate most foods and all preservatives, so my diet is already very clean and close to raw. I have been traveling around the country meeting doctors and trying all sorts of treatment but cannot find anything that has helped me. It’s very discouraging. So I already eat lots of fruits, veggies, some nuts(but I wasn’t eating them raw), and I was eating chicken and fish as well.
The impression I’m getting from you guys is nuts don’t make up a large amount of your diet? From my cookbook and the stuff I’ve been researching online, it seems most recipes main ingredient are nuts so I assumed this was the main protein resource and therefore you ate a lot of nuts. Is this wrong? Sorry if I seem naive, I am trying to learn as much as possible because I really want to do this the right way! I am hoping that on a live food diet it may help improve my illness, or better yet, cure it!
So what are your main food sources? Should I be eating nuts sparingly? It seems people have opposing opinions on this topic as some say nuts are very high in fat and some say that doesn
wow zoe, you have some ridiculously good looking skin.
you do like botox whatever. or you use chemicals.
i remember you saying a post, your off the nuts / seeds, and hittin' the avocados up.