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Are seeds in the same boat as nuts?

RawsikiRawsiki Raw Newbie

I know that you should limit your intake of nuts daily because a) they are fattening and b) they tend to give people diarreha

But what about seeds? Flax? Chia? Sunflower? A lot of recipes have a lot of seeds in them, and I am worried about weight gain and a stomach ache.

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Comments

  • jenergyjenergy Raw Newbie

    Ooh! Good question! Can’t wait to hear the answers. I think, from what I’ve read here before, that seeds don’t have the high fat content that nuts do, but not positive about that. Been wondering about this myself.

  • coconuttycoconutty Raw Newbie

    Good Q! I recall reading before that seeds were generally a little more digestable and better for us than nuts. I’m not sure though. I know I do better with seeds. Sometimes I can feel a bit off when I eat too many nuts, and then they also have that darn addictive quality. I don’t have that problem with seeds! Although I love my tahini… but I never get that that too heavy feeling from it.

  • Nuts do the opposite for me, they block me up, make me sluggish and give me cravings for more. Seeds don’t seem to have the same effect, but I’m interested to hear everyone else’s thoughts.

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    If you soak your nuts first, then you can dry them with a dehydrator – that way, you avoid most digestive problems.

  • achin70achin70 Raw Newbie

    David Wolfe believes seeds are a lighter food. He esp. believes hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds and flax seeds are important to add to one’s diet. I do notice seeds generally have less fat, esp. compared to high oil content nuts like mac nut and brazil nuts. Also, I’ve been told seeds tend to have more fiber. :)

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    Germinated nut have helped digestion in the beginning of going raw. But too much of them (mostly dehydrated) and digestion slows down. Nuts or seeds!

  • David Wolf is right flax, hemp and pumpkin seeds are very important to eat regaularly. Flax because of its omega3, hemp for the same, it has the ideal balance of omega6 and omega3, all essential amino acids and a perfect immmun stimulant, and pumpkin because of the zinc and delta phytosterol, which is a good antioxidant and especially important for men. Seeds I think has a bit less fat content than most nuts, but much less than macadamias and pecans. Sprouting is a god idea too as germin8 said to make them more digestable.

  • chia seeds are great for omegas and are really low in fat (for a seed). they are actually higher in complex carbs than fat (by weight).

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    Seeds are sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seed…

    Nuts are pecans, walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts…

    The best way my husband and I could differentiate is that a nut comes from a tree… and a seed comes from a plant (flower, pumpkin, etc). This just seemed to make sense to us. But, I could be wrong… we didn’t check into that.

  • I have so much trouble with nuts, seeds are not an exception for me. They cause just as much pain—that’s even after soaking/sprouting and allowing to dry.

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    Make sure the nuts you eat are raw. I haven’t had any issues with raw nuts, but cooked ones, ugh!

    Shelled Brazils, pecans, almonds macadamias and cashews are NOT raw.

    Nuts are always better soaked and sprouted too.

  • achin70achin70 Raw Newbie

    Zoe: Your list of non-raw nuts is news to me.

    I know that most cashews are not raw, but sunfood.com’s cashews are supposed to be truly raw, since they’re opened by hand, which makes them a lot more expensive!

    Most almonds on the market are not raw anymore either, but I read small (I don’t know how small) U.S. farms are exempt from having to heat steam their almonds. Maybe these raw websites also buy at least some of their raw almonds from outside the country?

    Could you please provide more info on why Brazils, mac nuts and pecans are not raw? Thanks!

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    Yes, brazils are steamed or/and boiled to shell them Pecans too. When Macadamias are harvested they are so wet that they are dried at high temps quickly so they don’t get mouldy and are sometimes heated during shelling.

    We can get spanish and middle eastern almonds here in the UK which are raw.

    Check out our Dead Food List for more info: http://purelyraw.com/deadfoodlist.htm

    It needs updating, we haven’t got almonds on there yet!

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    I do not eat nuts anymore because they are very fatty and mucus forming. However, I still include small amounts of seeds such as flax, hemp, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin. I think seeds have greater nutritional value with all the omega 3s and they are easier to digest for some people as opposed to nuts. Nuts are more prone to mould and fungus in storage too.

     

  • achin70achin70 Raw Newbie

    One final comment: I was reading last night, and I noticed seeds are generally more alkaline/less acidic than nuts. Another reason to emphasize seeds in the diet! :)

  • Hey Zoe, I didn’t know almonds are mostly not raw, do you know the brands of almonds that are raw?

    It would be good to have a list of brands of products which you have found are raw, just so difficult raw shopping in the UK!

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    achin70 - if you germinate, nuts/seeds become more alkaline.

  • ras-saadonras-saadon Raw Newbie

    About nuts being raw or nut, on the cause of almonds as Zoe said, middle-eastern&Spanish nuts ARE RAW, also outside of the US you can also get raw California almonds, that mandatory pasteurizing law doesn't affect almonds that are for export, in Israel I used to work in a organic shop and all the almonds we got were from California and all of them stated largely "unpasteurized", as to pecans you can just buy unshelled pecans and shell them yourself, its cheaper and very easy, I actually enjoy it, its a sort of "occupational therapy " for me, hold two together in your hand and press, the shell breaks rather easily..I guess the same holds for macadamia only they have a much harder shell so you need a large stone or something, I have a friend that has a tree, she used to give me bags of them each time, no idea on brazil though, never heard of an unshelled brazil nut..

  • LilEarthMuffinLilEarthMuffin Raw Newbie

    Does any one have any suggestions on how long to soak seeds, and what exactly you soak them in?

    What are the "best" seeds that you can eat? Which ones are the easiest to digest?

    Thanks : P

     

  • ras-saadonras-saadon Raw Newbie

    Well I soak mine in water overnight but I think the smaller the seed, the less time it needs soaking, for example sesame I don't soak more then a few hours, is there anything else to soak them in? no idea on which ones are easiest to digest though, as I have a pretty strong stomach and never had any problems with any type of raw food but I think that the less fat it has the easier it should be to digest..

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    No matter what a recipe may say about soaking, I always refer to Sprout People. As far as I am concerned they are the experts on how long seeds and nuts should be soaked.

    This site has a chart that includes what the sprouted yield should be. For more in depth information on sprouting and detailed information on different seeds and nuts you might also check here.

  • Californian almonds must be pasteurized now by law, no matter the size of the farm, to be sold retail. Farms can sell raw nuts directly to individuals, although I'm not sure of quantity limitations. You can purchase raw nuts at Trader Joe's, which have been imported from Spain.

    As for unshelled Brazil nuts, we use to get them in the shell at Christmastime when I was a kid. Not sure if you can still buy them that way retail. But, man, they were really a lot of work to shell by hand, harder than any other nut I've shelled. The shell is pretty strongly attached to nut. We had metal nut crackers that came with a metal pick, and you had to dig out the nut.

  • pixxpixx Raw Master

    nutsonline.com sells in shell brazils, pecans, etc. I have had good experiences with them, but have yet to purchase any in shell from them yet- plan on it though. Do watch what you buy from them, though- look at the ingredient list, because some things they carry are full of stuff we really don't want. If you click one of their links in the "just show me" section (ie: "natural", or "raw nuts", etc) it will wade through it all for you.

  • pixxpixx Raw Master

    Check this out- I've found soaked & dehydrated nuts, and nut butters. (I've not ordered anything, but have heard others here mention this company/family.) I thought, since this thread has talked abut germinating nuts/seeds, that folks here might want to know about this. For those without a dehydrator, or the time/patience to do it yourself. The nuts start about halfway down the page.

    http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/raw.htm

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    Wow, I am impressed!

    I knew someone would come up with that someday... except, I guess their almonds are imported.

    The price is double to (an already expensive) Whole Foods where nut betters cost $12 there (~12 oz)... and these are $15 for germinated-raw (~8oz).

    I've always wondered why raw almond butter (btw, the kind that is raw but not bioactive (i.e. not really raw)) doesn't look white... because when I try to make almond butter it's white! In the pictures on the wildernessfamilynaturals website... they actually look 'whiter'... a good sign!

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    Actually, that stuff can't last that long out of the fridge... or in a jar... can it?

    How long is the shelf life?

    And when you open it, how long is it fresh for?

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    Yeah, Better Than Roasted is a brand that sells nut butters and nuts that are soaked, sprouted, and dehydrated. I got my friend a Brazil nut one that she loved and I think I've bought the whole almonds and the cashew butter. I don't eat those a lot, though, anymore, so I haven't bought it in a while. My recollection is that it's about four times the price of conventional stuff.

  • LilEarthMuffinLilEarthMuffin Raw Newbie

    Speaking of almond butter does anyone know how long it can stay good for in the fridge after its been opened?

     

  • ras-saadonras-saadon Raw Newbie

    Well I had almond butter OUTSIDE the fridge staying good for around 2 weeks, it didn't go bad I just ate it all within that time frame, should almond butter be kept in the fridge? mine doesn't say so on the box..

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    Still... nobody knows how long it will last?

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