veggiegirl said:Hi,
I have been reading this newsgroup for a while, but never posted
anything. Now I have a couple of questions, that I hope somebody will
have an informed answer to.
I want to eat about 60 grams/2 ounces of nuts each day.
Personally I would strongly recommend against eating that many nuts.
Nuts are not a food one should eat every day. I found that even when I
shell the nuts and soak overnight (to remove anti-nutrients like enzyme
inhibitors) cause more health problems then benefits. Most nuts are high
in polyunsaturated fatty acids. High intake of such fats have been
repeatedly linked with cancer, heart and inflammatory diseases.
Quoted message said:I have learned
that you should always buy nuts unshelled and shell them yourself,
because shelled nuts are already rancid in the store. Do you know if
this is really necessary? I would buy packaged nuts, not the ones that
lay in plastic boxes in the open air all day.
Sometimes one can come across organic and really fresh looking nuts
which have been recently packaged, such nuts should be fine. Look for
the date.
Quoted message said:(I know shelling nuts is not that much work, but if I take everything:
washing, cutting and preparing all the vegetables, fruits and legumes I
eat, it almost feels like a day job to prepare my food)
I used to have the same problem - healthy eating takes more time then
what one may be used to. Instead of fighting it, I decided to make good
use of it. Now, most of the time when I prepare and eat food I consider
it a meditation or a relaxing break. A calming state during which one is
preparing healthy foods that are good for the body.
Quoted message said:I have another question about roasted nuts. No doubt oil roasted nuts
are bad, because of the refined vegetable oils used, and the high
temperature. But how bad are dry roasted nuts, like pistachio's? I think
I cannot even buy raw walnuts here, even the ones that you buy in the
shell appear to be roasted (sometimes they are black).
Roasting is usually done at high temperatures which easily damages the
highly unstable polyunsaturated fats.
Quoted message said:Last question: if roasting is so bad because it alters the fats, is
boiling almonds in order to blanch them also a no-no?
One of the reasons one is roasting, is to inactivate anti-nutrients in
nuts that would be harmful to humans. The same can be achieved through
soaking or sprouting. I don't know if boiling is a high enough
temperature(100C) to do that.
If you really want to eat nuts, always soak them overnight and do not
eat more then a few small hand fulls a week when they are in season. Pay
attention to any signs of inflammation or small aches and pains that my
suddenly appear after you started eating them. If you get any problems,
I would drop the nuts immediately.
--
Dawid Michalczyk
http://www.art.eonworks.com - Art and Illustration