NUTS
Healthy nuts and seeds you should eat every day
Newsflash!
Nuts and seeds are super healthy and most of us aren’t eating enough of them. They
are a great natural source of vitamins, minerals, protein, fat, and fiber. Depending on
whose list you read, the number one healthiest nut is either the almond or the
walnut, but there’s no way to really rank them. The “healthiest nut” is the one with the
nutrients your body needs most on a given day. Of course no one knows which one
that is. So the best strategy is to eat a variety.
Here are the top healthiest nuts:
Almonds have as much calcium as milk, and contain magnesium, vitamin E,
selenium and lots of fiber. They can lower cholesterol and help prevent cancer.
Walnuts are extremely good for your heart and brain, and contain ellagic acid a
cancer-fighting antioxidant.
Pecans have tons of vitamins and minerals like Vitamins E and A, folic acid, calcium,
magnesium, copper, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, B vitamins, and zinc. And
they help lower cholesterol.
Brazil Nuts are a good source of protein, copper, niacin, magnesium, fiber, vitamin
E and selenium.
Cedar Nuts/Pine Nuts have Vitamins A, B, D, E, P and contain 70% of your body’s
required amino acids.
Cashews are rich in minerals like copper, magnesium, zinc, iron and biotin. They are
actually a low-fat nut, and like olive oil, they have a high concentration of oleic acid,
which is good for the ticker (your heart). Apparently, one big handful of cashews
provides one to two thousand milligrams of tryptophan, which will work as well as
prescription antidepressant Prozac.
Note: Cashews are not recommended for cancer patients due to potential levels of
fungus
Here are the top healthiest seeds:
Flax seeds Two tbsp of ground flax seed per day is ideal and easy to add to
oatmeal or smoothies. I also take Barleans Cold-Pressed Organic Flax Oil because it
is the best source of parent omega-3s (better than fish oil) and Lignans, super antioxidants that help fight cancer. It also contains a lot of fiber and can reduce your risk
of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Chia Seeds are incredibly healthy seeds rich in omega-3 oils, protein, anti-oxidants,
calcium, and fiber.
Hemp Seeds are a certified superfood with cancer and heart disease prevention
properties. They are high in protein and fiber, with balanced omega 3 and 6 fatty
acids.
Sunflower seeds also help prevent heart disease and cancer with phytochemicals,
folate, Vitamin E, selenium and copper.
Pumpkin Seeds are great for your immune system with lots of antioxidants
(carotenoids), omega-3 fatty acids and zinc.
Sesame Seeds are a good source of calcium, magnesium, zinc, fiber, iron, B1 and
phosphorus. They can lower blood pressure, and protect against liver damage.
Sesame seeds have also been linked to prevention of many diseases like arthritis,
asthma, migraine headaches, menopause, osteoporosis, and may even reduce PMS
symptoms.
Tahini is a ground sesame seed paste that’s popular ingredient in Middle Eastern
dishes we eat, like hummus.
Finally Apricot seeds (aka Apricot kernels), Apple seeds, and other bitter fruit
seeds contain Amygdalin aka Vitamin B17 which has incredibly powerful anticancer properties. There are many cases of people who cured their cancer with
Apricot kernels alone! The pharmaceutical Laetrile which is a concentrated form of
mygdalin has been used in cancer clinics for over 50 years.
Do Nut Eat These
The one nut you should not really eat much is the peanut, which is technically a
bean.
Here’s why:
Peanuts can contain a carcinogenic mold called aflatoxin, and they are notorious for
being one of the most pesticide-contaminated crops.
Instead of peanut butter, eat organic nut butters like Almond Butter, Sunflower Seed
Butter and Walnut butter instead of peanut butter.
Buy “Raw Organic“ don’t buy the fried, salted, roasted, honey-glazed, candied, or
any other “special flavour” nuts. Frying and roasting nuts converts the fats into an
unhealthy form, and most seasonings are made from artificial flavours, chemicals,
and preservatives, contain MSG, and are high in sodium.
If you want to maximize the nutrients you get from nuts, soak them in distilled or
purified water overnight. This helps neutralize enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid
both of which may affect digestion and absorption of the nutrients in seeds and nuts.
It can also help reduce the amount of pesticides on them if they are not organically
grown.
Simple Soaking Directions: Place 4 cups of nuts in a bowl with enough distilled
water to cover the nuts completely. Add a tablespoon of sea salt. This helps the
neutralize enzyme inhibitors. Different seeds and nuts have different soaking times,
but the easiest rule of thumb to remember is to let them soak 7 hours
(overnight). You may or may not like the taste of soggy nuts, so you’ll need to
dehydrate them in a dehydrator or oven for 12-24 hours. If you do it in the oven,
keep the temperature under 150 degrees and shift them around on the pan
occasionally. You don’t want to roast the nuts, just dry them out. Every oven is
different so it might take some experimentation to get the ideal drying time figured
out. And because this is essentially a 24 hour process it makes sense to do several
big batches at a time. Afterward compare the flavour of the soaked and dried nuts
versus the non-soaked nuts. You might be surprised to find they taste better,
depending on the nut and your taste.
One exception: Cashews should soak 6 hours or less and need to dry out quickly at
200-250 degrees or they can get funky.
Here’s a shopping list you can copy, paste, and print out:
Almonds
Walnuts
Pecans
Brazil Nuts
Cedar Nuts
Cashews
Sunflower Seeds
Pumpkin Seeds
Almond, Cashew or Sunflower Seed Butter
Tahini