These Nuts are Healthiest

You can't really go wrong when choosing nuts to eat, as long as you pay attention to quality. By this I mean look for nuts that are organic and raw, not irradiated or pasteurized (see below for more details).

One exception is peanuts, which I typically avoid, and which are technically in the legume family. Along with being one of the most pesticide-laden foods you can eat, most peanuts are also contaminated with aflatoxin, a carcinogenic mold.

My favorite nuts are pecans, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts. Generally speaking, each type of nut will offer a slightly different mix of nutrients for your health. For instance:

·        Almonds: One of the healthiest aspects of almonds appears to be their skins, as they are rich in antioxidants including phenols, flavonoids and phenolic acids, which are typically associated with vegetables and fruits. As the Almond Board of California reported, a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry even revealed that a one-ounce serving of almonds has a similar amount of total polyphenols as a cup of steamed broccoli or green tea.

·        Walnuts: are good sources of plant-based omega-3 fats, natural phytosterols and antioxidants that are so powerful at free-radical scavenging that researchers called them "remarkable." Plus, walnuts may help reduce not only the risk of prostate cancer, but breast cancer as well.

·        Pecans: Pecans contain more than 19 vitamins and minerals, and research has shown they may help lower LDL cholesterol and promote healthy arteries.

·        Brazil Nuts: Brazil nuts are an excellent source of organic selenium, a powerful antioxidant-boosting mineral that may help prevent cancer.

Most Almonds in North America are Pasteurized -- Even if They're Labeled Raw

Unfortunately, it is difficult to find raw almonds in the United States, because the U.S. Department of Agriculture implemented a mandatory pasteurization program for almonds in 2007.

The Almond Board of California states they have conducted independent nutritional lab analyses that show pasteurization does not degrade the nutritional value of almonds, but this is also what is falsely claimed for pasteurized milk -- that the pasteurization process does not change its nutritional composition, or allergenicity.

We know, however, that raw milk and pasteurized milk are two very different foods from a health standpoint, and it stands to reason that raw and pasteurized almonds are too.

The Almond Board of California again states that the pasteurization processes for almonds are slightly different from the one used for milk and juice in that they only treat the surface of the nut, but the Cornucopia Institute states the USDA mandate "requires sanitation of almonds with a toxic fumigant or treatment with high-temperature heat." So please be aware that if you purchase almonds in North America, they will have gone through one of the following pasteurization methods:

·        Oil roasting, dry roasting, or blanching

·        Steam processing

·        Propylene Oxide (PPO) treatment (PPO is a highly toxic flammable chemical compound, once used as a racing fuel before it was prohibited for safety reasons)

Pasteurized almonds sold in North America can still be labeled "raw" even though they've been subjected to one of the treatment processes listed above.

There are generally no truly "raw" almonds sold in North America, so don't be misled. It is possible to purchase raw almonds in the U.S., but it has to be done very carefully from vendors selling small quantities that have a waiver from the pasteurization requirement.

The key is to find a company with the waiver that is NOT pasteurizing them. I personally enjoy raw almonds nearly every day, as it is an outstanding food.

Eating Nuts in Moderation is Best

You need to be cautious with the quantity of nuts you eat, but this is not because they will make you "fat," as many believe. Instead, the reason for moderation is that almost all nuts are top heavy in omega-6 fats and can upset your omega-6/omega-3 ratio.

As explained by Dr.Paul Jaminet, a trained astrophysicist and author of the book, Perfect Health Diet:

"It's really important to be low in omega-6 fats … When you're eating low-carb, you're necessarily eating a high-fat diet, and the quality of your fats becomes very important. It's very important to keep down the level of omega-6 fats, because the polyunsaturated fats in general become toxic if you get too much.

That's where you really have to avoid all these vegetable oils, because they can be very high in omega-6. Things like corn oil, safflower oil, soy bean oil – even canola oil – just have too much polyunsaturated fat."

Nuts also contain polyunsaturated fats, and certain nuts, like pistachios and cashews, contain slightly higher amounts of carbohydrates than nuts like almonds and walnuts, which is important to keep in mind if you're following a low-carb diet, and especially if you have high levels of insulin, high blood pressure, excess weight, high cholesterol or diabetes.

References:

·        i Circulation. 2002 Sep 10;106(11):1327-32.

·        ii Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003 Nov;27(11):1365-72.

·        iii Obesity (2007) 15, 107–116; doi:10.1038/oby.2007.507

·        iv J. Agric. Food Chem., 2006, 54 (14), pp 5027–5033

·        v Antioxidative Polyphenols from Walnuts, Phytochemistry, August 2003: 63(7); 795-801, Toshiyuki Fukuda, et al.

·        vi The Cornucopia Institute, The Authentic Almond Project

All brown skin nuts have phytates (in the skin) and should be soaked and dehydrated....phytic acid in legumes and nuts is why folks have always said "they are hard to digest" and why people started blanching them or roasting them to make more digestible....native Americans soaked and ground their pecans into a paste to make digestible....most of the raw food community recommends dehydrating at 105° max as higher may deplete some of the valuable enzymes...pine nuts, cashews and macadamia nuts do not have this issue as they don't have the brown skin...

Soaking releases the phytates into the water, which is why it's important to soak for hours and pour off the water and rinse thoroughly. Heating doesn't have the same effect.

Nuts can contain more phytic acid than grains.

Animals that are vegatarian like cows can digest phytic acid an we humans are unable to do this.

Phytic acid is an inhibitor of minerals being absorbed and as well as inhibits digestive enzymes. Although, many nutrients are of benefit in the nuts they do have plenty of anti nutrients just as any seed.

I tend to define my moderation as a small serving as not to offset the balance of omega 3/6 ratio AS WELL AS a break from eating them in which I use my intuition to determine that time. After gorging on nuts for a period the break period for me can be weeks to months and this works for me personally. There are plenty of ways to get your vital serving of omega 6 fatty acid, which seems to be omnipresent in diet.

RAW ALMOND TEST

?Place one cup of almonds into a bowl

?Cover almonds with water and let sit for 12 hours

?In the morning, drain and rinse the almonds

?Squeeze the almond to see if you can remove the almond from the skin.

?If the skin can be removed by the skin kind of sliding off the almond, the almonds have been pasteurized in some way. The easier the skin removes, the more treatments the almonds received.

?If you have to use your fingers to peel the skin off the almonds, piece by piece, then the almonds have not been pasteurized.

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Until next time……..have some nuts !