How to Get a Lot More Nutrition from Nuts and Seeds

NUTS & SEEDS

I highly recommend that you include some nuts and seeds in your diet, and below are some tips on how to get the maximum nutritional benefits from them...

1. MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY "RAW"

There is a major difference between nuts & seeds that are "raw" and nuts and seeds that aren't "raw" and the difference can be "life" and "death".

If you planted a raw almond in the ground it could grow into an almond tree, and if you planted some raw pumpkin seeds in the ground they could grow into pumpkins, but unfortunately, most of the nuts and seeds that are sold in stores these days have been roasted, toasted, or pasteurized in order to extend their "shelf life" and these heating processes will often shorten their real life.

And to make matters worse, most of the nuts and seeds found in stores will also have salt and oil added to them.

Please understand that when you take something like raw almonds, and you roast them at 350 degrees, and then you dip them in oil and salt, you are basically taking a "health food" and turning it into a "junk food".

A lot of people don't realize just how much of the foods that they eat are actually seeds. (Oats, rice, wheat, corn, and beans are all seeds, and even things like "cocoa powder" is just ground up cocoa seeds.)

But if you took a bag of "Quaker Oats", or a box of "Uncle Ben's Rice", or a can of "Bush's Baked Beans" and you planted them in the ground, none of them would grow into anything except mold, because they're all dead and lifeless seeds due to all of the heating and processing that they have undergone.

A lot of people are living on diets that are mostly made up of "dead seeds" and other "dead things", and therefore, it should come as no surprise that when they switch to a diet that is based on raw and living foods, they suddenly feel a lot more "alive".

EXAMPLES OF THE LIFEFORCE IN RAW NUTS AND SEEDS
* Time-lapse photography has shown that some seeds will actually drill themselves into the ground, if you leave them on the ground without planting them.

* Seeds that were found in ancient pyramids and that were thousands of years old were planted and still grew.

* Millions of the trees in America are only here because squirrels will bury tree nuts in the ground to eat later, and sometimes they forget where they buried them. (This is known as "Accidental Squirrel Gardening".)

2. ROTATE THE TYPES OF NUTS AND SEEDS THAT YOU EAT

There are a lot of different edible nuts and seeds out there, so ideally don't just limit yourself to "peanuts", and keep in mind that all of the different nuts and seeds have their own unique nutritional benefits...

* "Pumpkin seeds" are known for being a good source of "zinc".

* "Flax seeds" are known for being rich in "omega 3 fatty acids".

* "Brazil nuts" are known for being incredibly high in "selenium".

Eating a wide variety of nuts and seeds is the key to getting the wide variety of nutritional benefits that nuts and seeds can provide, so why not have a handful of almonds as a snack today, a tablespoon of chia seeds in a smoothie tomorrow, and maybe some walnuts with a salad the next day?

3. CRACK THEM OPEN YOURSELF

Nuts and seeds are very nutritious, but they are also very dense, and on average are about 80% fat, so an ounce or two of nuts a day can be beneficial, while a pound a day is way too much for virtually anyone in my opinion.

In the past, we would have had to take the time to crack open nuts and seeds ourselves, but now-a-days grocery stores will sell large bags of already shelled and ready to eat nuts and seeds that are easy to overindulge in since you don't have to take the time to open anything except the bag, and they will also sell jars of "Nut Butter" which are especially easy to overindulge in since you don't even have to take the time to chew anything, and they will even sell nuts and seeds that come with highly addictive additives which make them so easy to overindulge that, "Bet you can't eat just one!"

So the best way to avoid eating too many nuts is to take the time to crack them yourself or to get them in as close to their natural state and as far away from their unnatural processed state as possible.

4. SOAK AND SPROUT THEM BEFORE YOU EAT THEM

Nuts and seeds contain something known as "enzyme inhibitors" and the purpose of enzyme inhibitors is to protect the nuts and seeds by keeping them in a hibernation state until the right conditions for life to begin (such as rain) present themselves, and soaking nuts and seeds in a bowl of water is one way of "tricking" the enzyme inhibitors into thinking that it's time to let the seeds "wake up" and start to grow.

Nuts and seeds are harder to digest than fruits and vegetables, but if you remove their enzyme inhibitors and turn on their life-force, it becomes easier to digest them.

Soaking nuts and seeds in water will also make them bigger and more filling. (Which means that you won't have to eat as many of them to feel satisfied.)

After soaking your nuts and seeds overnight, drain the water (which will look brown and dirty due to the phytic acid that was removed from the nuts and seeds during soaking) and then rinse the nuts and seeds well with clean water before eating them.

Once you have soaked your nuts and seeds, you can then take it a step further if you wish by actually sprouting them.

When you sprout nuts and seeds, they become even easier to digest, as well as more nutritious!

Even a lot of the grains which normally have to be cooked before eating such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas can actually be eaten completely raw if you take the time to sprout them first.

Keep in mind though, that in order for nuts and seeds to sprout, they have to be alive, and if you have ever wondered if the nuts and seeds that you are eating are dead or alive, there is no better way to find out than to see what happens if you try to sprout them.

To watch countless free videos on how to soak and sprout nuts and seeds at home, simply go to YouTube and type in "Soaking and Sprouting Nuts and Seeds"

And for anyone out there who is worried about "protein", it should be noted that grains are actually higher in protein / more "proteinaceous" when they are in their sprouted form, and that sprouts have a reputation for being strong enough to break through concrete...

BACK HOME NEXT