Enzyme Inhibitors and Nuts

Nuts are an extremely nutritious food if properly prepared. Traditional people always soaked or partially sprouted their seeds and nuts before they were eaten. This is because nuts contain numerous enzyme inhibitors, such as phytic acid, that can put a real strain on the digestive mechanism if consumed in excess. Nuts are easier to digest and their nutrients are more readily available if they are first soaked overnight in water and then dried. This method imitates the Aztec practice of soaking pumpkin and squash seeds and drying them in the sun before eating whole or grinding them into a meal. Soaking the nuts and seeds in water neutralizes the enzyme inhibitors and can increase the vitamin and mineral content.

Phytic acid and various enzyme inhibitors are naturally found in all grains, nuts and seeds. Phytic acid combines with iron, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc in the intestinal tract and interferes with the absorption of these important substances. Heat does not neutralize phytic acid or enzyme inhibitors. For this reason, all grains, nuts and seeds should either be sprouted, soaked in an acidic medium (such as lemon juice or whey), fermented or sour-leavened in order to make them more digestible and nourishing. Many people who are allergic to grains can tolerate them when they are prepared in this way.

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Comments

[johanna]

thanks for posting this info-i will now soak all my nuts and seeds--i used to only soak almonds..

i have one thought though--while soaking/sprouting changes the protein content, and maybe makes the vitamins more available, i doubt that it increases the mineral content. i would think that nuts, or anything soaked or boiled or steamed, would lose some minerals and/or other such solutes to the water (even out the solute gradient so to speak), while gaining moisture for the same reason.

[Carla]

Hi Johanna,
I got that information about the increase in vitamin and mineral content from the Wilderness Family Naturals site. They didn't give a example of which minerals, but they did talk about vitamins. They said that, through the germination process, soaking nuts and seeds increases the content of vitamin C, vitamin B and carotenes. I was surprised to read this, too. If it happens with vitamins, I imagine it's possible with minerals but I didn't research this further.

Carla