Roasted, Raw or Sprouted?

Most nuts come from the seeds or dried fruits of trees and have an outer shell that is nature’s perfect way of protecting the nut kernel and keeps the healthy fats from spoiling. Hermetically sealed the nut does not become contaminated and spoiled as does meat, for example. Unfortunately though, most nuts are shelled and oxidation begins. Worse still, these “raw” nuts are heated above 140 F and are no longer viable.

Raw (or unroasted) nuts. Raw nuts are in a dormant form and are not really alive. They taste good but maybe a little bland. They are easier to digest than roasted, more nutritious and easier to digest. Some people may have reactions to raw nuts.

Roasted nuts. While roasted nuts have a lot more flavor than raw nuts, there are some definite disadvantages to them: 1) added oils, 2) added ingredients, 3) more difficult to digest, and 4) less nutritional value.

Nuts can be either dry roasted or roasted in oil. As you probably already know, dry-roasted nuts contain less fat than nuts roasted in oil. In fact, roasting nuts in oil is a lot like deep frying—nuts are dumped into highly saturated palm kernel or coconut oils, adding about a gram of fat.

Then roasted nuts are often heavily salted and almost always have other ingredients added to them such as sugar, corn syrup, MSG, preservatives, and other additives. Besides being toxic these additives cause us to eat too much.

Roasted nuts are very difficult to digest and adding more fats during roasting makes them even more difficult to digest.

Finally, roasting destroys much of the nutritional content of nuts
and it destroys the enzymes needed by the body to help with digestion.

So roasted nuts may have more flavor than raw nuts—but at a price: your health.

Sprouted nuts, In most cases, taste better than raw nuts and because they are alive, are far more nutritious than raw or roasted nuts. They digest very easily. Spouting nuts completely changes the make up of the nut and may no longer cause any problems for the people that are sensitive to raw nuts. The process is not new. It dates back thousands of years and is still practiced today in non-meat-eating cultures where nuts are a staple food.

The nuts are soaked for 8-24 hours, causing the nuts to begin germinating. This changes the makeup of the nut from dormant state to alive state. The nuts are then removed from the water and slowly dried at a low temperature.
While much more time-consuming, sprouting makes nuts more digestible, gives them much greater nutritional value, makes them crunchier, and best of all, releases an unmistakably fresher flavor. If seasoning is desired, spray with liquid aminos and sprinkle on Spike Seasoning (dried veggies).