Raw Food Forums

Is it necessary to soak nuts and seeds?

I have heard that they contain enzyme inhibitors to preserve their contents until the proper environmental conditions awaken them to life! and that if they are eaten unsoaked or unsprouted  the inhibitors can interfere with your digestion and assimilation of their nutrients.

I would appreciate any comments.

Thanks...

Love and best wishes,

Lindi.

Hi LIndi, what you've heard is correct - nuts, seeds and grains do contain enzyme inhibitors and this means that they can lie dormant for long periods of time and only start growing when conditions are good (eg grains that are thousands of years old have been discovered in egyptian tombs and, when planted and watered, have then sprouted!)
Soaking them de-activates the inhibitors and makes the enzymes etc more available to your body and also allows easier digestion, so it is a good idea. Many recipes call for soaked nuts anyway, but if there is a recipe calling for dry nuts (or you just prefer eating them crunchy!) you can soak and then dehydrate them for about 10-12 hours (depending on the type) because this doesn't 're-activate' the inhibitors.
Have fun soaking away!
Freedom

I don't eat many nuts but soaking is a good idea. The only nuts I don't ever soak are walnuts because I like the way they tase unsoaked.

Joss

I have come across this answer from Doug Graham regarding soaking nuts/seeds because of enzyme inhibitors interferring with digestion.

It is in Living Nutrition Magazine vol. 17.

This is what he says -

Different kinds of enzyme inhibitors are located within the skins and the meat of nuts and seeds.  They do not, as commonly believed, inhibit the digestion of the nuts and seeds; rather, they inhibit germination.  Water inactivates some of the enzyme inhibitors and activates others.  The addition of water to any dried food, including nuts and seeds, does improve digestibility, but this is not related to the inhibition or activation of the food's enzymes.

Well there you go! I respect Dr Doug a lot so I'm tempted to believe that, but then every day new studies come out contradicting old ones... but if soaking does improve digestion, for whatever reason, I'll keep doing' it! Besides, they taste better soaked!

I think both are correct. The inhibitors are for the nuts growth, not related to our digestion/growth. However if you soak out the inhibitors and allow the nut/seed to start growing then it is easier to digest, and actually has more nutrients too. Make sense?

Yes, I think I'll stick with soaking too, although it's good to know that they are OK to eat unsoaked as well, handy when you may not have soaked any and feel you need for some nuts.

Blessings,

Lindi.

This may sound silly, but the nuts taste too rich if I soak them first. I eat em unsoaked in summer and only soak them for nut milk in winter.

Joss

Is this site/information wrong ?
or is soaking all that is needed to allow digestion

> The whole seeds cannot be digested, so they provide no nutritional or health benefits unless they are ground.

http://www.aicr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=dc_foods_flax

stephen

That site isn't living food based so they're not really interested in soaking.

Flax is a difficult one - it is an old Ayurvedic recommendation for bowel regulation, and soaking them seems to promote that side of their benefits even more, IF you don't chew well and break up the seeds.  They've got quite a protective coating on them, and if that is not broken they tend to move through the digestive tract fairly rapidly without breaking down, soaked or unsoaked.  So there is a health benefit for those with slow digestive systems anyway.

If you chew them well, and/or put them in a food processor/blender to break the outer layer of the seed, you can get to all the nutritional benefits inside the seed, the secret is breaking that outer layer.

As for having them ground, if you are buying them ground, not good, they contain a lot of essential fatty acids (why you can get flax seed oil) and once the hard coating on the seed is broken when they are ground, they essential fatty acids start breaking down quite rapidly, resulting in rancid oils.  A good quality ground flax seed should be in the fridge at the health food store and in your fridge at home, buying ground flax seeds off an unrefridgerated shelf is BAD.  Grinding your own flax seeds is fine.  Grinding your own soaked flax seeds which results in a bit of a mush is best, but most people prefer them ground unsoaked since you can sprinkle them more easily.  Unsoaked freshly ground linseeds are generally regarded as OK as they're usually consumed for the high omega3 (essential fatty acids) and soaking doesn't make that aspect of the seeds more available.

Thanks melb
I use them as flax crackers, I soak, add garlic/lemon then I used to run them through my vitamix before dehydrating
but it didn't really seem to make much difference to the seed, and it was a pain cleaning the blender
I don't know that I chew them much, I don't want to break a tooth
hmmm, looks like I'm not getting the benefit I should

Well you're getting the digestive system regulation benefit :)  Maybe chew a bit more :) Or maybe try putting only some of the soaked seeds in the blender and add a bit of extra liquid (the water/lemon juice/vegetable juice) to make it blend up more easily, then mix it in with the unblended soaked seeds?  Blended soaked flax seeds are a rather phlegmy consistency and appearance which unnerves some people, but it really does let you get to what's inside the outer seed casing, some whole seeds are fine for their bowel regulation effects.  Cleaning the blender should be a bit easier if it's a bit wetter.  Adding extra water just increases the dehydrating time, you just don't want to make them so wet they pour off the dehydrator tray. (It's always a bit of a joke with linseeds/flaxseeds in cooked bread and biscuits - they will always just slide out the other end unchewed.....)

Yes, This may be what the other site is referring to, thanks
I checked how I eat them today and I do grind them, case closed

People get unnerved with the unground seed crackers
Probably if I smothered it in caramel I wouldn't get a second glance

whole brown flaxseeds do tend to look a bit like lots of mini-*roaches in flaxseed crackers  rofl Understandable why they are a bit unnerving - I hope I'm not putting anyone off flaxseed crackers, just raising awareness of how they can appear. 

Glad to hear you are chewing them up a bit :) Chewing is good

Hi I'm just wondering how long people soak nuts for? Does it vary with different nuts and seeds. Should they be covered or left in the sun? Thanks

Hi Rodders,

Here's a guide to soaking times - it's from the Cafe Gratitude recipe book, which was the closest one to hand:

Almonds - 12 hours
Buckwheat - 6 hours
Cashews - 8 hours
Flax - 8 hours
Pecans - 2 hours
Pumpkin seeds - 4 to 6 hours
Sesame seeds - 4 hours
Sunflower seeds - 4 to 6 hours
Walnuts - 2 hours

It does vary from nut to nut.  Generally, the more "fatty" the nut, the less soak time is generally recommended.  In the list above, 8 hours for cashews seems a lot, but that might just be me.  I'd be tempted to only do a couple of hours on cashews.

I don't tend to cover mine, I just soak in a pyrex/glass bowl and leave it overnight (for almonds/flax, for example) and then you are good to go in the morning.  I don't intentionally put mine in the sun, but if they end up on the window sill with filtered light, then I don't worry too much.

I hope that helps.

What about dehydrating them? Is there any specific times for Dehydrating nuts and seed, probably less for the smaller ones, are almonds dehydrated for 12 or 24 hours?  How can you tell if they are 'ready' so that they are crunchy?
Thanks
regards
Frangipanni
 -_-

Simple answer - you taste them  :laugh:

I used to soak & dehydrate seeds & nuts every week for a past employer.  I'd do a pumpkin/sunflower seed mix and they would dehydrate for 1 day, almonds & brazil nuts could be up to 2 days (she wanted them really crunchy).  Dehydrating times could have been less, I'd put them in the dehydrator one day, and usually take them out when I arrived the following day.

It can also depend on how many trays you have and how well you space the nuts - if they are well 'spaced out' they will dry faster.

I think the covered/left in the sun idea is for supposedly sprouting rice,  I'm not sure about soaking rice, putting it ina glass jar in the sun and letting it swell up is sprouting or just letting it swell up with the water and almost cooking - either way it is allowing the rice to bestart breaking down/rotting once it is soaked and so must be deactivating the enzyme inhibitors.

I only soak in seeds/nuts in glass, so wouldn't like to leave it in the sun - it would get too hot, almost cooking - the soaking is supposedly to 'sprout' them - that happens in the dark in the soil, so I don't think in the sun is how it's meant to happen. I don't bother covering and particularly in the begonning I wouldn't bother covering - things swell up a lot, and it takes a while to judge how much room to allow :)

rofl
Thanks for that - I did some almonds and they took 2 days, I thought that they would be 'burned' or something   rofl
regards
Frangipanni   :snicker: