06 August, 2012

Activating Nuts

The term always makes me think of an assortment of nuts sitting in a self-help seminar but alas no, that is not what I am referring to.

Activating nuts is a way to make them more absorbable and cause less intolerance symptoms. They deactivate the evil anti-nutrient phytic acid. Did you know that nuts are a good source of fibre? Enter my digestion woes! What I have found is that by eating activated nuts, my tummy is much happier. The price is exorbitant so I'm giving it a go myself with raw, organic nuts sourced from the Nutty Sisters in the Hornsby markets of a Thursday morning.

There are many ideas as to how to activate nuts but they essentially say to soak nuts in filtered water with some salt for a few hours then dehydrate them till thoroughly dried in an oven or a dehydrator. The heat should be not too hot as you don't want to destroy all those lovely compounds you just made available.

I separate the nuts into their density (determined a lot by their fat content) to determine how long to soak them for.

Cashews and macademias - 4-6 hours
Brazil nuts and walnuts - 6-8 hours
Almonds and hazelnuts - closer to 12 hours

Ingredients
  • 4 cups of nuts separated with their soaking buddies
  • 1 teaspoon of rock/sea salt
  • Enough (warm) filtered water to cover the nuts in a bowl
Method
  1. Place nuts in a bowl.
  2. Dissolve salt in water and pour over nuts.
  3. Soak for described time.
  4. Drain and place on a sheet in the oven to dry on the lowest heat for 12-24 hours.
Picture 1 - 2 bowls of nuts with friends playing together in the brine


Picture 2 - a side shot of the muck that comes out when you soak nuts. If you aren't soaking, then you're eating it. 

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