Why You Should Be Nuts About Soaking Your Nuts

If you have ever tasted soaked nuts you will know what I'm talking about here..  They taste amazing! But apart from the taste and how versatile they become, there is another very important point I need to make. It's called phytic acid, sounds kinda ewh right? Well, it's a very natural substance nuts, seeds and also beans and legumes produce to protect themselves from all their enemies like the little spider that landed on the page of your latest Dan Brown distraction...
Anyways, back to my point, phytic acid when ingested binds to minerals such as zinc, iron, magnesium, calcium, manganese and chromium. This will then inhibit the absorption of these precious and essential minerals, making them unavailable for our body. Also, it will make it more difficult for our gastrointestinal tract to break down and digest the nut properly because unsoaked nuts also come with enzyme inhibitors.

But there's help! Soaking your nuts will deactivate the phytic acid and neutralise the enzyme inhibitors.

All you need is your nuts and clean water, you can also add a bit of salt or lemon juice if you want. Soak the nuts over night, some need a shorter soaking time like cashews or walnuts, but it won't hurt if their bath is a little longer.

Once the soaking process is finished, rinse the nuts again and keep in a sieve to dry. You can store them in a glass jar for up to two days in the fridge.

And rather than just eating them on their own (which I know is delicious enough) you can also try making nut cheese, macadamia nut hummus or raw cheesecakes.. I guess another post is due soon.. Nom nomm!