Nuts are a common ingredient in raw or living food recipes. They are used in cakes and crusts, pate, milks, nut burgers and more. Nuts are filling, satisfying and help you replicate some of the cooked foods you may be accustomed to.
Unfortunately in the US those raw nuts may not really be raw. Even though the label says raw. What that “raw” label may only mean is the nuts have not been roasted.
Most nuts are flash pasteurized. In some cases the nuts are required by law to be pasteurized. This is the case with almonds.
For some people this is not a big problem. But for those who are trying to stay on a 100% live food diet it is. You may believe you are all raw when in fact you are not.
Cashews are often used in raw food recipes because they help creat creamy texture in sauces and cheeses. Cashews are very rarely raw. Cashew nuts have a toxic resin inside the shell. They must be opened properly to prevent this resin from getting on the nut. The process most often used to extract the nut requires steaming the shell open.
So what do you do?
• Use seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin, hemp instead. Use buckwheat. Experiment with soaking and sprouting to see what works best.
• Look for truly raw nuts. Unpasteurized almonds grown in other countries can be found online or in some stores.
• Ask your local health food store about their nuts. If they cater to the raw food community they may carry truly raw nuts.
• Find a local grower and buy directly from them.
• By direct from growers using their websites. They may be allowed to sell small amounts of unpasteurized nuts directly to consumers.
• Search for online retailers that offer unpasteurized nuts such as Live Super Foods.
• When you locate a source buy in bulk to reduce the per pound cost. Store them in your refrigerator to keep them fresh.
Have you found a source for really raw nuts? Or do you not worry about it?
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How does pasture izng hurt the nuts why r pasteurized but bad
Reg, If you are trying to eat 100% raw then pasteurized nuts don’t belong in your diet. The problem is they are labeled raw so people don’t know what they are getting. If you aren’t worried about eating all raw then it’s no problem.