RE: Ground up stuff [s]

[Guest guest]

Greetings Lu and all,

 

Soaking nuts partially rehydrates the nuts and diffuses out the tannic acid

in the dark-colored covering, and in these regards is constructive. Soaking

for a relatively brief time is sufficient. The easiest way to tell is to

soak for a bit, drain the soak water, rinse, then soak again for a short

while. When the soak water remains fairly clear, you're finished.

 

Frankly, the act of partially rehydrating the nuts is probably of greater

beneficial consequence for digestion. With rare exceptions, all nuts sold in

America are dehydrated. " Raw " nuts are simply those supposedly dehydrated at

low temperatures. But without dehydration, the unrefrigerated nuts would all

grow mold rather rapidly. So dehydrating nuts is one of those " shelf-life "

solutions.

 

Our digestive system primarily processes materials dissolved or suspended in

water. In other words, our system MUST find large quantities of water in

order to process the material, and in particular to rehydrate the nut and

move through all the nondigestible fiber. So water is first drawn from our

organs and systems. then we feel " thirsty " as our body reaches beyond its

present resources for a new water supply.

 

Unfortunately, every dehydratED food we eat is dehydratING once inside us.

That is, it forces our body to dip into and divert part of its existing

water supply. Rehydrating the nuts is at least somewhat helpful in this

regard.

 

The only instance requiring longer-term soaking is when you wish to sprout

(or in most cases, more properly " germinate " ) the nuts/seeds. But this does

appear to be your present goal.

 

As for the enzyme inhibitor, the entire discussion of enzymes is among the

great myths of the raw food movement and one of the primary reasons many

scientists ignore the raw food model. In general, heat destroys enzymes,

whereas changes in pH (acidity/alkalinity) activate them. Digestive enzymes

appear to be destroyed across a range of temperatures, with a few types of

enzymes biting the bullet even in the low 90s F (about 35 C) to the most

persistent enzymes at about 161 degrees F (about 72 C). The whole discussion

about 118 degrees and the like is bunk. In fact, 161 F (71.7 C) is chosen as

pasteurization temperature precisely because that is the temperature at

which the last of the " digestive enzymes " is known to be destroyed, NOT

because pasteurization at that temperature kills a the bacteria.

 

In contrast, changes in pH are sometimes perceived as activating or

deactivating enzymatic activity. So when you diffuse out the tannic (and

other) acids from the nut by soaking, in a sense you are " removing the

enzyme inhibitor. " However, the underlying mythology is that, by not cooking

the food, we preserve the digestive enzymes inherent in the food, thereby

decreasing the requirement for our own body to produce digestive enzymes.

While this is accurate, it is, at best, only marginally significant and NOT

a justification, in and of itself, for becoming a RF.

 

The digestive enzymes inherent in the food are of a type and of sufficient

quantity to break down the content of the nut/seed AS IT MATURES INTO A

PLANT. This may occur over several days or longer. In contrast. the sheer

quantity of enzymes required to digest the food in minutes or a few hours is

much greater than that inherent in the food itself. In other words, our body

MUST provide the lion's share of the digestive enzymes under any

circumstances.

 

Furthermore, there is some debate as to whether ANY of the digestive enzymes

inherent in the food contribute significantly to the digestive process. This

debate arises from the general knowledge that most enzymatic activity

requires that the enzymes first be part of some structure, as part of a cell

membrane. This is not well understood nor well researched, to my knowledge.

 

In any event, I urge ALL RFs, and especially all RF teachers, to cease

presenting the whole enzyme argument as a primary justification for choosing

RF. It's simply not correct biochemistry in any meaningful way.

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

 

 

Laura [lalumai]

Sunday, March 13, 2005 10:58 AM

rawfood

[Raw Food] Ground up stuff

 

 

 

 

In light of my recent discovery of dates I have decieded to make

date balls from a recipe that I found at a raw food recipe source

(http://www.rawsacramento.net/recipes.htm). Now after all the many

posts about soaking and enzyme inhibitors you may think that I have

been hanging around to many scandinavians but...do I still need to

soak the almonds or pecans before I grind them up with the dates?

and if so do I need to soak them for the same amount of time as when

making nut butter?

 

Love and kisses,

Lu