Keep on the Sunny Side

My close friend, Ted, mentioned that he was having difficulty with blood sugar level fluctuation. Mainly that often when he is deep in his work he suddenly finds himself painfully hungry, light-headed and way stressed out. I used to have the same issue - suddenly hungry and weak and stressed and no brain power to get myself fed properly. I promised Ted that I would make some suggestions for dietary changes and snacks that would effectively allay this problem.

I realized, as I sat down to write, that it is easier said than done. One can suggest, for example, that sprouting seeds and legumes is a great way to get a lot more nutrients out of those foods, but such a suggestion might well sound like Greek to someone who doesn’t have any associated context or background.

I believe this may be why so many people who want to “get healthier” find it difficult to do so. There are some fundamental shifts of habit, thought, and/or skill set that may have to be addressed. They are not so difficult as they are just so different.

This is my first draft of an offering of a super basic building block to a nutrified way of life. Because I am starting with snacks, I decided I would deal first with the germinating of seeds and legumes.

Now, now, don’t go rolling your eyes! It may sound really bland and boring, but nothing is what it seems. Even plain and bland, when I leave sprouted sunflower seeds or sprouted lentils out on the counter in the kitchen, they get nibbled by everyone in the house throughout the day. The inner nibbler will often be satisfied nibbling at whatever is easily available, so having healthy stuff around is a great first step to take.

Let’s start with sunflower seeds as a snack.
The roasted nuts and seeds widely available at the store have been processed. Without getting into a dissertation on processed food and chemically refined, heated, overheated, or possibly rancid oils in this article, let’s just say - In general, my impression is that if you want to be healthier, you want to avoid processed foods. You can get raw organic whole sunflower seeds at most markets that carry bulk items, Trader Joe’s, and health food stores. There are also good resources for ordering raw organic nuts and seeds online.

Raw nuts and seeds contain the enzyme inhibitors (my family calls them “phyto-goblins”) that make them last so long, but also make them difficult to digest. Enzyme inhibitors may also be somewhat toxic to us human folks, a situation discussed in detail in my blog article, The Importance of Soaking Nuts.

Not roasted and not raw? What do you do? Well, it is good to know that once they have germinated, seeds and legumes change a great deal. They are no longer just starchy. The amino acid content changes as they start to grow. They are much easier to digest and the nutrients are easier for your body to assimilate.

The absolute easiest things to start with are sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and mung beans.

Recipe for Germinating seeds:
Start with a half cup of sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds or mung beans) and put them into a bowl that holds more than 2 cups of water.
Add 1 1/2 cups of water of water.
Let the seeds soak over night. The next morning, pour them through a strainer (I use one a little bigger than the bowl) and move the strainer under running water to rinse them off well. They are ready to eat. Make only enough for a day or so, as they get brown after a while. If you need help remembering to soak your seeds at night, I have found the easiest solution is to associate the habit with an already ingrained one, like brushing your teeth or washing your face: Clean your teeth, clean your seeds. Soak them at night, rinse them in the morning.

Uses for soaked sunflower seeds:
You can add them to salads to create a much more substantial dish. (You can probably add much more than you think. I often add a half cup of soaked seeds to a salad)
You can add them to your morning oatmeal or granola.
For a quick snack, In 5 minutes you can chop a half an avocado, half a tomato, and toss in your soaked sunflower seeds with a little lemon, salt, and your choice of spices, like thyme for a savory flair, or cayenne for a little spice.

Soaked mung beans can be used in much the same way as sunflower seeds. I have even added a handful of them to my granola. If you are beginning to eat salads because they are supposed to be healthy, try adding some mung beans to “beef up” the nutritional value.

Sometimes, if I am feeling a tad uninspired, I just transfer the sunnies to a clean bowl after rinsing them thoroughly in the morning, and I munch on them throughout the day as a snack. (Keep sunnies and pumpkin seeds in the fridge once you rinse them after the soak) It may seem odd at first, but they do the trick for hunger pangs. Baby carrots are another good thing to have around for such moments. The idea here is to calm the nerves and get you thinking clearly about how to best feed yourself when that light-headed hunger kicks in.

Now, I realize that this may not be the definitive answer to blood sugar fluctuation, but let’s take baby steps, folks.
As we progress with these baby steps, the fundamental shifts in the diet will cause changes in the overall picture.

Next time we’ll get into some chili lime snacks and other yummy stuff in the thrilling adventure: Dehydrator Basics.

Macadamia - Myths and Science

Another great food gets a bad rap?

When most people think of macadamia nuts, they say, “Oh, but they are so fattening!”
This is simply untrue!  It is another belief based on misinformation. Similar to the bad rap coconut oil got and continues to get in many circles, processed macadamia nuts are confused with their raw counterparts.

Confusion also comes from the presence of saturated fats.  Macadamia nuts, however, contain a high level of monounsaturated fats. Just don’t eat them roasted and salted!

Saturated fats are highly misunderstood:  we need some saturated fats for cell health.  A poor diet - one high in animal fats and other acid causing practices, poor food combining, processed foods, a lack of vegetables, and a plethora of  low quality ingredients - nullifies any argument about good fats and bad fats, or the nature of saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats.  Good foods get vilified in the midst of an ill paradigm.

Macademia nuts are now being recognized as a healthy part of a good diet - especially concerning heart health.

See: http://live.psu.edu/story/30112

“The Healthy Heart diet with macadamia nuts did reduce total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels compared with the standard American diet. The researchers reported in the current issue of the Journal of Nutrition, that the macadamia nuts reduced total cholesterol by 9.4 percent and low-density lipoprotein by 8.9 percent.”

I usually order mine from Living Tree Community.

I found raw organic macadamia nuts  for a lower price here, which I haven’t yet tried. (Still working on my last 10lb order!)

The Importance of Soaking Nuts

Often in our attempts to “get healthy,” important details get lost in the shuffle.  When choosing nuts and seeds as a part of your healthy diet, remember that they must be raw to have the benefits you desire.  Rather than cooking them, you must soak them.

Nuts, seeds, legumes, grains all contain enzyme inhibitors which appear to be somewhat toxic. They inhibit the beneficial components of these foods as their natural way of preserving the nut, seed, grain, or legume until it has optimum growing circumstances.  I have collected information from a number of helpful websites which you can use as further resources.

“Raw nuts, seeds, and whole grains are widely recognized as healthy foods, but they’re not truly healthy unless you prepare them properly.”
from: http://naturalbias.com/a-hidden-danger-with-nuts-grains-and-seeds
“Phytic acid is a substance found in the bran of grains and the coating of nuts and seeds. It inhibits the absorption of important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and zinc. And this doesn’t only apply to the minerals in the nuts, it also applies to the minerals in the foods you eat with the nuts.”

“Nuts and seeds naturally contain enzyme inhibitors. And by soaking them, you not only release the toxic enzyme inhibitors, but also increase the life and vitality contained within them! The purpose of these enzyme inhibitors is to protect the nut and/or seed until it has what it needs for growing (ex. sunlight, water, soil, etc.). Since the water that you soak your nuts in will contain the enzyme inhibitors, and is very acidic to the body, please be sure to rinse your nuts and seeds well after soaking and to discard the water.”
from: http://www.tinamarieblog.com/?p=61
“Walnuts, Brazil nuts, and pecans do not contain the large amount of enzyme inhibitors as other nuts, yet they do in fact have some. You can rinse and soak for a short while 3 - 4 hours to reduce the enzyme inhibitor but as I do not always soak my walnuts or pecans, and have not have bad stomach reactions, not soaking them for use raw or in recipes is fine too.”

“By soaking them, these enzyme inhibitors are removed and the beneficial enzymes we want from them are actually doubled….
The performance of every organ in our bodies is linked to enzyme activity. In essence, without enzymes, there would be no life. Period.”
from: http://www.sustainablyraw.com/blog/?p=8

For those of you ready for some serious sprouting, the site http://www.raw-food-living.com/soaking-nuts.html has a comprehnsive chart showing various seeds, grains, legumes, and their necessary soaking and sprouting durations.
http://www.raw-food-living.com/soaking-nuts.html