Almonds for Lunch?

We hear over and over again that almonds are a great food with benefits for heart, brain, and overall health.

I am not sure why people think of nuts, avocados, seeds as being so fattening. We need certain fats to survive and plant fats are much easier on our bodies than animal fats. When you soak your nuts and seeds you provide your body enzymes to assist with digestion. Ask a lump of butter to do that! Also remember that the nutty stuff is often the meat of your meal: You do need to eat. If you deprive yourself of nutrients, you will likely end up with something not so healthy, like cake or cookies, that the secret compartments of your mind have tricked you into eating to avoid starvation.
Read more about health benefits of almonds in my article on healthy foods.

I have also written that one ought to soak almonds and other nuts overnight to remove the enzyme inhibitors which are a natural part of most nuts.

Okay, so now what? What are we supposed to do with these soaked almonds? Well, here is a delicious recipe that will fill you up nicely and leave you full of energy. This is a good prospect for lunchtime since everyone knows that after your average satisfying lunch, one often just wants to sleep (hence the siesta in so many countries!)

1 cup raw organic almonds - soaked over night, then rinsed
1/8 cup raw organic pine nuts or 1/4 c raw organic cashews - also soaked over night
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt (Himalayan, Real Salt, or your preferred sea salt)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 clove garlic
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (more if desired)

Blend half the nuts with the rest of the ingredients in a food processor. Open the lid to add some water and push the mixture back down to the bottom with your spatula until smooth. At this point you want the mixture to be a wee bit watery. With the food processor running, add the rest of the nuts slowly through the opening in the cover so that you get a thick creamy consistency. You may need to open up the processor again and the mixture down with your spatula a couple of times. Use small amounts water and/or olive oil to adjust the consistency as desired.

The result will be much like hummus, but with greater health benefits. The monounsaturated fats and other plant fats in this recipe will feed your body, brain and cravings in the most delightful way.

Use as a dip with snap peas, baby carrots, celery, red bell peppers, and/or raw flax crisps or raw seed crackers (easy to find at health food stores). You can also spread it along the spine of a large collard leaf (cut off the stem at the bottom of the leaf. Add sprouts and roll tightly lengthwise.

With a salad on the side: voila, mes amis! You are eating a healthy raw food lunch!

Further Food-Combining Adventures

The basic premise of proper food combining is that when foods are combined correctly, the absorb properly during digestion and they digest efficiently. When foods are combined incorrectly, they can’t be absorbed during digestion. Weight gain is very often a result of improper eating rather than of too many calories.

Proper food combining is based on the chemistry of digestion - simple physiological formulas. For example when you combine starches with proteins (like meat with potatoes) they each conflict with the digestion of the other, causing digestion to slow, and even not properly to occur.

We are told about all of these new digestive disorders that now have names “IBS” “Acid Reflux.” I just don’t believe in them. My guess is that maybe 1% have the actual disorder as doctors are defining it. But I have known people personally and there are thousands on the web that have cured these “disorders” or “diseases” by changing their diets. For people who suffer from gas, indigestion, acid stomach, constipation, diarrhea, cramping, bad breath, proper food combining is one of these simple approaches that can cause huge transformations.

Today’s food combining lesson: don’t combine starches with proteins. They digest differently, each causing the other to digest more slowly and improperly. This contributes to afore mentioned problems like bloating, indigestion, weight gain, and many more problems.

Avoid combinations like meat and potatoes, chicken and rice. Eat veggies with your meats: lots of them. If you have steamed veggies, put them in a bowl (after cooking) and toss with a little extra virgin olive oil and good quality natural salt and pepper. If you eat sandwiches, stick to vegetable only sandwiches like avocado and sprouts, portabello mushroom with roasted peppers. Stuff like that.

For a complete chart of food combining dos and don’ts check out http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/foodcombining.html