Activated almonds are trending everywhere today! Social media is all abuzz mocking Australian celebrity Chef Peter Evans who recently revealed his typical daily diet includes activated almonds. Our first question, like that of many others was, what the heck are activated nuts? The Australian natural health magazine Wellbeing defines an activated nut as “a nut that has been soaked and sprouted to release its enzyme inhibitors”.
The article goes on to explain:
Why should nuts be activated?
All nuts (and this includes seeds too) have an enzyme inhibitor that keeps them from sprouting into a tree, bush or plant that they carry inside of them. Once they are planted in the ground and given some water, the enzyme inhibitor is destroyed and the nut/seed can begin to sprout.
So, when you eat a lot of nuts and/or seeds, you can end up with a lot of that enzyme inhibitor in your digestive tract and that just slows everything down. It can actually result in digestive distress in much the same way gluten does. Constipation, stomach cramps and bloating are examples of some issues people have eating raw, unactivated nuts.
The more enzymes you eat, the less of your own body’s enzymes are required to break down food…which keeps you younger, longer too.
So in plain English, these are nuts that are soaked and dried for 12-24 hours in order to get rid of those things that slow down your digestive system.
Now that we know exactly what activated almonds are we spent way too much time trying to find them online . After a frustrating search we finally realized Amazon stocks various flavored raw organic activated almonds. The best alternative is to make them yourself.
According to Easy Peasy Organic pretty much all you need to do is :
- Soak raw organic almonds
in water for 12 hrs. NOTE: After soaking, the nuts will look nice and puffy and may even start to show signs of sprouting.
- Rinse the nuts under running water, and if you want to add flavor – now is the time to do it. Just shake a couple of tsp of sea salt, garlic salt, dehydrated onion powder, tamari or curry powder over the wet (rinsed) almonds, and stir to combine well. NOTE: If you want, you can use and eat the activated almonds as they are, without roasting them.
- Now, “roast' the almonds by drying out the nuts on low heat – either in a dehydrator or on the lowest temperature your oven will do (ie 140F). This will take anywhere from 6-24 hrs, depending on the temperature you're using. The nuts will be done when they feel (and taste) dry.
We do believe this would make a fabulous, funny and on trend holiday grab bag gag gift this season. Wrap up this great Activated Almonds T-Shirt with a bag of “activated nuts”! Way better than some of those other stupid gift ideas.
Party Hearty!
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