Enjoy nuts? Make sure you do this first

Nuts can be part of a heart-healthy diet; most nuts contain unsaturated fatty acids, omega-3’s, fiber, vitamin E, and other beneficial nutrients. But if you’ve been adding nuts to your daily routine, there is one important trick you should know: Nuts are most beneficial if they are soaked first.

SEE ALSO: Eating nuts makes people live longer

First, don’t be alarmed: most nuts won’t lose their crunch when soaked overnight, but even if they are a little more tender than you’re accustomed to, the benefits are worth the texture change. Soaked nuts don’t gain any nutrients from the water they are soaked in, rather, the nutrients they already contain become more accessible to the body.

Why should you soak nuts before eating them?

When you think about nuts you have to think about how they were designed by nature. A nut was created to withstand the forces of the environment until the time was just right for it to germinate. This is why most nuts have an outer shell and it is also the reason why nuts last so long in the kitchen cabinet.

Nuts contain something called phytic acid, an enzyme which the Daily Health Post explains acts almost like a preservative in the nut until it is ready to germinate. Phytic acid keeps the nut safe until it is exposed to the things it needs to grow: water, nutrients and sunlight. The issue is that the same phytic acid also prevents the human body from absorbing all the nut’s nutrients when consumed.

“When we eat raw nuts, we also eat the enzyme inhibitors that prevent the seed from sprouting,” explained nutritionist Sarah Britton to Yahoo Health. “Simply by soaking nuts in a little water, the nuts release these harmful enzymes, and at the same time, their nutritional value skyrockets.”

SEE ALSO: Want to prevent prostate cancer? Try eating more walnuts

When exposed to water, the nut is tricked into activating as if it were ready to grow and the phytic acid is neutralized.

You don’t have to get fancy with your soaking methods either; simply placing nuts in water for at least 7 hours usually does the trick. Some nutritionists recommend using warm water or adding salt to speed up the process, but both these steps are not necessary if you enjoy your nuts as-is and want to keep salt levels under control.

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