Natural Healing Sea Buckthorn
(Page 9 of 12)
November/December 2002
By Gina Mohammed, Ph.D.
Many people avoid nuts because of their high fat content. Nuts have a higher fat content than seeds, and seeds are higher in iron than nuts. Technically, all nuts are seeds. Both provide beneficial fats, vitamins, and minerals. Both nuts and seeds contain beta-carotene, B-complex vitamins, vitamins D and E, and calcium. They are high in trace minerals and help regulate blood sugar. They are cholesterol free, and eating, for example, three ounces of almonds—along with a low-fat diet—can actually help lower LDL (low-density lipoprotein, or “bad” cholesterol) within three weeks. Raw nuts contain lipase, an enzyme that helps digest fats.
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Using nuts and seeds
The best way to use nuts is to buy them in their shells and crack them as needed. Shells free of cracks, holes, and imperfections prevent free radical damage caused by light and air. They keep in unbroken shells for about a year. Next best is to buy whole nuts and seeds that are kept refrigerated. Store nuts in glass jars (because high-oil foods can combine with plastic to form toxic compounds) away from heat and light, in a cool place, preferably the refrigerator. Slivered, cracked, blanched, and broken nut pieces are likely to be rancid. Nuts that are rubbery, moldy, rancid, or acrid should be composted. Rancid products irritate the lining of the stomach and intestines, cannot be assimilated, weaken the immune system, have their vitamin A, D, and E destroyed, and can damage the health of the liver and gallbladder. Almonds are less prone to rancidity. Walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, and sunflower seeds tend to go rancid more quickly than other nuts.
Chew nuts well. Those with teeth problems can use nut butters rather than nuts. Those with sensitive digestion will find that nuts combine best when eaten alone, or combined with green or non-starchy vegetables.
Use nuts for decorating. Stir nuts and seeds into yogurt, cereal, or applesauce. Enjoy them as a snack, in trail mix, and baked into cookies (which adds a delightful crunch). One nut can be substituted for another in most recipes.
Varieties of nuts and seeds
Almonds (Prunus amygdalus, P. dulcis), one of the oldest cultivated nuts, are members of the rose family and relatives of peaches and apples. The genus name, amygdalus, is the old Latin word for almond. The nuts are believed native to Western Asia and North Africa. Almonds are anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, demulcent, emollient, and tonic. They help alkalinize the blood and move liver qi stagnation. Almonds are used to lubricate the lungs, treat asthma and cough, clear phlegm, improve energy, strengthen the nervous system, and increase strength. They are known as brain and bone food. Almonds contain about 18 percent protein. In Ayurvedic medicine, almond is used to strengthen the ojas—the essence that exemplifies intellect and spiritual receptivity.
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