Rawness of nuts

[halfcatastrophe]

Hi - I'm new - about three weeks into a raw diet as part of a six-month blog I'm doing on mindfulness. Raw eating is my effort to be mindful when I eat - I didn't expect this drastic of an energy difference! I was already fairly thin, and haven't noticed any weight loss or gain from this diet.

My question is, how "unraw" are "raw" almonds made in the US? I know they are pasteurized but does that definitely make them "not raw" for purposes of a raw diet? Do some raw foodists consider pasteurized nuts still to be within the realm of raw? What about other nuts? Is there any nut I can rely on as being "raw" without having to order it from the internet?

Thanks!

[bluedog]

Hi,

I had the same question. Many on this forum argue that raw nuts sold in stores are not raw because they are pasteurized. Some research about almonds that I read a few days ago suggested that raw almonds were still raw, despite pasteurization; that pasteurization was brief, and hot enough to kill the dangerous parasites on the skins of almonds, but not hot enough to alter its nutritional content. Others, of course, will disagree.

[halfcatastrophe]

Hi,

I had the same question. Many on this forum argue that raw nuts sold in stores are not raw because they are pasteurized. Some research about almonds that I read a few days ago suggested that raw almonds were still raw, despite pasteurization; that pasteurization was brief, and hot enough to kill the dangerous parasites on the skins of almonds, but not hot enough to alter its nutritional content. Others, of course, will disagree.

Ooh, do you have a link to that research?

I have treated pasteurized-but-otherwise-raw almonds as "raw" and I still feel like I'm getting the benefits they describe about a raw diet. Enough that I'm not going to start ordering from Italy unless someone can give me a pretty compelling reason...

[bluedog]

I'll check and report back.

It makes sense to me, though. Consider pasteurized egg whites--enzymes that are NOT denatured (otherwise the egg white would be 'scrambled').

[MysticTree]

apparently there is also chemical pasteurisation as well as heat treatment. If they are organic then you can rule out chemical pasteurisation of course. But see if they still sprout.

[SunshineMN]

Azure states that their flash pasteurized almonds (http://www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/8260/) do indeed sprout. I would think that would mean they were raw.

They actually have truly raw almonds (http://www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/3313/) as well.