Hey all,

I have bunch of peanuts I wanted to sprout. However, some of them are split into their halves. Should I bother soaking them? or should I throw them away?

Thanks.

Soaking releases the enzymes whether they will sprout or not. I would soak and use them instead of throwing them away.

Thanks madinah. So they are no longer toxic and can eaten then?

Yes by soaking them you release the toxic enzyme inhibitors

dinesh75,

The toxic element of peanuts is a mold that grows on them that creates a mycotoxin called aflatoxin. Soaking your peanuts will do nothing to kill this mold, and in fact may make things worse.

hmm? So can I just eat those peanuts raw, without soaking them? what about nuts such as almonds, pistachios etc? can they be eaten raw without soaking them?

You have to be careful with raw peanuts, as they are notorious for having this toxin producing mold. As for other nuts and seeds, I don't personally soak them before eating them. I find that if I soak them, I can eat higher quantities of them, but that isn't necessarily healthier for me. I like that my body tells me to stop after eating a few almonds. By soaking almonds, some of that tannins get leached out, and I don't get this signal to stop as early, and it is easier to overindulge in eating them.

Aflatoxin should not be a concern for anyone on a raw vegan diet. In the book the China Study, they did tests with rats. One group was fed a diet that included 20 percent of the milk protein, casein. The other group of rats was fed a diet that contained no animal products. Both groups of rats were exposed to aflatoxin-- a VERY carcinogenic substance. ALL the rats who's diet included the milk protein got cancer!!! NONE of the rats with the diet that included no animal products got cancer!!! That's 100 to 0! That study with the rats was done by researchers in India and then replicated by the author of the China Study book, who has a PHD and worked out of several prestigious universities. Studies with human cells confirmed the findings. The book details many, many other studies that show that diet trumps environmental toxins and even genes. Someone on a plant based, whole foods diet with animal product consumption of less than 5 percent of their total diet and is exposed to toxic elements will not get cancer, whereas someone on the typical meat and dairy eating diet would be at great risk for cancer. Now, I'm not saying that if you roll around in radioactive sludge and are a raw vegan, that you won't have problems! But it's interesting that the study dealt with aflatoxin in particular, so for that substance I think we can rest easy. I really recommend that anyone even remotely interested in a vegan or raw foods diet read that book!

Musicbebe



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2008 07:06PM by musicbebe.