Awesome roasted nuts and seeds

Nuts and seeds are great. But I noticed that I was not feeling very well after eating them straight from the bag. So I decided to find the way how to eat nuts and keep my tummy happy at the same time. Maybe this post will be helpful for you too!? Let me know what do you think!

4 signs that you are not processing nuts well:

• Heavy feeling in your lower stomach after eating nuts
• Stomach pain
• Heartburn
• You can literally see bits of them in your poo (SORRY! I have no idea how to write about this indirectly 🙂 )

I remembered that during my Nutritional Therapy lectures in BCNH we studied that nuts&seeds contain  lectins, phytates, and enzyme inhibitors (I will call this bunch LPEs), which may be one of the causes of the above mentioned conditions. I must mention, that “enzyme inhibitors” are good nature’s way of “protecting” them from heat, etc. before “right”conditions come (eg. rain) for the nuts to grow into trees.

By soaking nuts you can not only minimise the impact of LPEs, but also enhance the flavour of nuts!In a way, you are “tricking” the nature, by providing conditions when nuts&seeds may “relax” and start releasing all good minerals and micronutrients.

Also, you need to remember that roasted nuts from the shop are most likely not soaked first which means they still have LPEs. There are a few brands though which actually soak the nuts before they roast or dehydrate them, check out LivingRaw nuts, or Raw Ecstasy but they are not very cheap.

So, why not to try to prepare and “activate” your nuts yourself, it is super easy! Let me show it to you 🙂

 Easy process for soaking nuts

• Rinse nuts/seeds with fresh water (better purified water, not from the tap)
• Put them in a bowl (better in a glass or ceramic bowl)
• Cover nuts with water (2 cups water/ 1 cup nuts) and put smth breathable on top (paper towel or tea towel)
• Let them stand for a few hours (during the night/day/ or 24 hours). If you have time or you are around, change the water a few times. If not, don’t worry about it 🙂
• Drain the water (which will look very dirty)
• Rinse again with fresh water (the water contains all those LPE which are acidic to the body, so rinse well!)
• Dry your clean and beautiful nuts on a sheet of paper towel or dehydrator (if you have one)
• Put in a bag or a glass bowl and keep in refrigerator for 3-4 days

Check out timings for each type of nut/seed here. But! Just not to overcomplicate things too much, a few hours would be good. For example, arrange all in the morning and it is ready for the evening or make preparations in the evening and the nuts are ready for breakfast!

And finally a recipe!!! 🙂

Soaked and roasted walnuts and pumpkin seeds

• Soaked pumpkin seeds (I made them overnight)
• Soaked walnuts (I made them overnight)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp rosmarin
• Pinch of dry basil
• Pinch of dry coriander
• Pinch of pepper
• Optional: 1 tbs bee polen

Preheat the oven for 200 C, mix all the spices and nuts in a dry bowl and put the mixture to the baking sheet. In 25-30 min the AWSOME nuts are ready to eat! 🙂

Note! It is better to add bee polen 10 min before the nuts are ready, so it doesn’t burn 🙂

Awesome Roasted nuts and seeds

 

Tip #1: Overeating (before/during/after)

There are so many people who eat sometimes because it is simply “THE ONLY solution to the issue which you can do at the moment”.

Why does it happen? Well there are a lot of people discussing why and how it happens from the chemical point of view.

I would prefer to focus on one KEY “simple” thing – you need to feel in LOVE with yourself and try to be kind not only to people around you, but to yourself too.

Easier said than done, right?

There are a few strategies which might be useful for overeating.

BEFORE

Trigger feeling: Sadness about…/Loneliness/Boredom/
You feel like: Need to have to eat this cookie/chocolate/5 apples/cereal pack/chips…(insert your variant)
Your thoughts: “I must eat now”
Your body reactions: Heart rate goes up/Hands shaking/Irregular breathing/Any other change from normal, calm you…

Goal: Calm down

Actions to help you out at this stage:
1)  OBSERVE what is happening in the body (don’t judge). Simply observe, like a scientist, like an observer, a very interested journalist – When you can notice how you are feeling (in which part of the body there is a change from normal), the chemical reactions in your brain changes and it calms down the   urge to eat.
2)Deep breath 5 times (3 count in-3 count out)
2) Stretching (Hands up and on the sides/close your eyes and stretch the neck)
3) say loud  WHAT do you feel (if you are in the office maybe a good idea to go to the meeting room not to freak out your colleagues 🙂 ) – “I feel angry that they did this”/ “I feel bored and thats stupid to waste my time like that”/” I feel lonely”…
4) Look at the mirror and just try to smile at yourself! try again, until you actually smile.
5) Relax the muscles of your face. Yep! Each muscle on the face needs to feel relaxed and without any tension.

DURING

You feel like: NOTHING (you usually don’t feel anything at this time, as you are concentrated on the process of eating)
Your thoughts: “why am I doing this?”
Your body reactions: eating “like a rabbit”/ very fast, no chewing

Goal: “Wake up” your unconscious brain

Actions to help you out at this stage:
1) Slow down!!! Yep, slow down the speed at which you are eating. Try to chew slower and sower and slower.2)Put your feet on the ground and FEEL the ground under your feet (if you are standing already, concentrate on the FEELING of the ground, feel your soles, feel the fingers touching the ground)
3) Say out loud ” I love myself”/”I accept myself”/ “I am strong”
4) Look outside to the street/ think about how each tree looks like, how fast cars are passing by/ just focus on something that is happening outside

AFTER

You feel like: low/upset/frustrated
Your thoughts: “Why did I do this???”
Your body reactions: feel like a bubble/ lay on a couch and can’t move/ feel like hiding under the blanket

Goal: Help your body to feel better and help your mind to move on

Actions to help you out at this stage:
1) Drink hot water with ginger. Continue with warm water with some lemon squeezed in. It should help your digestion.
2) Take a shower if possible – it will help you to “freshen up”, so you don’t lay on a couch feeling like “a big jelly fish”
3) Do some EASY stretching (as its to hard to run/jump around/ do weights when you feel really super full
4) Raise your arm and quickly move it down and say “F..k it, it happened” 🙂 Just accept that it happened and MOVE ON. You will try your best next time, and next time again and you know what? Eventually you will stop at the point “before BEFORE” 😉

Have a fab journey x

What you eat/drink/feel now may affect your future child’s health!

Absolutely amazing research was made recently, which suggested that its not only your gens (from your mom  and dad), but also your body cells that affect your kid’s health and wellness…And it is very important to understand this concept, because cells of your body are constantly going through the phases of renewal following the influence from what you drink, eat, think and do! OMG!!! If you want to learn more about this research, check out this great website

 

Now, there are zillions of blogs, books, websites, etc teaching you how to eat and why. Well, to be honest, not all information provided there is SCIENTIFICALLY justified, soooo it may lead to a lot of really weird and to be frank not very clever decisions (eg eat one type of fruit a day and feel great, eat more of goji berries and feel more energetic, and list can go on…).

If you are really interested to learn some basics and more science based info (and have some time for it too). You could read/listen a course about nutrition. Usually this type of course costs about £200+, BUT! I have found for you  super interesting, super engaging, on-line course, which you can take from anywhere in the world and enjoy the power of knowledge for…ABSOLUTELY FREE!!! It was produced by a respected university and it is just a great summary of some basics, which can help you to navigate in the busy world of on-line nutrition. Here is the link to the TUFTS FREE nutrition course

Enjoy!! xx