Hi Tom,

Saw this reply to Carol and wanted to (excuse me) butt in:

> Carol:
> >(2) Don't the various things grouped under the common term "nuts"
> >    actually come from different botanical groups?  Almonds, peanuts,
> >    and cashews, for example, grow in such different ways.
>
> Tom:
> Peanuts are in the Leguminosae (legumes); almonds and cashews are not.
> The cashew has an unusual growth habit for a nut - the seed is external to
> a juicy persimmon-like fruit (the cashew "apple") that is delicious (when
> fully ripe) by itself. The cashew itself is encased in a seed coat
> that contains caustic and toxic chemicals; for details see the
> article in the PS below.
>
Whether legumes or whatever, they are all seeds (and delicious when
fresh and ripe in as far as "nuts" are concerned). Many people
forget that beans (also legumes) are also seeds.

> Carol:
> >(3) Could it be, since they are so different, that some nuts have
> >    enzyme inhibitors as well, while some don't?
>
> Tom:
> In general, soaking/sprouting and/or cooking

COOKING??? So you reduce the enzyme inhibitors whilst at the
same time destroying the enymes and many vitamins?? Admittedly..
string beans, for example, HAVE to be cooked (or better sprouted),
which thus disqualifies them as natural human food.

> reduce levels of enzyme
> inhibitors. However, the reduction varies with inhibitor and nut,
> and if you want a "precise" answer you have to specify the nuts
> and inhibitors of interest, and dig into the scientific journals.
>
Why bother when the natural "self-protection" mechanism is known?
Soaking nuts has been recommended by some in this list but I
neither believe this to be "natural" (a two or more months old
nut is a "dead" nut to me) and nor do I (or anybody else it seems)
know the recommended soaking times for each particular nut and seed.
Thus my best advice to myself is to eat nuts fresh and avoid any other
seeds. At least I can enjoy nuts this way and have no digestive
problems.

> P.S. If you are interested in nuts and have not yet read it, I wrote
> a paper titled "What A Raw-Fooder Should Know About Nuts". It doesn't
> go into the details of enzyme inhibitors, but you might find it of
> interest anyway. You can find it in the articles section of

What, pray Tom, should I need to know about nuts if you disregard the most
important aspect, i.e. the enzyme inhibitors??? I know that chimpanzees
pick up and crack (with tools) nuts from the ground rather than pluck
them from the tree. And that is exactly what I do (although I do sometimes
pluck them when I know they are about to fall anyway).

Regards,

Alan