The importance of nuts and seeds

How many people crack open the seed of an apricot, peach, nectarine or cherry and eat the little almond looking seed in the middle? Once upon a time - in our grandparents era- everyone ate the inside seed parts of fruit (including apple and pear seeds, even watermelon pips). But now we have all gotten fussy and breed the seeds out of our fruit. But what is this doing to us? How important are nuts and seeds to our diet and health?

The answer is: very important. Like an egg contains all the elements to build a chicken and therefore is a very rich source of nutrients; so a seed contains all the elements needed to make a tree, and is ALSO a very rich source of vitamins and nutrients.

THe Hunza believe it is sacrilege to throw away an apricot pip. They eat them and also use apricot kernel oil on their skin which helps their skin stay young. Even my grandmother used to use apricot pips in jams etc.

Lately i have started eating cherry pips (you have to crack them open first - there is a tiny almond inside), peach, nectarine and apricot pips. Apricot and cherry are the most bitter. They have high vitamin B17 content. The others have less in it but still good to eat. Bitter almonds also have some in and are good for you. All this fruit is from the same family as you can tell by looking at their seeds - they all look like almond seeds.

And of course, other seeds - apple, watermelon, etc and pepita, sunflower, flaxseeds, all types of nuts = they are all very good for you.

here is a link top more info on B17
www.thecrowhouse.com...

[edit on 12-12-2009 by PolarKnight]

reply to post by rapunzel222


Great thread.

I never would have thought about eating seed pits. I've always just thrown them out and considered them as a nuisence.

It makes sense, they have all the building blocks for a new plant so they should contain lots of nutrients.

I have to invest in a nutcracker so I can get to the really good stuff.

While the thought of agreeing with you seriously pains me....

I love nuts and seeds. Specifically, ALMONDS and WALNUTS and PECANS!!!

-Dev

Thank you! I hope lots of people watch this. I think more people are beginning to look to
natural cures and prevention for themselves. Getting away from the dollar driven standard medicine practices we use today will make for a happier, healthier body for us all.

I hate seedless fruit with a passion and try to avoid it at all cost, always lack luster compared to the seeded version . Only exception i make is for grapes which are ridiculously expensive when seeded (for some odd reason).

Just a word of advice tho too many nuts are not that great for you, most are very high in omega6's and low in omega3's. Its also very easy to overeat on nuts because there so damn tasty, cashews and mac nuts are insanely good

Forgot pistachios......

reply to post by Rawhemp


No doubt that almonds and many nuts are high in omega 6 fatty acids, which are pro-inflammatory, but this is easily remedied by consuming more omega 3 rich foods, which are anti-inflammatory. The ratio is far more important than the total content.

Walnuts are omega 3 rich.

It is easy to "overeat" nuts because they're so calorically dense, but they're not lipogenic (they won't make you fat). Though, when I eat too many almonds I end up with the runs.....which can be attributed to the magnesium toxicity.

-Dev

Don't forget the hemp seeds...




No other single plant source provides balanced protein nutrition with all the essential amino acids in a favorable ratio for digestibility. In fact, two-thirds of the shelled seed is packed with these essential nutrients and is 40% more nutritious than whole hempseed. Yes, the shelled seed is more nutritious than the whole seed. When the hull is removed, the percentage of essential nutrients rises. The protein content increases by 8% (to more than 30%), and the total fat content goes up 17% (to more than 47%). The ratio of EFAs remains the same though.

Furthermore, hemp seed is far more valuable in terms of concentrated nutrients than soybeans, the nearest vegan alternative. Shelled hemp seeds contain 35% protein, of which 65% occurs as the easily digestible storage protein, edestin. Hemp seeds contain all nine essential amino acids with a high content of sulfur-containing AA (methionine and cysteine), which are usually low in vegetable proteins. The absence of trypsin inhibitory activity is a major advantage over the type of protein found in soybeans.

Hemp Seeds contains:

* All 20 amino acids, including the 9 essential amino acids (EAAs) our bodies cannot produce.
* A high protein percentage of the simple proteins that strengthen immunity and fend off toxins.
* Eating hemp seeds in any form could aid, if not heal, people suffering from immune deficiency diseases. This conclusion is supported by the fact that hemp seed has been used to treat nutritional deficiencies brought on by tuberculosis, a severe nutrition blocking disease that causes the body to waste away.3
* Nature’s highest botanical source of essential fatty acid, with more essential fatty acid than flax or any other nut or seed oil.
* A perfect 3:1 ratio of Omega-6 Linoleic Acid and Omega-3 Linolenic Acid – for cardiovascular health and general strengthening of the immune system.
* A superior vegetarian source of protein considered easily digestible.
* A rich source of phytonutrients, the disease-protective element of plants with benefits protecting your immunity, bloodstream, tissues, cells, skin, organs and mitochondria.
* The richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids.

If you adhere to a sprouted diet, it increases the vitamin b17 of the seed/nut.

Especially germinated Mung beans/Moyashi sprouts eaten before the leaf growing stage, at the peak vitamin b17 concentration.

The AMA/FDA always like to talk about the researcher who after replicating the experiment in a blinded setting, failed to reproduce his initial positive results.

But new open-minded peer reviewed research has shown the apoptosis-promoting effect of vitamin b17.

It was published in a peer reviewed journal in Japan backed by the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan and done by South Korean(edited sorry) scientists.

Guess why? The would-be closed-minded peer reviewers in most U.S. journals would definitely obstruct and recommend not publishing the study.

The West(read: as far as FDA power can reach) medical establishment and journal peer reviewers are not comfortable with vitamin b17, but the East peer reviewers is another matter.

[edit on 13-12-2009 by jjjtir]

I have been eating a handful of almonds with a few walnut pieces thrown in once a day every day for five years along with 2 or 3 high strength cod liver oil capsules washed down with a cranberry or blueberry juice drink.I still get the odd cold but that is it Ive not seen a doctor in all that time.I am male and forty years old from the UK. I started taking the cod liver oil capsules to help my knees that had become stiff and creaky in cold weather due to years of windsurfing in very cold seas.My knees do not ache anymore in the cold NEVER.That is why I have carried on taking them.I started taking the nuts as a substitute for crisps at lunch time also I love them.I feel 21 and have had comments that i look younger than my years so maybe there is something positive about eating nuts everyday

reply to post by tarifa37


if you still get the odd cold i recommend trying cold - rid tea which contains elderberry. Elderberry is a cold and flu killer. Scientific tests confirm this. I could find the study for you but im too disorganised. Trust me. Since i started drinking elderberry tea whenever i feel a cold or flu coming on, i havent had a SINGLE ONE.

NOT ONE.

it just seems to kill the flu virus. which lab tests have confirmed too.