MAD FOR NUTS!

Human beings are literally, actually, dying - for the lack of live foods.

Nuts are seeds, like beans and grains too. All nuts are embryos of trees and shrubs, with some, like walnuts and pecans, reaching enormous heights. A tree is the quintessence to which that nut is dedicated to becoming; it has an unwavering aspiration to sprout and grow and re-seed.

And in order to protect their potential for germination and to thwart bacterial degeneration for longer shelf-life, all nuts and seeds are armed with protective methods of achieving just that. In other words, nuts have, like humans, their own immuno/defence systems, which happen to comprise various natural chemicals, such as phytic acid (phytates), oligosaccharides and goitrogens, etc. – elements which, whilst having a perfectly positive function in the seed, are nevertheless toxic to human beings.

Just as these long-life seed sentinels are hostile to any invasion of their host plant, shielding it from being devoured in any way, they are also inimical to the digestion, hence health, of any human who ingests those same raw nuts!
Just as phytates help to make seeds unpalatable to bacteria, they also wreak havoc upon the human digestive system.

But there’s more. Modern, friendly science has broadly termed these chemicals anti-nutrients. Why? Because they, phytates and oxalates in particular, bind with minerals like iron, magnesium, calcium and others, thus rendering nuts’ rich mineral bounty largely useless, unavailable.

2die4 Live Foods’ unique fermentation process, which includes long-soaking in filter water, salt and whey, when applied to raw nuts, eliminates this entire anti-nutrient, anti-digestion dilemma. What magically occurs when the nuts swell in the soak is that they sense that their whole raison d’etre is being fulfilled; they are racing towards sprouting, to becoming that tree, so they can allow their entire defences to drop away.

And whilst heat, or roasting, of nuts also nullifies anti-nutrients, the heat employed has dome irreparable damage to the extremely valuable and delicate oils in nuts. Fermentation only enhances this superb oil aspect.

It is perfectly natural that hordes of people worldwide cannot cope with eating raw nuts. Much of our “raw food revolution” is based upon false premises, because anti-nutrients are present in all raw and dried foods, to varying degrees.

But there’s yet another reason to eat fermented nuts and seeds. Raw nuts and seeds also contain proteins, carbs, maltose and other nutrients which are difficult to break down when ingested, hence they too become indigestible and end up being toxic in the body.

All raw food wants to ferment before digestion, unless the eater has a rumen, which is the very first (of 4 stomachs) in a ruminant animal (cow, rabbit), and which is designed entirely for the fermentation of raw foods, and the handling of the plethora of toxic gases emanating therefrom. 2die4’s fermentation process creates a pre-digested state in any foods to which it is applied.

This is the heart of this entire issue. For example, if you ferment a bread dough for longer than 6 hours (and the longer the better), the complex and otherwise allergenic protein, gluten, is enzymatically broken down into its amino acid constituents, hence becomes easy and nutritious on the body. Just as all bread was made up until the 1950’s. Ditto with the carbs and maltose in wheat. Wheat and gluten are not the problem. It’s the fucking cooks! And the loss of the sloooow traditions.

As with gluten so it is the same with nuts. Nuts contain splendid vegetable proteins and trace carbohydrates, but these too are indigestible, toxic in the raw form. 2die4’s fermentation procedure allows these proteins to convert to their beneficial alter-egos, and these opposites are so extreme, it’s really a Jekyll and Hyde scenario. One is chronically dangerous, the other a blessing.

After 2die4’s nuts are fermented for several hours, they are then dehydrated, at temperatures lower than 70°C so that the life in the nut is only arrested, not burnt out, a life which is re-activated when the nut is combined, in chewing, with the human saliva. They become crunchier, tastier, and far, far healthier than the original nut.

Not surprisingly, the traditional and ancient masters of fermentation, the Greeks’ word for “fermentation” means alchemy.

by Clive Lawler

2die4 Live Foods is based in Byron Bay, Australia and can ship their products worldwide.

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