trailmix question

[stormy one]

I have been buying almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds all raw, mixing with a little olive oil and sea salt and roasting in the oven 400 deg. for 6 minutes. Now I have been told by a girl at the health food store this ruins all the good oils etc, and to only eat them raw. Does this sound correct? It sure doesnt taste :confused: nearly as yummy as roasted. Tell me it isnt so..

[lattegrl]

that sounds like bizzare info to me! Common sense says you are altering them a litlle but a nut is still a nut?? ;)

[adnil53]

Now I have been told by a girl at the health food store this ruins all the good oils I have to agree... it is so... sorry!

[Jones]

Took this off the above web site:

"Roasted nuts are more flavorful and spoil less quickly, yet how they are roasted makes a big nutritional difference. Dry roasted nuts don't have any added fat. Oil roasted means the nuts are fried in oil, which adds around ten percent more fat calories to the nuts. This is no big deal unless the nuts have been roasted in saturated or hydrogenated fats (e.g. coconut oil); check the label. An increase in saturated fats lessen the nut's main nutritional claim to fame - they're low in saturated fats.

While heating or roasting nuts does enhance the flavor and reduce spoilage, it also may alter some of the essential fatty acids. This is why processed nuts are less likely to go rancid, but the tradeoff may be a loss of healthy nutrients. Seeds and nuts themselves are more nutritious than the oil extracted from them, at least in theory. Seeds and nuts contain natural vitamin E, which protects their oil from going rancid. Processing may remove some of the natural antioxidants in the nuts and seeds."

Jones

[lattegrl]

and agree that some of the essential fatty acids may be altered during roasting... and say a sacrafice of SOME of the natural antioxidants is happening w/ roasting them BUT it certainly is not making the nut UNHEALTHY! If you eat the nuts because you enjoy them roast away, if you eat the nuts instead of taking vitamins better go w/ raw :)

[adnil53]

I agree with that!... :D