[leomom]

Are roasted nuts unhealthy? I did a google search and all I found was to watch the sodium intake. My sister insists, however, that when nuts are roasted they "turn into the bad fat." Sounds weird to me, but I know someone here will know the truth!

 

[frogguruami]

I don't know about good vs bad fat but I can say I prefer the taste of raw nuts.

AM

 

[just6fish]

My explaination is based on what I have read from Nourishing Traditions (NT) so I may not be 100% 'on', but here goes:

Roasted nuts have been cooked and heated so the enzymes are 'dead' making them less nutrious. As far as the bad fats, it is true that when certain oils are heated, they turn rancid and this may be what she is talking about.
According to NT, you should soak raw nuts in salt water for 8 hours and then dry them (I dry them in the oven on very low heat, like 100). If you heat them over a certain temp (what is it, like 125 or so?) they 'loose' their health benfits. By soaking them, you making them more easily digestable.

There may be different thoughts on this. This is my understanding.

 

[FLDoula]

There was a doc on Oprah once that talked about what we all should be eating to stay healthy and why, and the oils being heated and turned to saturated fats was the reason why he said raw nuts. The show was very interesting, BTW.

 

[eirual]

I suppose they do have to be 'roasted' in some kind of oil in order to be called 'roasted' nuts....I doubt the manufacturers take into account the healthiest oils to be heating...so there's probably some validity there.

 

[pandora665]

But what if you take raw nuts and toast them yourself in the oven for a short period of time? That would enhance the flavor, without any added oils.

I don't think heating a monounsaturated fat to 300 degrees for 10 mins or less actually converts it to a saturated fat! Just trying to figure this out here.