Why I don't eat nuts & seeds

I thought I would take this story to the grave, or at least only tell a close few.Once upon a time, three college students bought some really, really,  ridiculously cheap plane tickets to Chile for a little two week backpacking trip. Because they didn't have much money to spend during the actual trip they slept on buses, walked everywhere and ate trail mix. Lots of trail mix. Too much trail mix.So after 3 days of traveling, one of the girls (definitely not me)... was a little.. stuck up if you know what I mean. Frustrated, she walked to a little Chilean natural pharmacy. Not being able to speak spanish, she played charades until the owner of the store understood what she was asking for. Turns out the word "laxative" is just "laxante" in Spanish. Who knew?As she's reading the label she realizes that it's just a prebiotic and aloe combination. The recommended dose is 1 pill, but she takes 2. After all, how strong could a prebiotic and aloe really be? 12 hours go by and nothing has happened. Anticipating the 8 hour hike happening the next morning she decides to take just 2 more.NO.no, no, no, no, no.Never do that.8 hours of hiking, 11 stops on the side on the side of the trail and 1 whole roll of TP= SO HANGRY and dehydrated.Don't I look thrilled? Only 4 more hours to go at this point.So that was the butt of all jokes for the rest of the trip (pun very much intended). You would think the other girls would have learned from my mistake but nope. The same thing happened to another one of my friends on the next hike!Moral of the story? Nuts and seeds are both really hard to digest. Especially if they aren't soaked or sprouted. And I'm speaking for the general population of healthy eaters when I say that WE EAT TOO MUCH OF THEM.Almond butter, hazelnut milk, trail mix, almond flour. We are nuts for nuts.Here are the reasons that I cut back.1. The story above.I don't know what is worse, extreme constipation or the other thing..2.  Nuts and seeds are extremely sensitive to heat.They are high in polyunsaturated fats which are extremely unstable. They oxidize (think the opposite of anti-oxidants) really easily and cause damage to cell membranes. So please do not eat roasted nuts, especially if they are cooked in another oil like sunflower or canola. That is like eating rancid oil, free radicals, and sodium.3. They are high in Omega 6's.The average American consumes too many Omerga 6's. Mainly from processed foods (yes that includes those "healthified" veggie chips from Whole Foods) that are cooked in cheap high Omega 6 vegetable oils. We are supposed to have around a 3:1  Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio but the average American consumes a ratio closer to 10:1 or even 20:1! That is a recipe for serious inflammation!4. They contain Phytic Acid.Phytic acid keeps seeds and nuts dormant, protecting them from sprouting into a tree until they are in the perfect condition. However, phytic acid also blocks our body's ability to absorb minerals, not just from nuts, but from the other things we eat throughout the day. When our body cannot absorb minerals from our foods it actually starts leeching them from our bones and teeth to make up for the lack, leading to problems like osteoporosis and cavities.5. They actually promote weight gain.I'm sure this seems contradictory to everything you've heard from the mainstream health industry. We are constantly being told to replace meat and cheese for nuts and seeds. Nonsense.Polyunsaturated fats contained in nuts and seeds suppress the thyroid hormone (the hormone that controls metabolism). This is why squirrels and other animals gorge on them while preparing for winter hibernation.Saturated fat on the other hand, is nourishing to the brain and stimulating to the thyroid gland.Obviously, eating a few nuts here and there wont be detrimental to your health. Just  don't go crazy with almond flour, nut milks and butters please. And if you're going to eat them, make sure they are properly prepared!To remove prepare nuts & seeds for better digestion:

1. Soak raw nuts and seeds in a bowl of water with a sprinkle of sea salt for around 12 hours.
2. Dehydrate or bake on very low heat for 24 hours.

This process removes phytic acid and making digestion much easier. Most health food stores will have some "sprouted" or "live" nuts and seeds in the bulk bins which means they've have already been soaked and dehydrated for you.  Yes they are more expensive, but you're not eating handfuls of almonds at a time anymore so maybe you can afford it.Do you eat a lot of nuts and seeds? So you soak or spout them beforehand?