Nuts are rich in calories and a good alternative for a healthy snack. It is a proven fact that eating nuts regularly minimizes the chances of heart attacks since they are rich in mono-saturated fats. Now in order to select a nut you have the choice of either going with raw nuts or the roasted ones. There is always a discussion of the difference in health benefits between raw nuts and roasted nuts.
Raw Nuts vs Roasted Nuts
Nuts are found to be rich in amino acids called Asparagine and when these nuts are roasted then the acid gets converted into a chemical named Acrylamides. This chemical is found to play a major role in causing cancer in animals and acts as carcinogenic in human beings. The majority of nuts as a good source of Asparagine but when you roast these nuts the acids gets converted to the cancer causing chemicals. So it is always recommended that you should choose raw nuts over roasted ones.
Cashew nut snack, roasted and salted (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
You can further argue over the fact that heating a substance changes the chemical bonding inside it. As nuts are rich in monosaturated fats, so heating can alter these healthy fats chemically and prevent them from protecting the heart from problems. Roasted nuts have a large number of free radicals which damages the walls of blood vessels and are the main culprit behind the increased number of heart disease cases.
Irrespective of these side effects of eating roasted nuts, there are some positive facts that make them preferred in comparison to the raw nuts. Nuts in the raw state can be difficult to digest and causes indigestion. The roasting of nuts makes it easier for many people to pass them through their digestive system.
Thus in this fight of Raw nuts vs Roasted nuts, if you want to taste the roasted flavor without any side effects then try to cook the raw nuts in your home at the temperature below 170 degrees. This will retain most of the health benefits of raw nuts and give you the roasted sensation.
How Do You Tell If Raw Nuts Or Roasted Nuts Are Rancid
One of the major questions asked while buying or re-using a stored nut is “how do you see if nuts are rancid?” There are various tricks which you can use in order to find out if the nuts are rancid.
1> If the nut is giving off an unpleasant odor like a fish then be sure that it has gone rancid.
2> Visual inspection of the nuts will tell you if it is rancid. The rancid nuts are mostly dark in color, in comparison to the fresh ones.
3> The nuts which have wrinkled a lot or appear to be moldy can be easily considered as rancid nuts.
4> Use your taste buds and if the nuts are sour or bitter in taste then it has become rancid. If you have never had raw nuts you may not even know what non rancid nuts taste like. Most raw nuts taste sweet not bitter like most nuts that you can get in the store. I did not know I was eating mostly rancid nuts until I bought some raw nuts.
Nuts are prone to turn rancid because the unsaturated oils present in them oxidize quickly when they are exposed to light, heat and air. This also means if you are not going to eat them all right away you should store them in a cool dry place. The guide above will not only help you to judge if nuts are rancid or not but also makes you aware of the difference in the health benefits between the raw nuts and roasted nuts.
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