Do you eat your nuts without soaking them? If so, you should know it’s not good for you. All nuts, grains and legumes have phytic acid. By soaking nuts, you are breaking down phytic acid. If you eat nuts that haven’t been soaked, phytic acid binds to minerals in the gastrointestinal tract and can’t be absorbed in the intestine. And many bound minerals can lead to mineral deficiencies. Also, all nuts have enzyme inhibitors that are very hard to digest. By soaking nuts, you neutralize all enzymes and allow them for proper digestion. Other reputed benefits soaking nuts and seeds will begin the sprouting process which bumps up their nutrient profile considerably.
Every time after I bought my nuts and seeds, grains and legumes I soak and dry them in a dehydrator to keep ready to use anytime. You do not have to do same of course, maybe it’s easier for you to soak nuts before you will use them. Also if you eat grains, always try to soak them minimum for 40 minutes. Phytic acid is bad not only for digestion, but also for your teeth. All nuts have different time of soaking. Than harder are nuts, then the longer time of soaking. For example, almonds should be soaked around six hours or more, but soft cashew nuts should be soaked not more than two hours, they will change to violet color, what is not good. One more terrific reason to soak nuts, especially walnuts and almonds, have a much more appealing taste after they are soaked and rinsed. 🙂

You can easy find raw nuts in Japan in online shops and also in some health food shops and markets. Raw is “Nama” in japanese, simply search kanji  生.  Unfortunately, not all raw nuts are really raw in Japan. To check if they are raw I usually sprout them. For example, I could not sprout raw almonds from Costco. You can find organic raw nuts at the Lohas online shop and Alishan. But if you dont mind about not organic nuts, you can go to Ameyoko market near Ueno station in Tokyo and find Kojima-ya nuts and dry fruits shop.

Don’t forgets to soak your nuts before you eat them!