Are almonds safe to eat? (And the question is relevant for the now almost ubiquitous almond milk and almond butter too.) Unfortunately, it seems that the answer is mostly no.
It’s a question that is important to me because now that winter is here, I am making more than ever my batches of dehydrated crackers. Since I gave up eating wheat, my dehydrated crackers serve as a nice substitute for bread. My favorite recipe is for my Rosemary Crackers, for which I use sprouted flaxseeds and sprouted almonds. It is important to sprout raw nuts and seeds by soaking them first. Nature’s defense mechanisms include nutritional inhibitors and toxic substances: enzyme inhibitors, phytates (phytic acid), polyphenols (also known as tannins), and goitrogens. All these are removed automatically by nature when it rains—the nut or seed gets wet and can then germinate to produce a plant. When we soak our nuts and seeds, we are mimicking nature.
My crackers are delicious, but also extremely healthy. The main ingredients—flaxseeds, almonds and rosemary—are well known to confer many health benefits, including reducing risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. Flaxseeds are an important part of the Johanna Budwig cancer protocol. The late cancer specialist, Mitch Gaynor, M.D. (a friend and colleague) considered rosemary to be the number one anti-carcinogenic spice, as he stated in all of his speeches. The almonds are, too, an important part of the powerhouse health delivery of the crackers. Just a small handful of almonds provides heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, protein, fiber, potassium, magnesium and iron. Almonds are, as well, the best nut source of Vitamin E.
