We are used to thoroughly washing fruits and vegetables before consuming them. After all, it is unknown who has touched them and under what conditions they were stored before sale.
What about nuts? They can be found both in shells and shelled. Often they are sold by weight: nuts lie on the counter without packaging, and they are probably quite dirty, as mice and birds may have walked over them. Should nuts be washed before eating? This question is answered by Mikhail Kutushov, a toxicologist and candidate of medical sciences:
— Yes, I believe that nuts are better washed before consumption. Regardless of whether they are in shells or shelled, they get contaminated during transportation, even with ordinary dust. They have been moved from place to place, touched by hands, and scooped with shovels during loading. Therefore, it is better to rinse them.
How to wash nuts properly?
The optimal way is to soak shelled nuts in cool water for 6-12 hours. This will help remove all contaminants from the surface. In addition, you will get rid of excess phytic acid, which does not fully decompose in the body and can interfere with the absorption of vitamins and minerals.
If the nuts are in shells and heavily soiled, they should be washed with soap and a brush. Shelled nuts can simply be rinsed under cool running water if you do not want to soak them for a long time.
Washing nuts in shells is also extremely important. There are nuts that can cause severe allergic reactions. Sometimes a person peels nuts, and substances from their shells get on their hands, which can lead to an allergy. If they had taken already shelled nuts, perhaps the reaction could have been avoided.
The strongest allergen is peanuts. Formally, it is not considered a nut, but we usually refer to it as part of this group.
Why can dirty nuts be dangerous?
I have already mentioned phytic acid. Soaking nuts and legumes (which also contain this acid) helps increase the bioavailability of minerals.
Various bacteria, pathogens, and opportunistic microorganisms may be present on the surface of nuts. Imagine that a loader with an open form of tuberculosis worked with the nuts. He coughed, and his bacteria got on his hands, and then onto the surfaces and products. Pathogens can be very resilient.
If you eat such nuts, especially with a weak immune system and high pathogen titers, it can lead to illnesses. I am not even mentioning the dysentery bacillus!
Even if the nuts are in shells, this does not protect them from pathogens, which can easily transfer to the nut itself during peeling. Therefore, wash everything.
All fruits, vegetables, and nuts must be washed, and greens should be soaked, as they may retain pesticides and herbicides.
Sometimes seeds or nuts are roasted in a dry pan before consumption. Thorough roasting also kills bacteria, although I have rarely seen nuts being roasted before eating.
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