Personalised Scroggin with a View 2.0

Scroggin: activated almonds and cashews, organic raisins
View: Rapaki Track

I’ve taken my personalised scroggin to a whole new level (2.0 to be exact). There’s been a lot of talk about ‘activated’ nuts and seeds lately and I have started seeing them everywhere in health food stores. They seem to hang out with the raw chocolate and all-natural muesli-bars (A place I too like to hang).

So what’s all the fuss about? Well, nuts (and seeds) contain enzyme inhibitors, called phytates, to prevent premature sprouting in dry conditions. These enzymes inhibitors bind the minerals such as zinc, iron and magnesium, calcium, chromium, and manganese in the digestive tract, making these nutrients unavailable to our bodies, posing a challenge for our digestive system. Soaking them however; (referred to as “activating”) tricks the nuts and seeds into starting to sprout – which is good as this removes or reduces these enzyme inhibitors, increasing the availability of the nutrients to our bodies.

Since activated nuts are fookin expensive (putting it mildly), here’s how to activate them from the comfort of your home:

Cover the nuts with water and a pinch of sea salt. Soak for 7-24 hours – hard nuts such as almonds/brazil nuts/hazelnuts take around 12 hours whilst softer nuts such as cashews and pistachios only take about 4-6 hours (any longer and they’ll start to go slimy).

Strain and rinse the nuts under running water.

Dry in a dehydrator for around 12-24 hours. Or, if you don’t have a dehydrator (who the hell has a dehydrator?!) dry them on the lowest temperature your oven will do (mine does 50C). This will take anywhere from 6-24 hours, depending on the temperature you’re using. The nuts will be done when they feel (and taste) crispy without any moisture.

Store in a sealed container between snacking.

Now I wonder if a good soak will activate me, too?
Off to find out xx