The brown-skinned almonds are one among the favorite super foods of anyone who wants to have a healthy munch. It is a rich source of various nutrients including soluble and insoluble fibers, essential fatty acids – Omega 3 and Omega 6, vitamin E, magnesium, calcium, zinc, potassium, and protein. While you can enjoy the almonds as such or toast them to pep up their crunchiness, nutritionists advise you to eat almonds that are soaked overnight in clean and fresh water.
So, what is the whole fuss about eating soaked almonds? Does soaking enhance their nutritional value? Do they become tastier or healthier? Let us take a look at that right here.
Why Soaking Almonds In Water Is Good For Health?
1. Helps in eliminating toxins
According to studies, soaking these tree nuts help in eliminating the various toxins that could be present on its skin. Soaking also ensures that the gluten present in almonds are decomposed, thus releasing the phytic acid. Thus, you will be able to munch on healthier nuts.
2. Good for your digestive system
Studies suggest that soaking almonds make them easier to digest without upsetting your digestive system. The peels of these nuts contain a chemical that actually inhibits the functioning of the digestive enzymes. When you steep them in water, these inhibitors are dissolved, there ensuring proper digestion. Steeping the almonds also triggers the release of lipase, the enzyme that helps in breaking the lipids, thus ensuring the appropriate digestion of fats.
3. Boosts your brain power
Consuming 4 to 6 almonds that have been soaked overnight helps in boosting the functioning of your central nervous system. It also nourishes your brain by working as a tonic. Being a rich source of Omega 3 essential fatty acid and Omega 6 essential fatty acid, soaked almonds help in warding off the inflammation triggering free radicals, sharpening your memory and enhancing the intelligence quotient.
4. Helps in easing hypertension
Almonds come with a good balance of sodium and potassium, with the latter mineral present on a richer side. This helps these nuts to regulate the levels of your blood pressure and prevent acute hypertension.
5. Shields your heart and cardiovascular system
As mentioned above, keeping your blood pressure levels under controls lowers the risk of various cardiovascular conditions. Along with that, these nuts are also good sources of folic acid and magnesium, two critical components that lower the risk of arterial congestion.
Studies also suggest that soaked almonds work in a more efficient way than the raw ones in lowering the levels of bad cholesterol and increasing the levels of good cholesterol. This, in turn, ensures proper functioning of your heart and lowers the risk of atherosclerosis and stroke. Almonds soaked in water are chock-a-block with the powerful antioxidant vitamin E that helps in combating various life-threatening heart diseases.
6. Beneficial for pregnant women
Soaking the almonds is known to enhance the nutritional value of these nuts, thus transforming it into a nutrient dense nourishment for the expectant mothers. While the folic acid in almonds help in the healthy growth of the fetus, protein keeps the mothers-to-be energetic. Being a good source of magnesium, almonds could help in preventing the muscle cramps experienced during pregnancy. The low sodium and high potassium balance in these nuts helps in preventing and easing edema during pregnancy.
7. Aids in weight loss
Munching soaked almonds that are rich with protein that helps in preventing unwanted hunger pangs. Thus, it helps you curb unwanted munching, aiding in weight loss. It also contains various antioxidant compounds that help in easing inflammation caused by free radicals, which in turn help you shed excess body weight.
8. Beneficial for constipation
Almonds are rich with insoluble fibers that actually bulk up after soaking. This increases the quantity of roughage in the body, thereby ensuring proper movement of bowels. Soak 10 almonds overnight in clean water and eat it on empty stomach to ease constipation.
9. Beneficial for your skin
Soaked almonds can be used internally and externally to heal various skin ailments, including dehydration. Mash the steeped almonds with fresh milk cream and honey and apply it on your face as a mask to ward off your dry skin issues. You can also eat soaked almonds daily to nourish your skin from within.
Soaked almonds are good sources of the antioxidant vitamin – vitamin E that helps in eliminating the free radicals. This, in turn, delays the onset of skin aging signs like wrinkles, fine lines, and dark spots. This essential fatty acids in these nuts ward off the inflammation caused due to excessive exposure to the sun, thus lowering the risk of skin cancer.
A mixture of mashed soaked almonds with turmeric, lemon juice, and milk can be used to repair the damaged the skin cells and restore the natural tone and sheen of your skin. Coarsely crushed soaked almonds can be used with a little sugar to exfoliate the dead skin and ease your acne and pimples.
