How 'bad' is it to use shelled nuts?

Mahes Ananda · Post by **Mahes Ananda** » Fri 28 Mar 2008 22:19

Who want to tell me how good/bad it is to buy and eat shelled nuts?

Brazil nuts are not available in The Netherlands. Macadamia's, Walnuts and Hazelnuts seems to me still raw. Are the shells much heated or handeld in damaging manner to the nut?

Thank all for all yous answers!

fictor · Post by **fictor** » Sat 29 Mar 2008 20:21

Lately I have been having several raw walnuts every day.
In the same period of time, my acne has reduced a lot, so it
does not seem to cause acne, at least not in my case.

Anyways, I think they are better than brazil nuts, taste-wise.

Regarding the subject of unshelled brazil nuts, I talked to a guy in
a company that used to import these nuts. He claimed that the'over
all importation of brazil nuts to europe had been reduced with
like 80% the last few years, due to the fact that brazil nut trees
are so high that the nuts are harvested when they are ripe and
fall to the ground. The nuts often lay on the ground a while before
being harvested, thus become a subject of moisture and often
they start to decompose and rot.

European companies importing the nuts have had a lot of trouble
with rotten nuts, and the people they buy them from (in Brazil
or wherever the nuts are grown) often refuse to take back
rotten nuts or refund the 'damage'.

Therefor, European companies lose a lot of money importing
unshelled nuts, and they do not bother, because it is all a lot
easier and more revardable to import pre-shelled nuts.
Thats why they are so hard to get these days, sadly

Mahes Ananda · Post by **Mahes Ananda** » Sun 30 Mar 2008 20:58

Hi fictor, thanks for your reaction.

What I would like to know is if it is okee to buy and eat the shelled nuts. How unhealty the might be or if it is (pretty much) the same as sheelin by hand.

Im am a bit lazy and occupied with other things to make me enough time to shell them myself

, but I still want to eat as healty as possible. For me it is not an acne matter, but only a rawfood item.

I can immagen that the shelling by manifacturers of Hazelnuts, Walnuts and Macadamia's is not very harmful for the nut itself, because they are relatively easy to shel. I don't think the will be using much heat or chemicals to shell them and therfor leave the inner nut virgin.

Am I a little right or very wrong?

Who knows about this?

Thank you all for helping me out.

Post by **Oscar** » Mon 31 Mar 2008 11:07

As far as I know most nuts are shelled by heat, which means the protein is cooked.

Mahes Ananda · Post by **Mahes Ananda** » Mon 31 Mar 2008 11:24

Hi Oscar,

Thank you

I question for myself then, how long and how hot. I dont see advantage in heating the shell of Walnuts, Hazelnuts and Macadamia's, because they easely break. But I dont know anything about the possible processes.

And then I also think (?) the heating will not be very long, so at least the inner part of the nuts stay unattached.

Is there anybody outthere who knows

Or maybe on or more links where I can find more info on this

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Sat 19 Apr 2008 20:14

Mahes Ananda wrote: I dont see advantage in heating the shell of Walnuts, Hazelnuts and Macadamia's, because they easely break.

that IS the advantage; to make the shell fall off.
If i eat shelled nuts, i always get acne. but not everybody is equally susuceptible. Me, im very much acne prone; i gotta do everything 100% right to stay acne free.

halfgaar · Post by **halfgaar** » Wed 23 Apr 2008 13:20

I just learned that someone I know has worked in a walnut processing factory in France, and they shell the walnuts with mechanic presses; no heat was involved. I don't know if this is the exception rather than the rule, but at least it shows walnuts can be shelled mechanically.

The Lidl used to sell French walnuts, whereas most other stores sell American ones. But the French ones are very difficult to come by nowadays, and someone at the Lidl said that it is unlikely they will be getting them again.

A lot of people find the French ones better tasting as well BTW. Perhaps it's due to them not being heated.

Post by **Oscar** » Fri 25 Apr 2008 10:40

Ah interesting. My mom actually said she could taste the difference between unshelled walnuts which were storebought and unshelled walnuts picked in the wild. She suggested the storebought ones might have been slightly heated to increase shelf life?

halfgaar · Post by **halfgaar** » Fri 25 Apr 2008 11:27

Judging by all the withered insides of a lot of the walnuts I buy, it doesn't seem very effective, if they indeed do that. But, I couldn't tell you anything for sure.

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Wed 14 May 2008 11:40

Oscar wrote:My mom actually said she could taste the difference between unshelled walnuts which were storebought and unshelled walnuts picked in the wild. She suggested the storebought ones might have been slightly heated to increase shelf life?

Maybe its the difference between fresh and old (more dry)?

Emeira · Post by **Emeira** » Mon 02 Mar 2015 15:39

old, raw nuts in shell lose their moisture and became more dry and taste the same as standard shelled nuts in supermarkets.
I really doubt that high heat is used to brake shells.
Do you have any reliable info?

Maybe its the difference between fresh and old (more dry)?

i think so too, the same as fresh apple and dried apple. Same fruit, but different taste, not necessary because of high heat etc.

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Tue 03 Mar 2015 15:31

Emeira wrote:I really doubt that high heat is used to brake shells.

Ok.
It is similar to submerging tomatoes to boiling water for a few seconds, followed by a cold bath.
This enables the very easy removal of the peel.
Another method is flash-freezing.

You think there is a machine to break the shells without breaking those nuts that are individually very different?

Emeira · Post by **Emeira** » Wed 04 Mar 2015 21:39

RRM, when you had acne, which exactly shelled nuts were you eating?

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Thu 05 Mar 2015 17:55

I tried walnuts, hazelnuts and Brazil nuts

Emeira · Post by **Emeira** » Thu 12 Mar 2015 08:17

From: http://www.living-foods.com/articles/nuts.html

"Brazil nuts are shelled by soaking in water (salt water, probably) for 24 hours, then the nuts are boiled for 5 minutes. The boiling softens the shell, and makes cracking (by hand or machine) much easier. Nuts that are to be sold as blanched or sliced nuts, may be boiled again, before blanching and/or slicing. The heat from boiling will kill the nut and remove its viability. Shelled nuts are not sproutable. Brazil shelled nuts are devitalized."

"Filberts (Hazelnuts) Harvested nuts are washed, then dried to a final 8-10% moisture content for shipping. Rosengarten suggests (but does not explicitly state) that drying temperatures do not exceed 100 degrees F. The shells of non-organic filberts may be bleached using sulfur dioxide"

"Walnuts are dried to a maximum moisture content of 8% to prevent mold and allow the shell to be bleached (improves appearance). Walnuts selected for in-shell sale are fumigated or heat treated to kill insects in storage. The in-shell nuts are then bleached using a dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite (ordinary household bleach).Shelled walnuts are not bleached. However they may be treated with an anti- oxidant to preserve them in storage."

So most of the time, heat is used for drying or to kill insects, probably drying temps are too high.

How 'bad' is it to use shelled nuts?

How 'bad' is it to use shelled nuts?

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