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Archives for October 2011

Soaked nuts and yummy pumpkin seed recipe

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pumpkin seeds recipe trudy scott

The best way to eat nuts and seeds and gain the nutritious benefits is to eat them soaked and dehydrated.  You can soak and dehydrate walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds and sesame seeds. Always purchase raw, unsalted nuts and seeds. Soak them overnight in filtered water. Optionally add 1T sea salt per 2 cups of nuts. Dehydrate them for at least 8-15 hours. Dehydrate them using a dehydrator or on a baking sheet in an oven set at the lowest temperature your oven will go ie. around 100 degrees F (and no more than 150 degrees).  Smaller nuts and seeds dehydrate in less time – a good test is the bite-test and they should no longer be soft and soggy. Soaking and dehydrating can also be done before grinding nuts and seeds for nut butters. If you don’t dehydrate your nuts and seeds, you can still get the benefits of soaking – but they must be eaten immediately to avoid spoiling. Dehydrating makes them last longer – and imparts a delicious buttery flavor.

Why soak your nuts and seeds?

  • It neutralizes the enzyme inhibitors which make them difficult to digest
  • It neutralizes the phytates (present in the bran of all grains and seeds) which inhibit the absorption of minerals such as magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc and copper
  • The germination process increases many nutrients in the nuts and seeds, such as vitamin C, the B vitamins and carotenes. It also produces enzymes
  • Some of the complex carbs are broken down into simpler sugars, which make them easier to digest

Soaking and dehydrating your nuts and seeds imitates the ancient Aztec practice of soaking pumpkin seeds and drying them in the sun before eating them whole or grinding them into a meal.  The Native Americans also soaked nuts and seeds.

If you don’t always have time to soak and dehydrate your nuts and seeds, going for raw and unsalted is the next best option.

I’m a big fan of pumpkin seeds and mention them a lot in my book The Antianxiety Food Solution www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com, recommend them to my clients and talk about them when I present and am interviewed. They are just one of the many great mood foods I talk about on my Fox40 interview  https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/foods-for-your-moods-fox-40-anxiety/  And why do I like them so much? They are higher in zinc that other nuts and are also a great snack to help with blood sugar control.

My personal favorite recipe for pumpkin seeds is a short-cut version of the dehydrating method. Soak 2 cups pumpkin seeds overnight and place in a casserole dish or baking tray with 2T olive oil, 1T tumeric and ½ T ginger with sea salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 250 degrees F, stirring once after 5 minutes. This higher temperature does destroy some of the enzymes, so if you notice more bloating or digestive distress with this method then try the slower and lower temperature method.

Pyroluria Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution

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pyroluria questionnaire trudy scott

This questionnaire will help you identify whether you might have pyroluria, a social anxiety condition. The physical and emotional symptoms below are caused by deficiencies of vitamin B6 and zinc. When you experience high levels of stress, vitamin B6 and zinc will be further depleted, so you may notice worsening symptoms and more anxiety.

Based on my review of questionnaires and results of pyroluria tests for hundreds of clients, I’ve grouped the most common or classic signs and symptoms first. I’ve also labeled the symptoms that could be directly related to low levels of vitamin B6 or zinc so you can individualize your supplements and dosages. Symptoms without these designations are due to a deficiency of both vitamin B6 and zinc. Check off any of the following signs or symptoms that apply to you:

Most Common Signs and Symptoms

1. Being anxious, shy, or fearful or experiencing inner tension since childhood, but hiding these feelings from others
2. Having bouts of depression or nervous exhaustion
3. Poor dream recall, stressful or bizarre dreams, or nightmares (low vitamin B6)
4. Excessive reactions to tranquilizers, barbiturates, alcohol, or other drugs, in which a little produces a powerful response (low vitamin B6)
5. Preferring not to eat breakfast, experiencing light nausea in the morning, or being prone to motion sickness (low vitamin B6)
6. White spots or flecks on the fingernails or opaquely white or paper-thin nails (low zinc)
7. Liquid zinc sulfate having a mild taste or tasting like water (low zinc)
8. Poor appetite or having a poor sense of smell or taste (low zinc)
9. Joints popping, cracking, or aching; pain or discomfort between the shoulder blades; or cartilage problems (low zinc)
10. Pale or fair skin or being the palest in the family, or sunburning easily, now or when younger
11. Disliking protein or having ever been a vegetarian or vegan
12. Being sensitive to bright sunlight or noise
13. Upper abdominal pain on your left side under the ribs or, as a child, having a stitch in your side as you ran
14. Frequent fatigue
15. Being prone to iron anemia or low ferritin levels
16. Tending to have cold hands or feet
17. Having frequent colds or infections, or unexplained chills or fever
18. Reaching puberty later than normal or having irregular menstruation or PMS
19. Having allergies, adrenal issues, or problems with sugar metabolism
20. Having gluten sensitivity
21. Neurotransmitter imbalances, especially low serotonin
22. For women, belonging to an all-girl family or having look-alike sisters
23. For men, having a mother from an all-girl family or a mother with look-alike sisters, or all the females in the mother’s family bearing a strong resemblance to each other
24. Avoiding stress because it upsets your emotional balance
25. Tending to become dependent on one person whom you build your life around
26. Preferring the company of one or two close friends rather than a gathering of friends; becoming more of a loner as you age
27. Feeling uncomfortable with strangers
28. Being bothered by being seated in the middle of the room in a restaurant
29. Being easily upset by criticism

Less Common Signs and Symptoms

30. Stretch marks or poor wound healing (low zinc)
31. Crowded upper front teeth, many cavities, or inflamed gums or wearing braces (low zinc)
32. Bad breath and body odor (or a sweet, fruity odor), especially when ill or stressed (low zinc)
33. Being prone to acne, eczema, herpes, or psoriasis
34. Reduced amount of hair on your head, eyebrows, or eyelashes, or prematurely gray hair
35. Difficulty recalling past events and people in your life
36. Focusing internally, on yourself, rather than on the external world
37. Tending to have morning constipation
38. Tingling sensations or muscle spasms in your legs or arms
39. Feeling stressed by changes in your routine, such as traveling or being in new situations
40. Your face looking swollen when you’re under a lot of stress
41. Cluster headaches or blinding headaches
42. One or more of the following: a psychiatric disorder, schizophrenia, high or low histamine, alcoholism, learning and behavioral disorders, autism, Down syndrome, Lyme disease (and/or coinfections), mold toxicity, heavy metals, MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome), multiple chemical sensitivities, Alice in Wonderland syndrome, introversion, Ehlers Danlos syndrome, pectus excavatum and other connective tissue disorders, mutism, dystonia, dental issues, dietary oxalate issues, vagus nerve issues

If you check off 15 or more items, especially the more common ones, it’s highly probable that you have pyroluria.

I typically start my clients with zinc (30 mg), vitamin B6 (100mg) or P5P (25mg) and evening primrose oil (1300mg), plus a good multi-vitamin (with manganese and no copper) and a multi-mineral and sometimes additional magnesium.

For the zinc I have found Opti-zinc (without copper) to be very well absorbed by most of my clients. Using the liquid zinc sulfate/zinc status test is a useful way to assess your zinc levels.

We increase zinc based on the zinc test and the vitamin B6 based on dream recall. And obviously social anxiety symptoms too.

This questionnaire and information is taken from chapter 7 of my book, The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings, available in major books stores and via Amazon.

It is based on my experience working with many clients with pyroluria, along with information from Depression-Free Naturally (2001), by Joan Mathews-Larson, Nutrition and Mental Illness (1987), by Carl Pfeiffer, and Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Common Mental Disorders (2001), by Eva Edelman.

And this version of the questionnaire reflects a few updates made since my book was published in 2011.

 

11/5/2013 update – since doing this post, I’ve done a number of other posts related to zinc, vitamin B6, pyroluria and even introversion  and I am including links to some of them here:

The comments on the posts about anxious introverts and the possible connection to pyroluria and/or low zinc and low vitamin B6 have been enlightening to say the least! Additional comments and feedback is always appreciated.