Nutritionists, food scientists - help.

[Metta]

Raw vrs. roasted nuts. I've heard from sources I respect that roasting nuts turns their fats to saturated. Can anyone verify or disprove this? Thanks.

[supernova]

1. Honestly, I've never heard this

That would be the same as saying olive oil converts to saturated fat if you cook with it, which it does not.

edit: I do think you have to be careful and read the label though. Sometimes they roast nuts, peanuts included, in saturated oils or hydrogenated oils (which produce the dreaded trans fats) so just buy organic or roast and grind them yourself.

Long live peanut butter! :9

[Metta]

2. Thanks. I'm judicious about that.

I prefer raw especially as butter but it's so damn expensive.

[u4ic]

3. Roasting can damage the natural oils

found in nuts. They are healthy raw, but heated up can turn 'rancid'.

I try to eat raw nuts for the most part, but once in a while I'll have roasted.

This is true with a lot of veggie oils, too (ie those used for frying).

I sautee with grapeseed oil only, as it has a high smoke content. Most do not.

[flvegan]

4. This is incorrect, sort of.

Actually, it's the roasting that adds the saturated fats, as oftentimes the "roasting" is really deep-fat frying (in saturated fat, oft coconut oil). So, roasting nuts does not TURN their fats to saturated, it adds saturated fat (in some cases) to them.

[mykpart]

5. So are dry-roasted nuts OK?

[flvegan]

6. Dry roasted nuts have roughly

33% less saturated fat than those roasted in oil. Still "high" in fat, but if it's a handful that you're eating (rather than a serving of a whole cup of them) then yes, I'd say they're okay.