Do nuts really get digested much?

Hi,

I notice that when I eat peanuts and such that bits of them kind of just pass through "intact".

So how can I have gotten much nutrients from them?

I know it's probably normal, but because of the above, wouldn't the actual calories obtained be less than the stated calories and nutrients?

I'm going to try swallowing (with water) the peanuts without chewing and see what happens.

So, I guess all natural peanut butter would be the best way to get the most out of peanuts, right?

Speaking of all natural peanut butter, one of my unopened jar has settled with a lot of oil on top. Think I can use that for cooking?

Thanks

I just had bowel surgery and I am not allowed to eat nuts because they don't digest well.. so I am thinking, Nope... ha ha! Their fat is absorbed along with it's vitamins (so the calorie count is correct) in the small intestines but the matter they are made up of just doesn't break down. 

Not sure why you would want to pop peanuts like a pill... it kind of defeats the purpose of eating them... it's all about texture. Why "drink" your calories. 

All Natural Peanut Butter made from salt, peanuts & water is the ideal type of peanut butter to buy.... and the oil on the top probably could be used in cooking, but things still might stick to the bottom of the pan, so you might want to use olive oil spray as well. 

Why would I pop peanuts like a pill, simple, experimenting. To see how just how much they would be digested.

But now that I think about it, an experiment like that would prove nothing. Chewing will give the stomach acid more surface of the food to act upon, and not chewing will of course do the opposite.

In the previous years when I go cycling, I would just bring along some store bought snack bars. They taste ok and are pretty convenient but unfortunately they all had one bad thing in common. Wrappers!

So I've decided that this year, I'm going to bring along some raisins (carbs/quick energy) and peanuts (fats/proteins/slow energy) in a reusable container. They seem to be the least messy of snacks to bring and don't have to scrub the container later.

But now, it seems like peanuts may not be that great for a protein source since they don't digest all that well.

May be I'll try other nuts like almonds. Perhaps because peanuts are not really "nuts" is why they don't digest all that well.

All Natural Peanut Butter made from salt, peanuts & water? The one I buy, Kraft, is made with peanuts, nothing but peanuts. Or if I want to have it "ready to eat" then it's unsalted and unsweetened. Actually, I don't remember ever seeing water in the ingredients of a jar of peanut butter. Wouldn't the contents just separate without an emulsifier? And wouldn't there be mold and bacteria growth because of the water? That seems to be the case when there's moisture in a lidded container and I forget about it.

I think the same thing would happen with almonds.  I eat almonds pretty regularly and they don't seem to break down either.

The best way to make almonds and other nuts more digestable is to soak them overnight.

Soaking almonds is a common practice for raw foodists, who are primarily concerned with enzymes. While soaking, the enzyme inhibitors within the almonds are demolished, leaving the almonds naturally more digestable, and therefore, 200-300% more nutritional, as the nutrients are more easily absorbed by the body.

It may sound weird, but it's way beneficial. Hope this helps!

Good quick reference:

http://asktheherbalist.info/index.php/Q-A/Soa king-Almonds.html

Just a word of caution..... swallowing unchewed nuts whole puts you at real risk of chokng.  Not a good idea and complete waste of a perfectly good nut.

Stir the oil back into the peanut butter btw or the rest of the contents of the jar will have the texture of plaster...