We all know that nuts are good for health. They contain essential fatty acids and should be a part of your daily diet. Apart from consuming them raw, another form in which these nuts are available is a roasted form. Roasted nuts sell better simply because they taste better. However, some people say that roasting raw nuts decreases their nutritional value which not only makes them unhealthy but also makes them useless. Is it really true or is it just bro science, like almost 90% of the information out there?  

What Roasting Does To The Nutrition Content- Nothing!

Yes, it is true that dry fruits change their form when they are roasted. But it is only their structure and chemical composition that changes. This is reflected by change in their color and their crunchy texture. Since they lose moisture during the roasting process, they turn pale and crunchy. Roasted nuts have a similar amount of carbs, fat and protein, as raw nuts do. Since they are already fat loaded, they can't absorb too much of fat from oil roasting.Though they may have slightly more fat and calories than their raw counterparts, the difference is negligible. 

Over Roasting Can Make Them Harmful

Polyunsaturated fats, which are present in almost all the dry fruits, have a basic property of being damaged in prolonged heat. They oxidize due to excessive heat. The result of this oxidation is that these fats then form harmful free radicals which can damage cells. If you may have noticed, when dry fruits are roasted in excess they produce a foul smell. The reason is that those dry fruits have oxidized and are not fit for consumption anymore. Also, the oxidation of roasted nuts can happen during the storage process. Since prolonged storage of roasted nuts has the risk of oxygen exposure which will lead to oxidation of polyunsaturated fats. 

Studies

Studies have shown that the best way to roast nuts is at low temperature for a limited period of time. Another problem with roasted nuts is the formation of harmful chemicals during the roasting process. There is a chemical reaction called Maillard Reaction which is the reaction between amino acid asparagine and the natural sugar in the nuts. This happens when nuts are heated at high temperature and this is what gives them the brown colour. This reaction could also lead to the formation of Acrylamide which is a harmful substance. Though studies have shown that the amount of acrylamide found in roasted nuts is too less to have an impact on the human body, yet, in the long run, it could be harmful.

Raw Nuts Are A Better Choice

Though studies show that even raw nuts could be unhealthy if they contain bacteria like salmonella, but if you buy good quality of dry fruits, there's a rare possibility that dry fruit may be contaminated. Make sure that you keep them in a clean environment when you store them. The nutrition content with respect to macros is almost the same for roasted nuts if they are slightly dry roasted as compared to dry nuts.

Anuj Tyagi is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Sports Nutritionist and Therapeutic Exercise Specialist From American Council on Exercise (ACE) . He is the Founder of the website where he provides online Training. Though a Chartered Accountant by education, he has been closely associated with Fitness Industry since 2006. His motto is to transform people Naturally and he believes that the secret formula for Fitness is Consistency and commitment towards your Training and Nutrition. You can connect with him through Facebook and Youtube.