Just found a cravings killer!

nineteentwenty

So after a few days of eating my custom raw trail mix blend (pumpkin seeds/pine nuts/sunflower seeds/slivered almonds, cashews, dried cherries), I have noticed a marked decrease in food cravings. This is very unusual for me, as I am the type of person who always has to be eating something. I figured it was from all the vitamins and good fats playing around in my system, but I looked up the info on all the ingredients out of curiosity.

It turns out that pine nuts, ~25% of my mix, contain a very unique fatty acid (pinolenic acid) that triggers the body's hunger suppressants that cause the "full" feeling in your stomach. It is only found in pine nuts, and has been studied and used in diet supplements in order to control appetite.

So if you are a chronic snacker and don't have a tree nut allergy, eat pine nuts. Pass it on. They taste great.

blushenvy

Love pine nuts! They taste even yummier if you toast them lightly

Raptor2763

never tried pine nuts, but if they work, i'm game !

Raptor2763

does the quantity make a difference?

nineteentwenty

Raptor2763 wrote: »

does the quantity make a difference?

I would assume that a proper "dose" would depend on your body stats (weight, height, etc) like any other chemical, but I would say that I am eating less than an ounce of pine nuts per day in with my other assorted seeds/nuts/berries and am happily maintaining a meal plan of 1300cals a day (I am 5'9" and 1323lbs).

Raptor2763

Gonna pick up some pine nuts on the way home from work today - I'll let you know how it goes

nineteentwenty

Nice, happy hunting!

lilithsrose

I love pine nuts, but they're so expensive.

BethAnnieT

I harvested pine nuts from the trees by my house this weekend. So difficult! You have to put down a tarp, whack the tree with a big stick or other whacking device, the pine nuts (here we call them pinons with a tilde over the n) and pine cones fall to the tarp along with a bajillion pine needles and sticks and small branches. Then you have to sort everything out, sift out the pine needles, etc. And after that, maybe half of what you collect has a fully formed seed in the shell. Now I realize why they are like $33/lb.

MiMi_5151

I use Alton Brown's method for toasting pine nuts - altonbrown.com/how-to-toast-pine-nuts-in-microwave/

1. Rinse half a cup of pine nuts in cold water

2. Drain, then toss in a teaspoon of salt. That’s right, you’re making a brine. But don’t worry about over-salting as any excess will fall off later, post-roast as it were.

3. Move to a small paper bag, fold over and microwave on high for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

4. When the nuts are done pull and allow to sit for one minute before tasting. You may need another 30 seconds or a minute but it’s better to be a little under-cooked than overcooked.

lemurcat12

I love pine nuts, but from having used them in cooking quite often they are more likely to cause me to want to eat more, since tasty. I don't really have cravings/appetite issues, though, pine nuts or no.