Sesame Tahini

SESAME TAHINI

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

Contents

I. Introduction

II. Use In The Development Program

III. How To Eat Tahini

IV. Other Topics

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I. INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION

Sesame tahini is a traditional food made of roasted, ground up sesame seeds. The word tahini comes from the Arabic language and means ground up.

Sesame butter - Name confusion. Many brands of tahini sold in the markets are not tahini, but rather sesame butter. Sesame butter is similar to tahini, but is it not prepared the same way. The traditional product is a very fine and a very oily product. If your “tahini” is a little gritty, it is probably sesame butter.

PREPARATION

The proper preparation of tahini is not so simple. The sesame seeds are first soaked in plain water for about a day. Then they are lightly crushed.

Then they are soaked in salt water. This causes the bran or hulls to separate from the kernals, which float on top.

One must skim off the kernals to make the tahini. These are then roasted and put through a fine grinder to make an thin, oily paste.

Removing the hulls is important because these are less nutritious and not needed. Roasting the seeds helps balance their qualities. Grinding the seeds is important because otherwise they tend to go through the intestinal trace without being digested.

Sesame butter preparation. Many brands of “tahini” are not prepared the traditional way. They are simply ground up sesame seeds. This is not quite as good as the traditional method of preparation.

NUTRITIONAL QUALITIES

Sesame tahini is a rich source of a number of mineral compounds needed for health and development, especially zinc, selenium, phosphorus and calcium.

It is also a source of healthful oil and it is high in protein.

Tahini may have other chemical compounds needed for rapid development that have yet to be discovered scientifically.

II. USE IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Our observation is that if adults will eat about two tablespoons of tahini daily they will develop faster. Tahini is helpful both in the early stages and some later stages of development.

Children starting around age of 3 also need some tahini every day. The amount should be proportional to their size and weight.

To understand development, read Introduction To Development.

III. HOW TO EAT TAHINI

We recommend eating tahini with the protein part of your meal. It can be eaten plain or spread as a paste or sauce over another protein such as ground lamb, beef, egg or even sardines.

You can think of it like a condiment such as mustard that some people spread on their protein food. In fact, it shares some qualities with mustard, but is quite superior to mustard as a special food for development.

Eating it with the protein part of the meal seems to work the best for excellent digestion and absorption of the nutrients in the tahini.

The best way to eat for rapid development. Divide your meal into three parts. The first part contains one or two protein foods such as meats, egg, nut butter, or sardines. The second part is cooked vegetables. The third part is a little blue corn tortilla chips.

IV. OTHER TOPICS

Salt. Tahini needs a little natural sea salt added to it to balance it. For details, read Salt.

Storage. Always store tahini in the refrigerator. Preferably store it near the bottom of the refrigerator where it is cooler.

This is because the unsaturated oils go rancid quickly if tahini is left out at room temperature.

Also, keep the tahini container covered up and always away from sunlight. This is also to help preserve the oils and other nutrients.

Check the expiration date. This is also because tahini must be fairly fresh or the oils become rancid. Tahini naturally has a slight bitter taste. However, if it is very bitter, it might be past its expiration date.

Making your own. You can grind up sesame seeds in a coffee grinder or even a hand grinder. The advantage is that it is very fresh.

However, it is not the same as tahini one buys in the store. It is not as creamy. We find both are good, but do not just use the sesame seeds that you grind up yourself. You won’t get the same nutrition as if you eat the creamy, finely ground product.

What about hummus? This is a popular preparation made mostly of sesame tahini mixed with cooked chickpeas, usually with a little garlic, lemon and salt.

It is one way to eat tahini. If you use this method, you will need about four tablespoons daily. We prefer just eating the tahini, but some people do not like the taste and it is far better to eat it in hummus than to not eat it.

What about raw sesame tahini? This is not as good because it is too yin in macrobiotic terminology. Yin means cold and expanded. The bodies are already too yin, so adding more yin food is very harmful for development. Development requires carefully balancing the body. For more on this subject, read Yin And Yang, Yin Disease, Yin And Yang Healing and other articles on this website about this subject.

Mixing it up. When you buy tahini, often the oil has separated and is on top. Do not throw away the oil.

Remix the oil with the more solid butter. You can do this with a spoon or knife in the container, or with a hand blender.

Once you mix it up and put it in the refrigerator for storage, usually it will remain mixed.

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