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Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.

Soaking and Sprouting

“Give us our daily bread” is a prayer. If somebody is out there to listen to this prayer, He seems to prefer to listen to First-World supplicants; the Third World does not need to apply, apparently. World hunger is appalling, but perhaps it is beneficial that not all people get to have their daily bread. Because our staple bread, surprisingly, contains ingredients that might hurt you. All seeds – including grains, legumes and nuts – contain indigestible parts. It is a survival strategy for seeds: They don’t want to be eaten, they want to germinate and build new life. About five to ten thousand (depending on where people lived) years ago, the agricultural revolution happened. Suddenly we were eating grains (the other part of the agricultural revolution was coaxing cows into give up their milk for human consumption). When people still were hunters and gatherers, grains barely ever showed up in their meals – grains then were trifling kernels, not worth the effort. Cavemen ate greens, roots, nuts, small fruit (big fruit are the result of modern hybridization), game, fowl and grubs – whatever was available. Not much was available, so famines and starvation were frequent – especially after mankind had successfully hunted to extinction the huge animals that populated the world in prehistoric times: huge deer, woolly mammoths, giants pigs, and so on. Agriculture was a step forward. It provided more calories, and reliably so. More children could survive; populations slowly increased. But grains come with a price: They contain antinutrients (such as lectins, phytates, protease inhibitors) that have negative health consequences. These ingredients interfere with the successful uptake of important molecules – mostly minerals, like calcium – and they are harsh on the gastro-intestinal tract. As they are indigestible, eating them can lead to upset stomach, bloating, diarrhea, even colitis. But things are never easy: Polyphenols and flavonoids are also antinutrients, and we surely want those in our daily fare (though not in overdose). Antinutrients can be destroyed or at least reduced by cooking, sprouting and fermentation. About fermentation and its benefits we have already talked. We also discussed raw foods-only diets, and that cooking makes more nutritional components available. Soaking and sprouting is a method still not used widely enough. I can't marvel enough that the simple fact of adding water to a seed will make it easier to digest (be aware that for some people it is not enough to eliminate the digestive problems). Store-bought sprouts in the past have occasional had problems with germs, alfalfa and soy bean sprouts, for instance - a good reason to do it at home. Just keep your (simple) equipment clean. There are a few tricks for different sprouts from amaranth to Brazil nuts, from mung beans to lentils which I don’t want to discuss here – information is easily found on the Internet. This is my stress-free methods: Soak in clean water overnight. There are plastic jars available at health food stores with sieves of different sized hole, for small and bigger seeds. One can also just (and perhaps healthier without plastics leaching out) use glass jars and paper towels and/or cheese cloth for straining. Pour off the water next morning, rinse in clean water (repeatedly, if the water is cloudy) and let stand for sprouting (or beginning to sprout). Eat your sprouts during this day. For me it works – without being too meticulous about it. I like sunflower, flax, sesame, almonds. Make sure you start with seeds that have not been irradiated, roasted, salted or processed in any way; organic is preferable. Make sure you don’t let them sprout for too long, they might get bitter. Experiment with different soaking/sprouting times. Anything longer than two, utmost three days can lead to mold – discard it. Always clean jars and sieves thoroughly. Add sprouted seeds and nuts to bean dishes, leftovers and as snacks. If you seem to have “allergies” to every single nut or seed there is, try removing antinutrients by soaking and sprouting. After all, yours might not be a real allergy, you might just not be able to digest certain indigestible food ingredients. Which is determined by genetics. Read More 
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Bowel health II: Fermented Foods

Probiotic pills/capsules provide healthy bowel bacteria. But there exists an ancient method how to provide those lactic-acid bacteria without supplements: fermented foods. Many traditional societies have used fermented foods: • Sauerkraut (Europe) • Pickled vegetables like dilled cucumbers (China, Europe) • Tempeh (fermented, pressed soy beans)(Indonesia) • Miso (Japan) • Kefir (Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia) • Buttermilk (Scandinavia, India, Bulgaria) • Soy sauce (China, Japan, Southeast Asia) (beware of unfermented cheap products!) • Umeboshi plum (Japan) • Natto (Japanese soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis) • Pao cai (pickled cabbages) (China) • Kimchi (pickled cabbages and other vegetables with red pepper) (Korea) • Zha cai (pickled mustard plant with red pepper) (Southern China: Sichuan) • Doenjang (dark bean paste) (Korea) There are many more traditional fermented foods worldwide from fermented fish sauce to fermented breads. A big subgroup are milk products that are fermented like natural cheeses and yogurts. On the other hand, modern products like soy sauce pickled dills might not have undergone the fermentation process; the taste comes from spices and preservatives. Like probiotics, fermented foods are good for your health. Fermenting reduces so-called antinutrients (like lectins), making foods easier to digest. Fermented foods increase saliva and digestive juices flow, and provide vitamins and minerals which have been “pre-digested” by bacteria and therefore are more easily available for the human body. Sauerkraut was traditional a source of vitamin C during the winter and fresh things were scarce. Fermented foods are thought to have anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial effects and help cleanse a system overloaded with toxins (or a hangover). They work against fatigue and aging. Read More 
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