Once you discover the nutritional and health benefits of sprouting you will want to learn this kitchen gardening technique. It’s so easy and fun…don’t let it intimidate you. The rewards are well worth the effort.
In a nut shell (no pun intended) the main benefit of sprouting is that it takes a seed or nut in the dormant state and brings it to life. During the sprouting process new and higher quality proteins and other nutrients are produced. Tests have shown that the nutrients in seeds and nuts are anywhere from 50% to 400% greater after sprouting or soaking. For example, according to Rita Romano in her book Dining in the Raw, millet and wheat contain over 5 times the vitamin C when sprouted and the vitamin B content grows substantially as well.
In addition to the significantly higher nutritional value in sprouts, sprouts are highly digestible. Because sprouts are living, growing food sources, they have a rich supply of enzymes. This quality makes sprouts easily assimilated and metabolized by the body. Sprouts are a powerhouse of nutrition and are in a form that your body can easily utilize.
By sprouting seeds, grains and nuts you end up with a whole food that contains an even richer source of high quality protein. Some seeds, nuts and grains that contain complete proteins and are improved by sprouting include soy, millet, pumpkin seed, buckwheat, sunflower seed, almond, and alfalfa.
Another benefit to sprouting seeds and nuts is that it removes the enzyme inhibitors. Enzyme inhibitors are those chemicals in nuts and seeds designed to preserve the life force within. Enzyme inhibitors are what keep the seed or nut in a dormant state until it is ready to bring forth the plant or tree within.
Research has discovered that ingesting seeds and nuts with the enzyme inhibitors intact can actually be harmful, resulting in gastrointestinal problems, enlarged pancreas and a condition that leads to the excretion and therefore loss of needed enzymes. Therefore it is actually safer and healthier to eat nuts and seeds in a cooked state rather than a raw state.
The benefits of sprouting are extensive.
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