Why Are Sprouted Foods Good For You?
Have you ever wondered what the big deal about "sprouted foods" is? Have you wondered what the difference between "sprouted" and "non sprouted" is?
A "non-sprouted" food is one that you find in nature. Basically think of a walnut inside of it's shell, or a pumpkin seed or a grain of oats or wheat. This is the a whole food that is not altered in any way. Now think of a bag of sunflowers that you find in the grocery store, most have been iradiated to kill any parasites and many have been pasteurized or heated which kills the enzymes that help our body digest them.
A "sprouted" food is one that has been allowed to germinate but not grow into an actual plant. "Sprouted foods" are much easier to digest than non-sprouted foods. You can easily sprout raw nuts and seeds like almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, oats, millet, etc by soaking them in a small amount of water for several hours or overnight and then draining the water off.
Here's a simple way to soak nuts or seeds:
- Place 1 cup of raw, organic nuts or seeds into a 1 quart Mason jar.
- Add 3/4 tsp of sea salt.
- Fill the jar with water right up to the top.
- Make sure to dissolve the salt by swirling the water around until it's completey dissolved.
- Allow the nuts/seeds to sit in the jar for at least 7 hours or overnight.
- Drain the water out from the nuts or seeds.
- Rinse nuts/seeds.
- You can also do the same thing using grains.
Now they are ready for consumption. This makes them much more digestible in the body and much easier for our body to assimulate all those wonderful nutrients as many people have issues absorbing the vitamins and minerals from the foods they consume.
So remember: Eating raw nuts and seeds is much better for you then eating roasted nuts and seeds because much of the vitamin and mineral content is lost in the heat processing.
Stay healthy my friends!