Garden For Nutrition Index

               
Sprouting Safely

Sprouting is the ideal winter garden. It allows you to grow plants indoors to obtain essential B complex vitamins which do not store well during winter.

The sunflower is ideal for sprouting and eating raw for vitamin B1. If tolerated, spelt can be sprouted and cooked for an excellant source of B2. Peas, lentils, and soybeans are best sprouted and then cooked and fermented as tempeh for B6 and B2.

Hygiene and temperature control are critical if sprouting is to be accomplished safely. First, soak the seeds for 8-24 hours depending on seed hardness. This will start to unlock any anti-nutrients. Keep seeds in the dark and at room temperature. Enzyme levels start increasing. The complex carbohydrates begin to convert to simple sugars. The complex proteins begin to break down into simple proteins. Complex protein are usually more desirable than simple proteins. Gluten does not completely break down because many seeds do not sprout adequately.

At the end of the initial soaking, drain the water off and rinse. Rinse and drain the seeds twice a day from now on. Over the next 2-3 days, the enzyme inhibitor levels will steadily decrease and the enzyme levels will steadily increase. After 2-3 days, simple protein levels will have increased and complex proteins will have decreased. Important proteins may be lost the longer the sprouting process is allowed to progress. After 2-3 days, sprouts become very vulnerable to fermentation, since the sugar levels begin to rise dramtically at that point.

For sunflower seeds, after the initial soaking, the inner hull coating will begin to seperate. Pour the seeds into a bowl, fill the bowl with water, and the inner hulls will float. Pour the inner hulls off the top. Repeat several times until the inner hulls are gone. Most sunflower seeds sprout within 2 days.

For grains, soak 1 day, and then boil them. For legumes like peas, lentils, and soybeans, soak for 1 day, then boil them and then ferment them in the form of tempeh to further increase digestability.

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