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SPROUTS

Complete super alkaline food. Micro nutrients/proteins/vitamins and 100 times more enzymes than uncooked veggies.

Ingredients:

Approximately 10 grams (2 Tbsp) mixed small seeds – Alfalfa, radish, fenugreek, mung- per 8 inch round stacking sprouting tray (≈$ 0.40 per tray).

Approximately 70 grams (1/2 cup) mung bean larger seeds to completely fill 10 inch square dish (≈$ 0.50 per dish).

Process:

IN  SHORT:  Rinse no less than twice a day  -think of little babies needing diaper changes often.

When using small sprouts, as soon as the most recent layer seeds have entered the genesis stage (cracked open w/ little root), take top tray and put into covered glass dish. Use this for eating from and allowing more light to increase nutrition content. It also allows for speeding up production by 25%. 

Between three and four containers I use for my large mung beans. The small glass I use to completely soak the mung beans for about 36 hrs, then I just use my hand to strain the glass until genesis has caused the seeds to overflow the glass. Then move to larger covered containers.

Care Notes:

Clean containers thoroughly between uses.

LONGER VERSIONS

Raw veganism 

Main article: Raw veganism

 A raw vegan diet consists of unprocessed, raw plant foods that have not been heated above 40 °C (104 °F). Raw vegans such as Dr. Brian Clement, Dr. Gabriel Cousens, Thierry Browers a.k.a. "Superlight", and Douglas Graham[3] believe that foods cooked above this temperature have lost much of their nutritional value and are less healthful or even harmful to the body. Advocates argue that raw or living foods have natural enzymes, which are critical in building proteins and rebuilding the body, and that heating these foods destroys the natural enzymes and can leave toxins behind. However, critics point out that enzymes, as with other proteins consumed in the diet, are denatured and eventually lysed by the digestive process, rendering them non-functional. Typical foods included in raw food diets are fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains and legumes.

 Among raw vegans there are some subgroups such as fruitarians, juicearians, or sproutarians. Fruitarians eat primarily or exclusively fruits, berries, seeds, and nuts. Juicearians process their raw plant foods into juice. Sproutarians adhere to a diet consisting mainly of sprouted seeds.

Raw vegetarianism[edit] 

Vegetarianism is a diet that excludes meat (including game and byproducts like gelatin), fish (including shellfish and other sea animals) and poultry, but allows dairy and/or eggs. Common foods include fruit, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, dairy, eggs and honey. There are several variants of this diet 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/22/are-you-using-this-powerful-antiaging-secret.aspx 

Why You Need Biophotons...  

Biophotons is a term that many are still unfamiliar with. But in Europe (Germany in particular), significant research is taking place in this area.  

Biophotons are the smallest physical units of light, which are stored in, and used by all biological organisms – including your body.  

It is thought that the higher the level of light energy a cell emits, the greater its vitality and the potential for the transfer of that energy to the individual which consumes it. Hence, the more light a food is able to store, the more nutritious it is. Organically-grown fresh vegetables, for example, and sun-ripened fruits, are rich in this light energy. Once inside, or part of, your body, biophotons control complex vital processes via the bio-information they contain. They have the power to order and regulate, and, in doing so, to elevate your physical body to a higher oscillation. This manifests as a feeling of vitality and well-being. 

 For more in-depth information about biophotons and their importance for optimal health, I recommend watching my video interview with Dr. Klinghardt, who is well-versed in this area. 

Sprouts truly are the best locally-grown food, yet not enough people eat or grow them. Considering there many health and environmental benefits, it’s time to consider adding sprouts to your diet.

Here are 10 reasons to eat more sprouts:

1.  Experts estimate that there can be up to 100 times more enzymes in sprouts than uncooked fruits and vegetables.  Enzymes are special types of proteins that act as catalysts for all your body’s functions. Extracting more vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and essential fatty acids from the foods you eat ensures that your body has the nutritional building blocks of life to ensure every process works more effectively.

2.  The quality of the protein in the beans, nuts, seeds, or grains improves when it is sprouted.  Proteins change during the soaking and sprouting process, improving its nutritional value.  The amino acid lysine, for example, which is needed to prevent cold sores and to maintain a healthy immune system increases significantly during the sprouting process.

3.  The fiber content of the beans, nuts, seeds, or grains increases substantially.  Fiber is critical to weight loss.  It not only binds to fats and toxins in our body to escort them out, it ensures that any fat our body breaks down is moved quickly out of the body before it can resorb through the walls of the intestines (which is the main place for nutrient absorption into the blood).

4.  Vitamin content increases dramatically.  This is especially true of vitamins A, B-complex, C, and E.  The vitamin content of some seeds, grains, beans, or nuts increases by up to 20 times the original value within only a few days of sprouting.  Research shows that during the sprouting process mung beansprouts (or just beansprouts, as they are often called) increase in vitamin B1 by up to 285 percent, vitamin B2 by up to 515 percent, and niacin by up to 256 percent.

5.  Essential fatty acid content increases during the sprouting process. Most of us are deficient in these fat-burning essential fats because they are not common in our diet.  Eating more sprouts is an excellent way to get more of these important nutrients.

Keep reading to find out how sprouts can help prevent cancer…

6.  During sprouting, minerals bind to protein in the seed, grain, nut, or bean, making them more useable in the body.  This is true of alkaline minerals like calcium, magnesium, and others than help us to balance our body chemistry for weight loss and better health.

7.  Sprouts are the ultimate locally-grown food. When you grow them yourself you are helping the environment and ensuring that you are not getting unwanted pesticides, food additives, and other harmful fat-bolstering chemicals that thwart your weight loss efforts.

8.  The energy contained in the seed, grain, nut, or legume is ignited through soaking and sprouting.

9.  Sprouts are alkalizing to your body.  Many illnesses including cancer have been linked to excess acidity in the body.

10.  Sprouts are inexpensive. People frequently use the cost of healthy foods as an excuse for not eating healthy.  But, with sprouts being so cheap, there really is no excuse for not eating healthier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprouting#Antinutritional_factors

 Seeds suitable for sprouting

All viable seeds can be sprouted, but some sprouts should not be eaten raw. The most common food sprouts include: Pulses (legumes; pea family): alfalfa, clover, fenugreek, lentil, pea, chickpea, mung bean and soybean (bean sprouts).

Cereals: oat, wheat, maize (corn), rice, barley, rye, kamut and then quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat (these last three are used as cereal even if botanically they are not) (In the case of rice, the husk of the paddy will be removed before sprouting. The brown rice is widely using for germination (GBR - Germinated Brown Rice)in Japan and other countries)

Oilseeds: sesame, sunflower, almond, hazelnut, linseed, peanut.

Brassica (cabbage family): broccoli, cabbage, watercress, mustard, mizuna, radish, and daikon (kaiware sprouts), rocket (arugula), tatsoi, turnip.

Umbelliferous vegetables (parsley family) - these may be used more as microgreens than sprouts.carrot, celery, fennel, parsley.

Allium (onions) - cannot really distinguish between microgreens: onion, leek, green onion (me-negi in Japanese cuisine)

Other vegetables and herbs: spinach, lettuce, milk thistle, lemon grass[citation needed]

Although whole oats can be sprouted, oat groats sold in food stores, which are dehulled and require steaming or roasting to prevent rancidity, will not sprout. Whole oats may have an indigestible hull which makes them difficult or even unfit for human consumption.

All the sprouts of the solanaceae (tomato, potato, paprika, aubergine or eggplant) and rhubarb cannot be eaten as sprouts, either cooked or raw, as they can be poisonous.[1] Some sprouts can be cooked to remove the toxin, while others cannot.[2] 

With all seeds, care should be taken that they are intended for sprouting or human consumption rather than sowing. Seeds intended for sowing may be treated with chemical dressings. Several countries, such as New Zealand, also require that some varieties of imported edible seed be heat-treated, thus making them impossible to sprout.[citation needed] Quinoa in its natural state is very easy to sprout but when polished, or pre-cleaned of its saponin coating (becoming whiter), loses its power to germinate.

The germination process[edit] 

The germination process takes a few days and can be done at home manually, as a semi-automated process, or industrially on a large scale for commercial use.

 Typically the seeds are first rinsed to remove soil and dirt and the mucilaginous substances produced by some seeds when they come in contact with water. Then they are soaked for 20 minutes to 12 hours, depending on the type and size of seed. The soaking increases the water content in the seeds and brings them out of quiescence. After draining and then rinsing seeds at regular intervals they germinate, or sprout.

 Sprouting mung beans in a glass sprouter jar with a plastic sieve-lid

For home sprouting, the seeds are soaked (big seeds) or moistened (small), then left at room temperature (13 to 21 °C or 55 to 70 °F) in a sprouting vessel. Many different types of vessels can be used. One type is a simple glass jar with a piece of cloth or nylon window screen secured over its rim. "Tiered" clear plastic sprouters are commercially available, allowing a number of "crops" to be grown simultaneously. By staggering sowings, a constant supply of young sprouts can be ensured. Any vessel used for sprouting must allow water to drain from it, because sprouts that sit in water will rot quickly. The seeds swell, may stick to the sides of the jar, and begin germinating within a day or two. 

Sprouts are rinsed two to four times a day, depending on the climate and the type of seed, to provide them with moisture and prevent them from souring. Each seed has its own ideal sprouting time. After three to five days the sprouts will have grown to 5 to 8 centimetres (2–3 in) in length and will be suitable for consumption. If left longer they will begin to develop leaves, and are then known as baby greens. A popular baby green is sunflower after 7–10 days. Refrigeration can be used as needed to slow or halt the growth process of any sprout.

Common causes for sprouts to become inedible:

Seeds are not rinsed well enough before soaking

Seeds are left in standing water after the initial soaking

Seeds are allowed to dry out

Temperature is too high or too low

Insufficient rinsing

Dirty equipment

Insufficient air flow

Contaminated water source

Poor germination rate 

Mung beans can be sprouted either in light or dark conditions. Those sprouted in the dark will be crisper in texture and whiter, as in the case of commercially available Chinese Bean Sprouts, but these have less nutritional content than those grown in partial sunlight.[citation needed] Growing in full sunlight is not recommended, because it can cause the beans to overheat or dry out. Subjecting the sprouts to pressure, for example, by placing a weight on top of them in their sprouting container, will result in larger, crunchier sprouts similar to those sold in Polish grocery stores.

 A very effective way to sprout beans like lentils or azuki is in colanders. Soak the beans in water for about 8 hours then place in the colander. Wash twice a day. The sprouted beans can be eaten raw or cooked. 

Sprouting is also applied on a large scale to barley as a part of the malting process. Malted barley is an important ingredient in beer and is used in huge quantities. Most malted barley is distributed among wide retail sellers in North American regions. 

Many varieties of nuts, such as almonds and peanuts, can also be started in their growth cycle by soaking and sprouting, although because the sprouts are generally still very small when eaten, they are usually called "soaks". 

Nutritional information[edit] 

 Sprouts used for a verrine.

 Fresh mung bean sprouts in a bowl

Sprouts are said to be rich in digestible energy, bioavailable vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, and phytochemicals, as these are necessary for a germinating plant to grow.[3] These nutrients are essential for human health. The nutritional changes upon germination & sprouting are summarised below.

 Chavan and Kadam (1989) {{[4] }} concluded that - “The desirable nutritional changes that occur during sprouting are mainly due to the breakdown of complex compounds into a more simple form, transformation into essential constituents and breakdown of nutritionally undesirable constituents.” 

“The metabolic activity of resting seeds increases as soon as they are hydrated during soaking. Complex biochemical changes occur during hydration and subsequent sprouting. The reserve chemical constituents, such as protein, starch and lipids, are broken down by enzymes into simple compounds that are used to make new compounds.” 

“Sprouting grains causes increased activities of hydrolytic enzymes, improvements in the contents of total proteins, fat, certain essential amino acids, total sugars, B-group vitamins, and a decrease in dry matter, starch and anti-nutrients. The increased contents of protein, fat, fibre and total ash are only apparent and attributable to the disappearance of starch. However, improvements in amino acid composition, B-group vitamins, sugars, protein and starch digestibilities, and decrease in phytates and protease inhibitors[disambiguation needed] are the metabolic effects of the sprouting process.”

 Increases in Protein Quality Chavan and Kadam (1989)[citation needed] stated - “Very complex qualitative changes are reported to occur during soaking and sprouting of seeds. The conversion of storage proteins of cereal grains into albumins and globulins during sprouting may improve the quality of cereal proteins. Many studies have shown an increase in the content of the amino acid Lysine with sprouting.” 

“An increase in proteolytic activity during sprouting is desirable for nutritional improvement of cereals because it leads to hydrolysis of prolamins and the liberated amino acids such as glutamic and proline are converted to limiting amino acids such as lysine.”

 Increases in Crude Fibre content Cuddeford (1989)[citation needed], based on data obtained by Peer and Leeson (1985) {{[5]}}, stated - “In sprouted barley, crude fibre, a major constituent of cell walls, increases both in percentage and real terms, with the synthesis of structural carbohydrates, such as cellulose and hemicellulose”. Chung et al. (1989)[citation needed] found that the fibre content increased from 3.75% in unsprouted barley seed to 6% in 5-day sprouts.”

 Crude Protein and Crude Fibre changes in Barley Sprouted over a 7-day period 

Crude Protein (% of DM)

Crude Fibre (% of DM)

 Original seed 12.7% 5.4%

Day 1 12.7% 5.6%

Day 2 13.0% 5.9%

Day 3 13.6% 5.8%

Day 4 13.4% 7.4%

Day 5 13.9% 9.7%

Day 6 14.0% 10.8%

Day 7 15.5% 14.1%

 Source: Cuddeford (1989), based on data obtained by Peer and Leeson (1985). 

Increase of protein is not due to new protein being manufactured by the germination process but by the washing out of starch and conversion to fiber -- increasing the relative proportion of protein. 

Increases in Essential Fatty Acids 

An increase in lipase activity has been reported in barley by MacLeod and White (1962)[citation needed], as cited by Chavan and Kadam (1989)[citation needed] . Increased lipolytic activity during germination and sprouting causes hydrolysis of triacylglycerols to glycerol and constituent fatty acids.

 Increases in Vitamin content According to Chavan and Kadam (1989)[citation needed], most reports agree that sprouting treatment of cereal grains generally improves their vitamin value, especially the B-group vitamins. Certain vitamins such as α-tocopherol (Vitamin-E) and β-carotene (Vitamin-A precursor) are produced during the growth process (Cuddeford, 1989)[citation needed] .

 According to Shipard (2005)[citation needed] - “Sprouts provide a good supply of Vitamins A, E & C plus B complex. Like enzymes, vitamins serve as bioactive catalysts to assist in the digestion and metabolism of feeds and the release of energy. They are also essential for the healing and repair of cells. However, vitamins are very perishable, and in general, the fresher the feeds eaten, the higher the vitamin content. The vitamin content of some seeds can increase by up to 20 times their original value within several days of sprouting. Mung Bean sprouts have B vitamin increases, compared to the dry seeds, of - B1 up 285%, B2 up 515%, B3 up 256%. Even soaking seeds overnight in water yields greatly increased amounts of B vitamins, as well as Vitamin C. Compared with mature plants, sprouts can yield vitamin contents 30 times higher.” 

Chelation of Minerals Shipard (2005)[citation needed] claims that - “When seeds are sprouted, minerals chelate or merge with protein, in a way that increases their function.” 

It is important to note that while these changes may sound impressive, the comparisons are between dormant non-sprouted seed to sprouted seed rather than comparisons of sprouts to mature vegetables. Compared to dry seeds there are very large increases in nutrients whereas compared with mature vegetables the increase is less. However, a sprout, just starting out in life, is likely to need and thus have more nutrients (percentage wise) than a mature vegetable. 

BAD

 FDA health warning on a sprouts package

Commercially grown sprouts have been associated with multiple outbreaks of harmful bacteria, including salmonella and toxic forms of Escherichia coli.[6] Such infections may be a result of contaminated seeds or of unhygienic production with high microbial counts.[7][8] Sprout seeds can become contaminated in the fields where they are grown, and sanitizing steps may be unable to kill bacteria hidden in damaged seeds.[6] A single surviving bacterium in a kilogram of seed can be enough to contaminate a whole batch of sprouts, according to the FDA.[6]

 To minimize the impact of the incidents and maintain public health, both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada issued industry guidance on the safe manufacturing of edible sprouts and public education on their safe consumption.[9][10] There are also publications for hobby farmers on safely growing and consuming sprouts at home.[11][12] The recommendations include development and implementation of good agricultural practices and good manufacturing practices in the production and handling of seeds and sprouts, seed disinfection treatments, and microbial testing before the product enters the food supply. 

In June 2011, contaminated fenugreek sprouts (grown from seed from Egypt) in Germany was identified as the source of the 2011 E. coli O104:H4 outbreak which the German officials had blamed wrongly, first on cucumbers from Spain and then on mung bean sprouts.[6] In addition to Germany, where 3,785 cases and 45 deaths had been reported by the end of the outbreak,[13][14] a handful of cases were reported in several countries including Switzerland,[14] Poland,[14] the Netherlands,[14] Sweden,[14] Denmark,[14] the UK,[14][15] Canada[14] and the USA.[16] Virtually all affected people had been in Germany shortly before becoming ill.

 Antinutritional factors[edit]

 Some legumes, including sprouts, can contain toxins or antinutritional factors, which can be reduced by soaking, sprouting and cooking (e.g., stir frying). Joy Larkcom advises that to be on the safe side “one shouldn’t eat large quantities of raw legume sprouts on a regular basis, no more than about 550g (20oz) daily”.[17]

Phytic acid, an antinutritional factor, occurs primarily in the seed coats and germ tissue of plant seeds. It forms insoluble or nearly insoluble compounds with many metal ions, including those of calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc, reducing their dietary availability. Diets high in phytic acid content and poor in these minerals produce mineral deficiency in experimental animals (Gontzea and Sutzescu, 1958, as cited in Chavan and Kadam, 1989)[citation needed]. The latter authors state that the sprouting of cereals has been reported to decrease levels of phytic acid. Similarly, Shipard (2005)[citation needed] states that enzymes of germination and sprouting can help eliminate detrimental substances such as phytic acid. However, the amount of phytic acid reduction from soaking is only marginal, and not enough to counteract its antinutrient effects