Sprout up your health today!!
Turning regular grains into sprouted grains can have some pretty intriguing nutritional benefits. Grains have vital nutrients; however they are locked up tight by anti-nutrients (such as phytic acid). Once, you soak and seeds hang out in water, they germinate, causing their outer layers to split open, allowing a dormant seed to become a live plant. When this happens, anti-nutrients break away, and the newly emerging sprout consumes some of the grain’s starches, thereby altering the food’s nutritional content.
This process of changing seeds to tiny little plants is quick & easy, but the nutritional benefits are huge.
Below we will give you 11 reasons why you should sprout grains and include them in your daily family meals.
11 Reasons Why Eating Sprouted Grains is Important for Health!
1. Increases available nutrients:
The process of germination and sprouting produces Vitamin C and also increase many of the grains' key nutrients, including B vitamins especially vitamin B2, B5, B6 , folate, fiber, Carotene, and essential amino acids often lacking in grains, such as lysine. Lot of Indian women suffer from the deficiency of iron. It causes a disease called Anemia. Due to the rich presence of iron in these sprouts it can easily be prevented.
Babies & toddlers have abundant energy and are crawling, running, jumping and simply so excited to explore the world. They eat a few bites and run away. So they might not get the complete nutrition required for their growth, especially when you have a fussy eater.
Feeding sprouted food, is one way you can definitely ensure your child is getting the max nutrition even in those few spoonful’s of food.
2. Sprouting Aids Digestibility
“Soaking & Sprouting help diminishing some fat content and help convert the dense vegetable protein into simpler amino acids for easier digestion. Complex carbohydrates are broken in the foods to simpler glucose molecules” - Wendy Rudell, Raw Transformation
It also reduces intestinal gas generally cause by eating legumes. So this becomes an important process, especially for babies who are just learning how to digest new food.
3. Enhancement of Protein Content
Sprouting grains also increases the presence of protein overnight which is very essential for the creating and sustention of muscles, especially in growing children. Sprouted grains can help meet daily requirements of proteins making family stronger and preventing fatigue
4. Increased Levels of B12
Sprouting grains also naturally enhances the presence of Vitamin B12 (Cynacobalamine) in them. Lot of vegetarians lack in Vitamin B12 and consuming these grain sprouts regularly will take care of the deficiency.
5. Eliminates & Neutralizes Anti-Nutrients (Phytic Acid / Raffinose )
Anti-nutrients like Phytic Acid binds with Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Copper & Zinc that makes it very hard for our body to digest & absorb these nutrients. Sprouting neutralizes Phytic Acid effectively, therefore making all these nutrients available for easy absorption.
Boiling Sprouted grains also degrades another anti-nutrient called raffinose. A carbohydrate that produces gas in the lower intestines. It’s therefore considered ideal to boil the sprouts before giving it to toddlers with a developing immune system.
6. Decreases the amount of starch
Once the germinating process is complete, there’s less starch in each sprouted grain, the proportion of protein and fiber within each seedling becomes higher, which also means that they automatically have a lower glycemic index than their non-sprouted counterparts.
7. Creates Lesser Hunger Pangs – Munching on Sprouts keeps you full for a longer time and preventing unhealthy cravings between meals. This again becomes important for children, who get tempted to immediately grab a junk food when they are hungry.
Why blame children, even we adults resort to quick unhealthy bites when we are super hungry. So, this is a great way to indirectly keep you away from junk food.
8. Avoiding Cons of Refined Food - Sprouted grains are basically whole grains, they contain more nutrients than refined grains, It has been widely researched that "When grains are refined, they lose about 25% of their protein and are greatly reduced in at least 17 key nutrients.
9. Maintains balance of Acidic & Alkaline levels- Some foods are acid forming and some foods are alkalizing. We need to have a good balance of both for optimal health. Grains and legumes are generally acidic, but by sprouting them, they become more alkaline forming food.
These days we eat more acid forming foods in our diet, excess sugar, refined foods etc, Stress and toxins in our environment also make our bodies more acidic.
Sprouting will ensure that your family’s diet is well balanced in both the forms.
10. Natural Fertility Booster- A very lesser known benefit of consuming sprouted grains are that it enhances fertility in both men and women naturally if eaten on regular basis. The presence of zinc in these sprouted grains increases sperm motility in men and due to the presence of powerhouse of vitamins and iron it helps in the regularization of ovulation in women suffering from PCOS.
11. Boon for Diabetics - Soaked and germinated grains is highly effective blood sugar regulator, making this life-saving food for diabetics. A high concentration of medicinal compounds makes sprouted grains a functional food which can play a part in treating specific diseases. Scientific studies have shown that sprouts can have a positive effect on controlling diabetes.
A few thing to note before you begin to consume sprouts or feed them to your children:
- It is advised to cook all sprouts thoroughly until they are steaming hot throughout before eating them. This prevents the formation of gas, especially in babies.
- It is also advisable to consume sprouts within 2 days of germinating them while it is still fresh. More nutrients and will be tastier too.
- Always consult your health care provider before introducing new foods to your baby.
Hope you liked this article. If you have any feedback or want us to cover any particular topic, do write to us on shalini.santhosh@earlyfoods.com
You can also check some of our sprouted organic porridge mixes in our store. They are all sprouted, dried at room temperature and powdered to make a yummy porridge mix for your little babies.
Sources derived from:
- http://natural-fertility-info.com/nuts-and-seeds.html
- Yogram Naturopathy centre’s Naturopath Dr. Neeraj’s lecture on consuming Sprouts.
- http://www.isga-sprouts.org/2014/11/fighting-diabetes-sprouts-can-help/
- Author Neelanjana Singh’s book “Our Kid Eats Everything”
- http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com
- Author Sally Fallon and book Nourishing Traditions
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