GOINDIS NATUROPATHY TRUST(INDIA)
Charity Registration No.845/4 dated 03.09.2003
SPROUTS FOR OPTIMUM
NUTRITION
SANTOKH SINGH PARMAR
FOUNDER TRUSTEES:
Satyendra Singh Goindi, MSc, LLB, ND
Gurkirpal Kaur Goindi, BA, BEd, DPE, ND
Santokh Singh Parmar, B Arch, Dip TP, Dip LA, MRTPI, AITP, AIIA
Devinder Singh Saroya, PCS
Gurmukh Singh Girn, MSc, MCRP, AITP
SPROUTS – A WONDER FOOD
1 Sprouts are considered as wonder foods providing all the essential vitamins and minerals. They rank as the freshest and most nutritious of all vegetables available to the human diet. By a process of natural transmutation, sprouted food acquires vastly improved digestibility and nutritional qualities when compared to non-sprouted embryo from which it derives. Sprouting requires no constant care but only an occasional sprinkling of water.
SEEDS FOR SPROUTING
2 All edible seeds can be sprouted. Generally the following seeds are used for sprouting:
(i) Grains: wheat, maize, ragi, millets (bajra) and barley etc.
(ii) Seeds: alfalfa seeds, sunflower seeds, radish seeds, fenugreek seeds,
carrot seeds, coriander seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and
muskmelon seeds etc.
(iii) Legumes: moong, Bengal gram(kala chana), chick peas, groundnut,
soyabean and peas etc.
HOW TO SPROUT ?
3. As a first step, a good variety of seeds, preferably organic, should be used for sprouting. The seeds should be washed thoroughly in warm water and then soaked in a bowl of pure water. The bowl should be covered with cheesecloth or wire screening. The duration of soaking will depend upon the size and type of the seed. Small seeds are soaked for five hours, medium size for eight hours and legumes and grains for 10 to 12 hours.
4. Next, the soaked seeds should be rinsed 3-4 times with warm water. The rinsed seeds should be placed in cheesecloth and hung in a dark place. The cheesecloth should be kept moist by sprinkling luke warm water over it. Alternatively, put the rinsed seeds in a colander and cover it with cheesecloth. Again the cheesecloth should be kept moist with luke warm water. Special sprouting kits are also available in crockery shops.
5. The seeds will germinate and become sprouts in about 20 to 40 hours depending on the season, temperature and humidity and the type/size of seeds. Sprouts are at their optimum level of nutrition and flavour when the sprouting shoots are 3 to 6mm long.
6. Some caution is necessary in sprouting. Soaking for a longer period than required makes the seeds rot or ferment. The main factors for germination are water, air, heat and darkness. There may be poor germination or no germination at all if any of these factors are not present, such as, insufficient water or too much water, lack of sufficient warmth, lack of fresh air, either too cold or too hot surroundings and too much light.
INCREASE IN NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF SPROUTS
7. There is an amazing increase in nutrients in sprouted seeds when compared to their dried embryo. In the process of sprouting, the vitamins, minerals and proteins increase substantially with corresponding decrease in calories and carbohydrate content. These comparisons are based on an equivalent water content in the foods measured. Analysis of dried seeds, grains and legumes shows a very low water content. But this increases upto tenfold when the same food is converted into sprouts. Sprouts, in fact, can be called little food factories, for in them are manufactured vitamins and enzymes which were not there to begin with.
8. Sprouted moong seeds, for instance, have an 8.3 times increase of water content over dried seeds. Hence the nutritional value of sprouted and dried moong seeds can be compared by multiplying the analysed nutrients `of sprouted moong seeds by the factor of 8.3. Based on this criterion, the changes found in sprouted moong seeds when compared with the figures for the seeds in the dried state are as follows :
Energy content – calories Decrease 15 per cent
Total carbohydrate content Decrease 9 per cent
Protein availability Increase 30 per cent
Calcium content Increase 34 per cent
Potassium content Increase 80 per cent
Sodium content Increase 690 per cent
Iron content Increase 40 per cent
Phosphorus content Increase 56 per cent
Vitamin A content Increase 285 per cent
Thiamine or Vitamin B1 content Increase 208 per cent
Riboflavin or Vitamin B2 content Increase 515 per cent
Niacin or Vitamin B3 content Increase 256 per cent
Ascorbic acid or Vitamin C content An infinite increase
9. The increase in protein availability is of great significance. It is a valuable indicator of the enhanced nutritional value of a food when sprouted. The simultaneous reduction in carbohydrate content indicates that many carbohydrate molecules are broken down during sprouting to allow an absorption of atmospheric nitrogen and reforming into amino-acids. The resultant protein is the most easily digestible of all proteins available in foods.
10. The remarkable increase in sodium content supports the view that sprouted foods offer nutritional qualities. Sodium is essential to the digestive process within the gastrointestinal tract and also to the elimination of carbon dioxide. Together with the remarkable increase in vitamins, sodium materially contributes to the easy digestibility of sprouts.
11. Dried seeds, grains and legumes do not contain discernible traces of ascorbic acid (Vit.C), yet when sprouted, they reveal quite significant quantities which are important in the body’s ability to metabolise proteins. Sprouts generate Vit.C upto an amount that one serves is enough to meet the recommended adult’s daily need of 40 mg. One cup moong sprouts, for instance, provides an impressive 70 mg of Vit.C (100gm orange provides 40mg of Vit.C). The infinite increase in ascorbic acid derives from their absorption of atmospheric elements during growth.
12. Grains and pulses are known to contain certain interfering factors for the absorption of minerals like iron and calcium (deficiencies of which are very common). Well known inhibitors include phytates, tryspin and tannins, which bind themselves to iron and calcium and make them unavailable. Sprouting destroys most of these inhibiting substances and allows easy availability of these minerals for use by the body. Iron absorption is further enhanced by the presence of high levels of vitamin C produced during sprouting.
OTHER BENEFITS OF SPROUTS
13. Sprouts have several other benefits. They supply food in partially predigested form, that is, the food which has already been acted upon by the enzymes and made to digest easily. During sprouting, much of the starch is broken down into simple sugars such as glucose and sucrose by the action of the enzyme ‘amylase’. Proteins are converted into amino acids and amides. Fats and oils are converted into more simple fatty acids by the action of the enzyme ‘lipase’. The partial digestion of nutrients in sprouts allows the consumption of sprouts as raw food or with minimum cooking. Sprouts can be eaten raw or lightly cooked by sautéing or steaming. Sprouts can be thrown into salads, sandwiches and fillings or stir-fried with seasonal vegetables like carrots, red and yellow peppers, mushrooms, celery, onions, etc. Being low in calories and high on nutrition, they are specially good for weight watchers. However, make sure they are prepared hygienically as they can be a source of bacterial infection. They should be avoided by those recovering from acute illness or gastrointestinal infections.
14. During sprouting, the seeds lose their objectionable gas producing quality. Research has shown that oligosaccharides are responsible for gas formation. For maintenance of health, some amount of gas production is necessary but it should be within safe limits. As the process of germination and sprouting begins, the percentage of oligosaccharides is reduced by 90%. Sprouts contain a lot of fibre and water and, therefore, are helpful in overcoming constipation.
15. Sprouts are an extremely inexpensive method of obtaining a concentration of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. They have in them all the constituent nutrients of fruits and vegetables and are ‘live’ foods. Eating sprouts is the safest and best way of getting the advantage of both fruits and vegetables without contamination and harmful insecticides.
16. It should, however, be ensured that seeds are purchased from a store where they are fresh, unsprayed and packaged as food. Seeds that are packaged for planting purposes may contain mercury compounds or other toxic chemicals.
STORAGE AND CONSUMPTION OF SPROUTS
17. To retain their freshness and nutritional value they should be placed in a refrigerator. In case you find the sprouted seeds a bit hard, they can be softened by steaming in a steamer or in the pressure cooker with a jali. Sprouts are best consumed as raw with diced onions/tomatoes and a sprinkling of digestive spices and lemon squeezed in. For more flavour and taste you can mix the sprouts in tarka of onions, ginger garlic, curry leaves, coriander, cumin seeds, a little black salt in a spoonful of mustard, olive or other mono-saturated oil.
Santokh Singh Parmar
Naturo-Food Therapist & Lifestyle Consultant
Mobile: +91(0) 9815922330
Websites: www.naturofoodtherapy.org & www.foodtherapy.org
July, 2005
Note: The above information and advice and indicative remedies are not a substitute for the advice, your doctor or naturo-food therapist may give you based on his/her knowledge of yourself.