hello
i eat a lot of sprouted seeds in my diet, alfalfa, lentils mung bean chick peas etc which i add to salads or use as snacks.
a few years ago they were highly recommended foods but now i don't see much about them. are they no longer seen as such good foods?
i have very recently started to eat a higher percentage of fruits in my diet mainly due to what i've been reading on this board but experience bouts of indigestion after eating sprouts. i try to practice good food combining.
thanks for any info

i mean does anyone still eat sprouted seeds?? if anyone has any up to date info on them please let me know

I eventually fore-went sprouts, as I found them less vital than fresh fruit. Just my experience. Folks certainly need to incorporate what works for them!

-David Z. Mason

I still eat sprouted seeds and legumes. I grow sunflower greens, (on dirt) pea shoots, buckwheat greens, and migro-greens - arugula, brocolli, etc. I mostly incorporate them into salads or use them in nori rolls, etc.

There are those who think that they are not so healthy, but I seem to thrive on them. I grow small amounts at a time in order to make sure that they are fresh and have no mold. I agree that in a perfect world, fruits might be optimal, but I don't have a back yard of organic fruit trees and I feel like the sprouts that I eat are among the healthiest foods that I put into my body - like eating little green twinkles of sunlight!!

In terms of digestion - the only thing that ever has caused me problems are the sprouted chickpeas. I like them better than the zucchini recipe for hummus. So I learned to soak and then sprout them for only one day. Then I put them in the food processor, twirl them around a few times, pour them into a collandar and then rinse for quite a while - till the water is no longer cloudy. Then dump them back into the food processor and go on with the recipe. That seemed to take care of the gas and bloating. I have some sprouting right now. I'm going to try making veggie hummus with celery, red, yellow and orange peppers, sweet onions, parsley, garlic, tomatoes, spinach and some blended red pepper! Not sure how it will taste, but it sure will be pretty!

Life Is Good!

alive!

I eat alfalfa sprouts with just about every salad. I'm also soaking and/or sprouting all my sunflower and sesame seeds. I think they're very healthy as long as they're eaten in moderation (like everything else).

There may be some, like chick pea sprouts and possibly other sprouted legumes, that should be avoided or eaten only in VERY small quantities. I'd experiment a little to see if there are some that work better for you than others.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2007 07:08PM by suncloud.

ah! i think maybe chick peas could be the culprit because i eat them a bit like peanuts - by the handful! thanks for the advice

chick peas are actually quite indigestable sprouted. they are meant to be eaten cooked or not at all, so i think not at all! a good substitute are marrow fat peas but really, they are a larger one as well and as such not so easy to digest either. others that cannot be eaten sprouted and raw are kidney beans (toxic, please do not try it), kale (also toxic) and soybeans. though there are some who do eat soy sprouts it is really not advisable. the other two are poisonous.

sprouts are so vital and full of living goodness. what else can you eat that is actually alive and still growing as it goes into your mouth? NOTHING! certainly not fruit which begins to decompose as soon as it is plucked from the tree. not that it isn't good for you, i love fruit, but it isn't exactly "alive" still, is it.
i love sprouts.

Hello Coco! Welcome back! Hope all is well with you & your little guy.

What kind of sprouts do you love? I want to start eating more sprouts.

Hi Coco. I agree with everything you said except for one thing. If the definition of a living food is whether or not it will grow, then fruit IS ALIVE, because if you plant a fresh fruit in good soil when the weather is warm, *presto* it will grow!

The fruit of course is the food for the seed, but it is a LIVING food, made up of living cells that feed the seed and bring it to maturity until the seed is ready to "hatch" into a sprout. Just as any human mother's living cells provide nourishment to the baby human inside her womb, baby seeds require the nourishment provided by the living cells of the fruit.

All fruit farmers know that fruit will continue to ripen for several days after it's been picked - rather than decompose - as long as it's picked before it begins to ferment and after it's reached a stage where it has begun to ripen.

Here's an interesting experiment (I think). In room temperature, enclose a piece of fruit in a plastic bag so that it can't get any air and so there's as little air as possible enclosed with it. You'll soon see condensation. The cells of the fruit are actually exhaling, causing the condensation. Without a fresh supply of air, the fruit will soon begin to suffocate and rot, even if it's not yet ripe. You can compare the speed of the fruit rotting inside the plastic with an equally ripe piece of fruit that's left uncovered.





Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2007 06:42AM by suncloud.

hello
i'm glad to hear all your comments, thanks!
i have recently tried to incorporate more fruit into my diet, replacing a salad meal with fruit, but don't feel right about spending lots of money on expensive imported out of season fruit so shall be going back to more salads and sprouts.
alive - do these greens regrow after cutting like wheatgrass? i'm going to experiment more with sunflower greens etc. do you know of a good site which explains how to grow them? and what is buckwheat? is it barley i wonder? i know english and american words often differ....
thanks again

Hi debbie! I learned most of my sprouting techniques from www.sproutpeople.com

They did a terrific job on their web site - explaining everything in great detail.

When I sprout sunflowers for greens (for these you use seeds that still have hulls) and then plant them on dirt, I usually find that spreading them thickly (close together) works out well. When the first batch is ready (before they get a second set of leaves) I cut them (don't wash) and put them in a container in the fridge. I continue to water the remaining seeds and usually get a second batch. I LOVE sunflower greens! I spend a little more time with them - sometimes they need help getting the hulls off, but I think it's worth it.

Buckwheat is listed on the sproutpeople's site as a grain, but I read that it is actually a seed. The greens are very delicate and pretty - with red stems. Buckwheat also comes with and without hulls. When I use buckwheat in recipes (cookies and pizza crusts) I soak and sprout the hulled variety, and then dehydrate them after they have sprouted little tails. I always have a jar of sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat on my counter - I love it for cereal with sesame milk or use it for crunchyness on salads. It can be soaked in seasonings for a crunchy snack - savory with Nama Shoyu or sweet with sweetener and cinnamon.

When growing buckwheat for greens, the variety to use is the unhulled. Under perfect conditions they shed their hulls quite nicely, but I find that I need to help them along at times. Keeping them sprayed helps. I wish I could help more, but I don't know any other names for buckwheat. The seeds are kind of pyramid shaped - if that helps. Plus sproutpeople have a couple of pictures.

Good Luck with your greens!!!!!!

LIfe Is Good!

alive!

Alive!,

I recently tried Buckwheat cereal. I soaked it overnight and then drained it and ate it for breakfast. I had the WORST gas all day at work! Does this happen to you or am I doing something wrong?

Just thought I'd mention that buckwheat is not the same as barley. They are 2 separate things. Buckwheat is often called "kasha" in the US, but the word "kasha" comes from Eastern Europe and actually refers to any kind of porridge, buckwheat kasha being one of the most popular porridges.

Hi,

I like sprouts.

Although I agree that sprouted chickpeas are yucky, I disagree with the "eat'em cook or not at all" statement. My favourite is fresh chickpea, in their shells, these are fantastic. When I get a hold of some i try to save them for recipes (hummas, chana masala, etc.), but end up eating most of the straight. Straight out there pods into my mouth. I can eat pounds of them and have no ill side effects. Mmmmmm, yummy. I think they will be comming back into season in California soon. I can't wait. I think I'll try to make some raw falafel this time (if I don't eat them all).

Cheers,
Ian.

KelBel, I can't say that I've ever had that problem from buckwheat. I rinse it for quite a while, since the water gets so thick and starchy. Then after they have sprouted little tails, I dehydrate them. I've never eaten the buckwheat without sprouting it - maybe that's the difference?

Life Is Good!

alive!