This article says that brown rice has an "affinity" to the arsenic found in soil. It likes silica and arsenic's chemical composition is similar so it takes it up. This is interesting. Well, I guess that kind of chucks out the window my idea of soaking grains to make a little raw dish. I did that like maybe 2 or 3 times in the past and it tasted kind of chewy. Well, then I wondered if even raw soaked grains were not a good thing. I think I did brown rice and maybe something else ( can't remember the name of the grain, it was a long while ago.. but it definitely had some color to it and was biggish). Aside from the arsenic issue ( which I don't know honestly if its "true" per se), can anyone else give me more reasons to avoid raw soaked grains? Its an idea I've been playing with but now, I'm not so sure. I was also thinking of soaking some beans but this is yet unchartered territory for me. I guess I was thinking it would be nice for some variety. Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea? I once soaked some chickpeas to make some hummus. I can't say it tasted that great. I did get a raw version of hummus at the store though. I think the company also does a really cool raw garlic paste. Anyhow, their version tasted TONS better than my version. I dunno... maybe its my blender. Anyhow, yeah, tell me about the soaked rice and bean thing. This is kinda not my expertise. I usually stick to the veggies and fruit stuff. Is there anything not so good about grains ( not talking about white rice... more like brown rice, wild rice etc. cuz i saw some raw recipes for them) also ditto on the bean issue. Are there any beans i should avoid if i wanna maintain awesome excellent fantastic health?


[www.npr.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2012 06:36AM by la_veronique.

Sprouting lentils is wonderful, but soaking/sprouting beans can be deadly. There are toxins in a lot of beans, like kidney beans, that are destroyed when cooking and can result in a trip to the hospital if overdone. Not to sound frightening... but don't mess around with raw beans. Adzuki, mung, and garbanzo beans are the only safe exceptions that I know about.

Stick to chickpeas, lentils, peas, adzuki beans, mung beans... can be nice and starchy and filling.

Black beans and red beans are out for sure. I have no idea about things like pinto beans but I wouldn't risk it. Don't bet your KIDNEYS on it.

phantom

<<Adzuki, mung, and garbanzo beans are the only safe exceptions that I know about.>>

interesting.. thanks for your input

i got interested in the sprouting thing ( previously i ignored it... kinda) cuz of the
"forbidden rice" ... the purple rice that looks black and is supposed to have a lot of good stuff in it and one of the raw chefs recommended soaking it overnight and VOILA!

good to go the next day... i wonder if this rice doesn't soak up the arsenic though
or maybe the arsenic was just in a particular location where toxic wastes were dumped

i mean, not ALL soil has arsenic, right?

but besides the arsenic issue, i think i skimmed over the graham book on grains
and he says they are bad

but i couldn't really find any compelling specific reasons through his book why they were bad

only generalities

but not specifics

can anyone cue me into this?

like specific chemicals and their repurcussions etc.

previously i kinda ignored threads on grain and sprouts cuz i just wasn't interested

but now i'm thinking of experimenting on sprouting so i'm kinda interested

Hi, la_v!

Sprouting grains and beans is the only way, besides cooking, to render them truly digestible; not being birds, we don't produce the huge amounts of amylaze necessary to render the starches in these foods available. Still, it is a matter of tolerance, also, which varies.

Agree with phantom's recommendations about which ones are easiest/tastiest to sprout, but it is a matter of experimenting. Kidney beans are toxic unless cooked, and because beans and grains are traditionally processed and cooked for consumption, for millenia, I mean, I don't consider them a core food group in a raw foods diet. But if you like the flavor and texture of them, keep at it! I was an avid grain and bean sprouter initially when trying raw, but it got to be such a hassle, what with the blending and grinding and dehydrating, that I stopped. The only thing I sprout now as a matter of course is seeds.

Garbanzo beans make good sprouted hummus when only a couple days sprouted. That's the only sprouted bean thing I would ever consider making again, because it's among the simplest sprouted bean or grains dishes, and when done well, tastes identical to cooked hummus

thanks tamukhs

the last time i made a raw hummus i think i soaked the garbanzo for like 2 days
can't say it tasted very good though
actually it tasted pretty uhh.. hmmm.. what's the word... well, it was edible
that's all i can say LOL

i think i shoulda experimented more with levels of lemon juice, garlic, etc.

Yuck, sprouted chickpeas. Nasty.

Quinoa is a nice "grain" to sprout. Amaranth too. Kamut is tasty as well, it's a larger grain, very chewy.

I believe that even the soaking process removes much of the toxins within seeds, but cooking is more thorough. I know this to be true re soya beans.

I would go for sprouting, since all (most) grains are 'acid forming', whereas all fruit and veg is 'base forming' or 'alkaline'. However, I not know whether the sprouted seed becomes alkaline though. I'd say it does, which means it's much better for you.

Whenever I did all this myself, it always never tasted anywhere as palatable as the store bought alternative. I reckon they add sugar or whatever to beef up the flavour, so take a look at the ingredients next time you go shopping.

Cheers, jalan

hi jalan

thank you for bringing up the issue of soaking to ameliorate toxicity
and the point of ph in relation to sprouting as well

good things to research
appreciate the tips

which sprouted stuff did u make that you thought was the most nutritious/palatable

i guess palatable is relative though

la_veronique Wrote:
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> can anyone else give me more
> reasons to avoid raw soaked grains?

As someone else said grains and beans are high in starch which your stomach can't digest unless cooked. Sprouting also converts the starch into other things, but soaking is not enough.

So if you eat raw grains and beans the end result is you fill up your stomach but you don't get much calories and you don't get much vitamins or minerals...so you feel unnourished and weak (because the "food" is, in fact, not nourishing...not even empty calories) even though your stomach is full. Try it to see what I mean.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2012 03:13AM by ExperimentsWithTruth.

Is there arsenic in wild rice? Since wild rice can be sprouted I was thinking to include it in my diet, but wouldnt really want to if it's also full of arsenic...

maybe it depends on the soil in which it is proffered upon

there are a number of studies out there on phytoremediation (plant uptake of soil metals and contaminants [en.wikipedia.org]

table of accumulators #1 [en.wikipedia.org]
#2 [en.wikipedia.org]
#3 [en.wikipedia.org]

unless you are planning on eating mass quantities of one singular type of plant over a long period of time i wouldnt put too much worry into it as nearly any plant will take up some sort of heavy metal or contamination

i think the only way you could get around it is if you had an entirely closed system growing system that is entirely controlled by what you put into it .. which could be very simple or very costly depending how in depth you want to go with

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2012 04:31PM by Jgunn.

chat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there arsenic in wild rice? Since wild rice can
> be sprouted I was thinking to include it in my
> diet, but wouldnt really want to if it's also full
> of arsenic...


Wild rice is not sproutable, it is not raw as heating is an essential part of extracting the "grain" from the plant. It doesn't sprout when soaked, it simply splits open.

I've read about wild rice that is parched below 100 degrees so it has been heated but apparently not enough to "cook" it but I've never seen it available anywhere.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2012 04:52PM by coco.