Hello!

I was just wondering your experiences on thew following questions:

How do grains make you feel?:

Have you noticed any health improvements from not eating grains?:

Do you notcice that sprouted grains are better or work better for your body then unsprouted grains?:

Do/did you gain/release weight from sprouted or unsprouted grains?:

What is your experiences with grains?:

Thank you!

There is a lot of controversy about the whole/sprouted grain topic.

Love to all!

love

I've found that raw sprouted grain has been very helpful for keeping me 100% raw.

I'm now eating raw sprouted grain maybe 2 - 4 times a month. After experimenting with it a little, that seems to be all I need.

Sometimes, on all raw, without any grains ever, I start thinking about cooked grains, especially pasta and rice. By eating the raw sprouted grains, those thoughts don't come around at all.

As long as I don't eat a lot of raw sprouted grain, and as long as I don't eat it very often, I find it makes me feel really great, gives me lots of energy, and keeps me from obsessing over the cooked grains.

I'm 100% raw, very active, and I don't like ever obsessing over food I know I can't eat, like cooked grains. I've got much better things to do than think about food all the time!

If I eat too much raw sprouted grain, or if I eat raw sprouted grain too often, it doesn't really make me feel bad, but it zaps my energy some. I think with the heavier foods like sprouted grains, nuts, and seeds, MODERATION - not abstinence -is the key.

Rolled oats or minute oats available at the health food store are usually parboiled, so they aren't really raw. Raw oatmeal is available by mail, but it's expensive, probably doesn't stay fresh for too long, and the idea of it seems a bit heavy to me.

Cooked grains - any cooked grains, including cooked sprouted grains - make me feel ABSOLUTELY AWFUL for days and days after eating them. It usually takes me a week or 2 to recover. And with cooked grains, it seems like once I start eating them, I can't stop! It's very distressing! Raw sprouted grains don't do that to me.

Raw sprouted grains don't make me gain weight. Cooked grains definitely do.

For some reason, I felt kind of bad after eating buckwheat sprouts. But other people might prefer them. My favorite is the sprouted kamut, sprouted with about a 1/4" - 3/8" tail.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2007 11:32PM by suncloud.

suncloud, thank you! Sprouted Kamut is so great! So is sprouted spelt! You can make sprouted/dehydrated raw bread!

Love to all!

love

Hi love,

Glad to hear you like the kamut! I've never tried sprouted spelt, but I think I will when I can get some. Sounds good.

Thanks Suncloud-- great advice!

Sharrhan:


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Suncloud..when you speak of raw sprouted grain, are you ONLY referring to what is homemade and dehydrated? I'm assuming the sprouted bread from the health food store that is refrigerated is off limits on raw...or is it sometimes used by some as a transitional food? I'm trying to be 100% raw. I really miss bread but haven't given in to anything store bought. I haven't had much luck with making my own either, so I"m going to check the bread recipes at Gone Raw and see what I can come up with.

Hi islandgirl.

Actually, for me, I'm only referring to sprouted grains in their fresh, whole sprouted form, unmashed and nondehydrated.

I just eat them sprinkled into salads or a nori roll, usually with a little cold-pressed olive oil and lemon juice. The sprouted kamut is probably also pretty good eaten along with chopped papaya, and a little lemon juice, no oil (I've eaten sprouted wheat that way, and it was very good).

I used to make raw bread from sprouted grains. I used the recipe from the Essene Gospel. Basically, it's just: sprout your grain till you get the little tail, mash it up really good, spread it onto smooth wooden board(s) in the shape of tortillas, set it outside in the sun, and turn it once when the top is dry. When the whole tortilla is dry, VOILA! Sprouted grain bread!

It's great with avocado and tomato.

I usually mashed it using a sirubachi (sp?). Health food stores often carry one. It's a ceramic bowl with serrated sides and a wooden pestle. I'm leery of using a blender, because a blender can heat up a little and ?possibly cook the grain? I'd spread it out on a smooth wooden board because it heats up too much on a cookie sheet. I'm sure it works to put the bread into a dehydrator instead of in the sun. The bread lasts for a few days if kept refrigerated.

All of the sprouted grain breads at the health food store are cooked (including Manna and Ezekiel - check their websites), even though they say they're made from live grains or whatever. They're put together with live grains and then cooked.

Take care, islandgirl. Loved the picture of you and your daughter!

Hi love, do you make your bread in a similar way?

suncloud...the sprouted bread you mentioned sounds great. I'm going to try it. Thanks.

How do grains make you feel?: Grains make me violently ill. i swell in my joints, my skin gets an uncomfortable layer of water retention. my bowels get very swollen and gassy and i alternate between horrible movements and painful constipation. i've actually had it to where my eyes were swollen shut and i couldn't close my fingers b/c the reaction was so intense.

Have you noticed any health improvements from not eating grains?: my skin has cleared up, my figure shifted to a less full/water-filled form to a slimmer, muscle and bone form, meaning i've not lost a lot of weight, but i am smaller and more toned than before. my hair has grown in a lot thicker. i digest my food better and easier than before. less food satisfies me. i don't need nearly as much water to digest my food. and i am less attracted to caffeine which i think drew me b/c of it's diuretic qualities and energy replacement.

Do you notcice that sprouted grains are better or work better for your body then unsprouted grains?: yes, the negative responses are far less severe on sprouted grains, but still negative. so i've decided grains are not for my body. by cutting out all grains, i have reversed my allergies (i needed zyrtec every day just to breathe) to all other foods and natural air-born allergens. my last allergen test showed me allergic to ragweed and dust mites. nothing else.

Do/did you gain/release weight from sprouted or unsprouted grains?: i weighed less on grains, but wore two sizes larger and had problems maintaining a stable weight.

What is your experiences with grains?: BAD.

i'm not anti-grains for others.
i just know that they've really caused a lot of problems in my life.
i eat no grains
very few grain-like seeds (flax)
or seeds
and my quality of life has just become insanely wonderful.

it's not just grains,
but i know they hurt my body pretty severely-
we have a family history of celiacs
but i was never diagnosed
i was told that all my symptoms were psychosomatic
durh
be- aware of grains
use them with caution
and drop them if they treat you bad.

peace-

Raw grains have helped me in my transition to raw (used to make pizzas, rice etc.). Gradually, I lost the desire for them. Now I feel grains are not my natural food. I feel my body prefers other foods (fresh, juicy type). I am still learning to listen to my body. My mind has developed some unnatural habits over a long period of time (I am that old). So some desire to feel healthy on my part is required or else I would eat crap he he. To me it's all about tuning to my natural instincts.

Gosia


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Hey Mama Cass,
I have had similar allergic reactions to grains too! Except I also had uncontrollable sneezing, flu-like symptoms with fever and bone chills if I ate certain ones everyday and pus filed blood shot crusty eyes every day too. I lived my entire childhood and part of my adult life like that b/c my pediatrician didn't "believe" in food allergies or food allergy testing and so my parents completely ignored my poor health labeling all my symptoms "hayfever allergies" even though this was going on all year round even in the dead of winter when there is no "hayfever" anywhere. In college after I lost my sense of taste and smell for a year with pediatrician and parents still calling the symptoms "bad hayfever allergies"?!, I finally found and paid for a top notch allergist with my own money and discovered through multiple allergy tests that my grain allergies were so severe my allergist had never seen anything like it. I went completely grain free after her diagnosing except for the non-grain grains buckwheat and quinoa which I ate occasionally.
As a raw vegan I have experimented with occasionally eating grains in the form of a sprouted wheat or oat cookie or sprouted rye cracker, raw sprouted quinoa salad, and raw sprouted buckwheat granola and raw buckwheat energy bars. But I do not eat them regularly, I'm talking once every 3 months or so as a super delicate treat. Currently as an adult I also get hives all over my body if I eat the allergenic gluten grains or anything made with rice or corn or oats. I have to be very careful if I choose to indulge in a grain treat by not eating too much of it (which trust me, is hard to do if you looooove raw oatmeal raisin cookies like I do ) and I always keep Zyrtec nearby just in case.

Soaking and sprouting grains makes a huge difference in terms of digestability just like soaking and sprouting your nuts eases digestibility too. But if you've got a cast iron stomach in terms of digestion and never notice a difference if you food combine or not, or you never notice a real shift in digestion if you soak and sprout your nuts and seeds or use them straight without sprouting, then one might never really notice a major shift in digestion from eating soaked and sprouted grains vs. sprouted cooked grains, vs. cooked grains.

Experiment, experiment, experiment I always tell others. Your body is your best guide. As long as you won't get sick with an intestinal disorder like Celiac or have a major allergic reaction where you could die (- for other types of allergies it's good keep your allergy meds nearby just incase), its really good to taste everything and decide what your body says feels good and healthy in regards to grains. I can never eat them regularly and never did as a cooked food vegetarian and vegan so for me they are out. But for others I know on the raw food path, grains and the diversity and energy they offer are what gave them the abilty to make this diet work in the long run. To each his own.

love
peace
harmony
i breathe in
i breathe out
Bikini