Whole Foods Diet Archives

The advantatges of sprouts. (Archive in WFD.)

Friends,

This is one of the ways to decrease your food costs while increasing your variety and bolstering your micronutrient intake.

There are not many ways to plant a garden crop and harvest it within a week with no need for pesticides, etc. This is one of the most convenient ones.

Comments?

Walt

More information on living foods... And remember, this is really
easy to do at home... No need to buy expensive sprouting kits, or
commerical sprouts... Plus it can be a lot of fun!
Be Well,
Misty L. Trepke
http://www.searching-alternatives.com

Don' Forget the Sprouts!

Don't Forget the Sprouts! JoAnn Guest Jul 28, 2003 17:49 PDT
FOR THE NEXT MILLENNIUM:

DON'T FORGET THE SPROUTS!

by Steve Meyerowitz
The National Cancer institute and the National Institutes of Health
both recommend eating five fresh fruits and vegetables every day. A
great way to help reach that goal is to include sprouts.

Sprouts are the only form of agriculture that can be locally grown
and available in all four seasons. These "baby" vegetables are grown
from seed to salad in only week. That makes them great Y2K food. In
fact, one pound of alfalfa seed will yield 10-14 pounds of fresh
mini-salad greens. Whether you are on top of a mountain or in a
bunker with artificial light, you can still grow this fast, organic
food.

Nutrition
Yes, it is fast food, but you won't be sacrificing any nutrition.
Alfalfa sprouts have more chlorophyll than spinach, kale, cabbage or
parsley. Alfalfa, sunflower, clover and radish sprouts are all 4%
protein. Compare that to spinach (3%), Romaine lettuce (1.5%),
Iceberg lettuce (0.8%), and milk (3.3%). These foods all have about
90% water. And while meat and eggs are the traditional protein foods
for Americans, at 19% and 13% protein respectively (and lots of
fat), soybean sprouts have 28% protein, and lentil and pea sprouts
have 26%. In fact, soybeans sprouts have twice the protein of eggs
and only 1/10 fat the fat.

Grain and nut sprouts, such as wheat and sunflower, are rich in
fats. While fats in flour and wheat germ have a reputation for going
rancid quickly (stores should refrigerate them), fats in sprouts
last for weeks. The valuable wheat germ oil in wheat sprouts is
broken down into its essential fatty acid fractions, over 50% of
which is the valuable Omega 6. While sunflower oil is our finest
source of Omega 6, germination of the sunflower sprout micellizes
the fatty acids into an easily digestible, water soluble form saving
our body the trouble of breaking it down and simultaneously
protecting us against the perils of rancidity. This is a great bonus
for a sprout that is already popular for its crispness and nutty
flavor.

Radish sprouts have 29 times more Vitamin C than milk (29 mg vs 1
mg) and 4 times the Vitamin A (391 IU vs 126 IU). These spicy
sprouts have 10 times more calcium than a potato (51 mg vs 5 mg) and
contain more vitamin C than pineapple. If you examine what is
happening during germination, it looks like a vitamin factory. While
mature radishes contain 10 IU/100g of provitamin, the radish sprouts
contain 391 IU - 39 times more! No wonder, sprout lovers say you can
feel the vitamins!

Phytochemical Factory
Alfalfa, radish, broccoli, clover and soybean contain concentrated
amounts of phytochemicals (plant compounds) that can protect us
against disease. Canavanine, an amino acid analog present in
alfalfa, demonstrates resistence to pancreatic, colon and leukemia
cancers. Plant estrogens in these sprouts function similarly to
human estrogen but without the side effects. They increase bone
formation and density and prevent bone breakdown (osteoporosis).
They are helpful in controlling hot flashes, menopause, PMS and
fibrocystic breasts tumors.

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers found in
broccoli sprouts substantial amounts of glucosinolates and
isothiocyanates, which are very potent inducers of phase 2 enzymes
that protect cells from going malignant. The sprouts contain 10-100
times higher levels of these enzymes than do the corresponding
mature plants.

Alfalfa sprouts are one of our finest food sources of saponins.
Saponins lower the bad cholesterol and fat but not the good HDL
fats. Animal studies prove their benefit in arteriosclerosis and
cardiovascular disease. Saponins also stimulate the immune system by
increasing the activity of natural killer cells such as T-
lymphocytes and interferon. The saponin content of alfalfa sprouts
multiplies 450% over that of the unsprouted seed. Sprouts also
contain an abundance of highly active antioxidants that prevent DNA
destruction and protect us from the ongoing effects of aging. It
wouldn't be inconceivable to find a fountain of youth here, after
all, sprouts represent the miracle of birth.

Are Alfalfa Sprouts Safe?
Recently, stories about alfalfa sprouts carrying salmonella bacteria
have made the news. Salmonella is bad news, but no food is immune to
it. All foods eaten raw carry that risk, and that includes fresh
fruit and vegetables. Should we go on a 100% cooked food diet?

Let us put things into perspective. According to the Center for
Disease Control (CDC), 4 million people contract salmonellosis from
foods every year and 93% of these cases are caused by meat, poultry,
milk and eggs. The remaining 7% of cases are from shellfish, fresh
fruits and vegetables. While fruits and veggies are safer than meat,
one outbreak from Mexican cantaloupes in 1989 caused 25,000 cases of
salmonella. Compare this to sprouts. In its entire 40 year history,
the U.S. sprout industry has had a total of about 2,000 cases.

The relatively tiny sprout industry has been naturally clean all
these years but because of increasing global commerce, they imported
contaminated seed from the Netherlands. Now, they are part of the
international problem of food safety. What are they doing about it?
Conscientious growers are testing grown sprouts for e-Coli and
salmonella before they are shipped. The FDA has recommended the
chlorination of sprouts, similar to the chlorination of our
municipal waters. This achieves a 99.8% reduction of salmonella and
E. Coli contamination. Put another way, if another occurrence of
tainted seed should occur, there would be only a 0.02% probability
that any such bacteria could survive. The problem is that unlike
meat and poultry, the tiny sprout industry is not regulated and not
every sprout grower is willing to chlorinate. Sprout growers want to
keep sprouts raw and organic. Alternative pasteurization methods
such as heating the raw seeds before sprouting or soaking them in
acetic acid (vinegar), among others, are currently being tested.

According to the National Weather Service, lightning strikes 1.29
people per million each year. The CDC claims that E. Coli
contamination from all foods annually afflicts 1.10 people per
million. Since your chances of getting hit by lightning are greater
than contracting e-Coli, it is a pretty good bet that the benefits
of eating these healthy young vegetables far outweigh the risks.

(c) 1999 BY STEVE MEYEROWITZ

BIO
Steve Meyerowitz, aka "Sproutman," is one of the best known
spokespersons for sprouts. He is the author of several books on
health and diet including Sproutman's Kitchen Garden Cookbook,
Sprouts The Miracle Food, Juice Fasting and Detoxification, Food
Combining and Digestion, and Wheatgrass: Nature's Finest Medicine.
Steve is the inventor of The Sprout House Kitchen Garden tabletop
greenhouse, an indoor salad growing kit, and the Sprout Bag. He was
the founder of the Sprout House, Inc. Email him at spr-
@Sproutman.com or write to Sproutman®, PO Box 1100, Great
Barrington, MA 01230. Fee-based consultations are available. Call
413-528-5200 or fax 413-528-5201.

This article is presented courtesy of The Sprout House®, a leading
supplier of organic sprouting seeds and growing kits designed by
Sproutman® Steve Meyerowitz.This article is presented for
informational purposes and is not intended to provide medical
advice.

http://www.sprouthouse.com/healthnut.htm

The complete "Whole Body" Health line consists of the "AIM GARDEN
TRIO" Ask About Health Professional Support Series: AIM Barleygreen

"Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future"

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Controversy about sprouts

Re: Controversy about sprouts

Re: The DISadvantages of sprouts. (Archive in WFD.)

Re: The DISadvantages of sprouts. -- correction

Re: The DISadvantages of sprouts. -- correction

Re: The DISadvantages of sprouts. -- correction

Re: Controversy about sprouts

Re: Controversy about sprouts

Re: The DISadvantages of sprouts. -- correction