In a pinch, seeds can be sprouted between moist towels,
sponges or layers of paper although lack of ventilation
usually leads to souring and molds when using paper and the
shoots have an annoying habit of growing through the
towels.
RELATED CONTENT
Small sprouters are also sold by a few mail order companies
but are usually overpriced and work no better than the
quart jar described here. As a matter of fact, few
expensive store-bought sprouters work as well as the
freezer carton-screen wiresponge combination illustrated
with this piece.—JS.
MODERN SCIENCE DISCOVERS
SPROUTS
Dr. Pauline Berry Mack, at the University of Pennsylvania,
has tested sprouted soybeans for Vitamin C (the
ungerminated seed contains none) and found that—when
sprouted 72 hours—one-half cup of the shoots
contained as much Vitamin C as six glasses of orange
juice.
Similar incredible leaps in vitamin content have been
recorded for other sprouts. Yale's Dr. Paul Burkholder
, for instance, discovered that oats
sprouted five days had 500% more B 6 , 600% more folic
acid, 10% more B 1 and 1350% more B 2 than unsprouted oats.
It should be noted, of course, that such vitamin increases
are not always a straight-line thing. Vitamin B 1 —to
cite one example—runs up and down like a yoyo in
soybeans as they sprout . . . but the general trend is
always spectacularly up and sprouted seeds are an excellent
source of vitamins A, B-complex, C, D, E, G, K—even
U—and minerals such as calcium, magnesium,
phosphorous, chlorine, potassium, sodium and silicon. All
in natural forms which the body can readily assimilate.
Furthermore, according to Dr. Francis Pottenger, Jr.,
sprouted grains and legumes supply all eight essential
amino acids which make up "complete" protein. Other
investigations have shown that many of the proteins in
sprouts are already "predigested", or broken down into
their constituent amino acids.
Sprouts also just happen to be packed full of
enzymes—the complex catalysts which initiate and
control almost every chemical reaction that takes place in
living organisms—too. Since the body gradually
manufactures fewer and fewer enzymes as it ages, since
enzymes are killed by temperatures greater than 140°
(cooking) and since our stock of enzymes must be
replenished by eating fresh produce . . . it seems that
we've just discovered another dang good reason for
consuming goodly quantities of raw, freshly-grown sprouts.
Then too, it's interesting to note that Dr. Loa of Yenching
University in Peking reports that the high level of simple
sugars in sprouts puts the little shoots in the category of
"quick energy" foods, since the monosaccarides they contain
require little digestive breakdown and enter the
bloodstream almost immediately.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 |
3 | 4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Next >>
