Good Things Come In Small Packages

“Sprouting” grains and seeds—that is, allowing them to germinate and begin to grow—enhances their nutritional qualities, boosting their available vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and even antioxidants.

You may be thinking: surely whatever nutrients are in there, are in there already; how can it be increased?

Well, the grand sweeping miracle of life itself is beyond the scope of what we have room to cover today, but in few words: there are processes that allow plants to transform stuff into other stuff, and that is part of what is happening.

Additionally, in the cases of some nutrients, they were there already, but the sprouting process allows them to become more available to us. Think about the later example of how it’s easier to eat and digest a ripe fruit than an unripe one, and now scale that back to a seed and a sprouted seed.

A third way that sprouting benefits us is by reducing“antinutrients”, such as phytic acid.

Let’s drop a few examples of the “what”, before we press on to the “how”:

• Enhancement of attributes of cereals by germination and fermentation: a review
• Sprouting characteristics and associated changes in nutritional composition of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)
• Phytic acid, in vitro protein digestibility, dietary fiber, and minerals of pulses as influenced by processing methods
• Effects of germination on the nutritional properties, phenolic profiles, and antioxidant activities of buckwheat
• Effect of several germination treatments on phosphatases activities and degradation of phytate in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) and azuki bean (Vigna angularis L.)

Sounds great! How do we do it?

First, take the seeds, grains, nuts, beans, etc that you’re going to sprout. Fine examples to try for a first sprouting session include:

• Grains: buckwheat, brown rice, quinoa
• Legumes: soy beans, black beans, kidney beans
• Greens: broccoli, mustard greens, radish
• Nuts/seeds: almonds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds

Note: whatever you use should be as unprocessed as possible to start with:

• On the one hand, you’d be surprised how often “life finds a way” when it comes to sprouting ridiculous choices
• On the other hand, it’s usually easier if you’re not trying to sprout blanched almonds, split lentils, rolled oats, or toasted hulled buckwheat.

Second, you will need clean water, a jar with a lid, muslin cloth or similar, and a rubber band.

Next, take an amount of the plants you’ll be sprouting. Let’s say beans of some kind. Try it with ¼ cup to start with; you can do bigger batches once you’re more confident of your setup and the process.

Rinse and soak them for at least 24 hours. Take care to add more water than it looks like you’ll need, because those beans are thirsty, and sprouting is thirsty work.

Drain, rinse, and put them in a clean glass jar, covering with just the muslin cloth in place of the lid, held in place by the rubber band. No extra water in it this time, and you’re going to be storing the jar upside down (with ventilation underneath, so for example on some sort of wire rack is ideal) in a dark moderately warm place (e.g. 80℉ / 25℃ is often ideal, but it doesn’t have to be exact, you have wiggle-room, and some things will enjoy a few degrees cooler or warmer than that)

Each day, rinse and replace until you see that they are sprouting. When they’re sprouting, they’re ready to eat!

Unless you want to grow a whole plant, in which case, go for it (we recommend looking for a gardening guide in that case).

But watch out!

That 80℉ / 25℃ temperature at which our sprouting seeds, beans, grains etc thrive? There are other things that thrive at that temperature too! Things like:

• E. coli
• Salmonella
• Listeria

…amongst others.

So, some things to keep you safe:

1. If it looks or smells bad, throw it out
2. If in doubt, throw it out
3. Even if it looks perfect, blanch it (by boiling it in water for 30 seconds, before rinsing it in cold water to take it back to a colder temperature) before eating it or refrigerating it for later.
4. When you come back to get it from the fridge, see once again points 1 and 2 above.
5. Ideally you should enjoy sprouted things within 5 days.

Want to know more about sprouting?

You’ll love this book that we reviewed recently:

The Sprout Book – by Doug Evans

Enjoy!

Out-Cheating “Cheat Days” (Or Even Just “Cheat Meals”)

If you are in the habit of eating healthily, the idea of a “cheat day” probably isn’t appealing—because you simply don’t crave junk food; it’s not what your gut is used to.

Nevertheless, sometimes cheat days, or at least cheat meals, choose us rather than the other way around. If your social group is having a pizza night or meeting up at the burger bar, probably you’re going to be having a meal that’s not ideal.

So, what to do about it?

Well, first of all, relax. If it really is an exception and not a regular occurrence, it’s not going to have a big health impact. Assuming that your basic dietary requirements are taken care of (e.g. free from allergens as necessary, vegan/vegetarian if that’s appropriate for you, adhering to any religious restrictions that are important to you, etc), then you’re going to have a good time, which is what scientists call a “pro-social activity” and is not a terrible thing.

See also: Is Fast Food Really All That Bad? ← answer: yes it is, but the harm is cumulative and won’t all happen the instant you take a bite of a chicken nugget

Think positive

No, not in the “think positive thoughts” sense (though feel free, if that’s your thing), but rather: focus on adding things rather than subtracting things.

It’s said:

❝It’s not the calories in your food that make the biggest impact on your health; it’s the food in your calories❞e

…and that’s generally true. The same goes for “bad things” in the food, e.g. added sugar, salt, seed oils, etc. They really are bad! But, in this case you’re going to be eating them and they’re going to be nearly impossible to avoid in the social scenarios we described. So, forget that sunk treasure, and instead, add nutrients.

10almonds tip: added nutrients remain added nutrients, even if the sources were not glowing with health-appeal and/or you ate them alongside something unhealthy:

• Those breaded garlic mushrooms are still full of magnesium and fiber and ergothioneine.
• The chili-and-mint peas that came as an overpriced optional side-dish with your burger are still full of protein, fiber, and a stack of polyphenols.

…and so on. And, the more time you spend eating those things, the less time you spend eating the real empty-calorie foods.

Fix the flaw

We set out to offer this guide without arguing for abstemiousness or making healthy substitutions, because we assume you knew already that you can not eat things, and as for substitutions, often they are not practical, especially if dining out or ordering in.

Also, sometimes even when home-cooking something unhealthy, taking the bad ingredient out takes some of the joy out with it.

Writers example: I once incorrectly tried to solve the fat conundrum of my favorite shchi (recipe here) by trying purely steaming the vegetables instead of my usual frying/sautéing them, and let’s just say, that errant-and-swiftly-abandoned version got recorded in my nutrition-tracker app as “sad shchi”.

So instead, fix the flaw by countering it if possible:

• The meal is devoid of fiber? Preload with some dried figs (you can never have too many dried figs in your pantry)
• The meal is high in saturated fat? Enjoy fiber before/during/after, per what’s convenient for you. Fiber helps clear out excess cholesterol, which is usually the main issue with saturated fat.
• The meal is salty? Double down on your hydration before, during, and after. If that sounds like a chore, then remember, it’s more fun than getting bloated (which results, counterintuitively, from dehydration—because your body detects the salt, and panics and tries to retain as much water as possible to restore homeostasis, resulting in bloating) and hypertensive (which results from the combination of the blood having too much salt and too little water, and cells retaining too much water and pressing inwards because it is the cells themselves that are bloated). So, tending to your hydration can help mitigate all of the above.
• The meal is full of high-GI carbs? Preload with fiber, enjoy the carbs together with fats, and have something acidic (e.g. some kind of vinegar, or citrus fruit) with it if that’s a reasonable option. _{^{Yes, this does mean that a Whiskey Sour is better for your blood sugars than an Old Fashioned, by the way, and/but no, it doesn’t make either of them healthy.}}
• The meal is inflammatory? Doing all of the above things will help, as will eating it slowly/mindfully, which latter makes it less of a shock to your system.

See also: How To Get More Nutrition From The Same Food

Enjoy!