Sprouting for Beginners

This time of year, so many of us are looking for ways to get healthier. One easy way to freshen up your diet is to add sprouts to the mix.

Why Sprout?
The main benefit of sprouting is that it takes a seed or nut in a dormant state and brings it to life. During the sprouting process new and higher quality proteins and other nutrients are produced. Tests have shown that the nutrients in seeds and nuts are anywhere from 50% to 400% greater after sprouting or soaking.

In addition to the higher nutritional value, sprouts are highly digestible. Because sprouts are living, growing food sources, they have a rich supply of enzymes. This quality makes sprouts easily assimilated and metabolized by the body. Sprouts are packed full of nutrition in a form that your body can easily utilize.

Sprouts continue to grow slowly even after refrigeration and their vitamin content will actually increase. Compare this with store-bought vegetables and fruits, which start losing their vitamin content as soon as they’re picked and often have to be shipped a thousand miles or more in the winter.

Sprouting is so easy and fun…don’t let it intimidate you. The rewards are well worth the effort.

How to sprout

You'll need a couple of things:
A wide mouthed jar, (e.g. a mason jar used for canning), some cheesecloth and a rubber band. Oh, and some sprouting seeds, of course. Find some popular sprouting seeds here.

Instructions:

1. Measure an appropriate amount of seed, visually inspect and remove foreign matter and broken seeds.
2. Place seeds in jar
3. Add water to jar for soaking
4. Cover mouth of jar with cheesecloth
5. Soak for recommended time (see below)
6. Turn jar upside down drain at a 45 degree angle
7. Let the seeds sprout for appropriate time (see below)
8. Rinse seeds in jar as needed (2-4 times/day), returning jar to its upside down 45 degree angle position
   
9. When sprouts are ready, rinse and store in refrigerator, in jar or in another suitable container, until ready to use. If not used within 12 hours, seeds should be rinsed every 24 hours in refrigerator.

Sprouting times:

• Radish: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 1.0+ days.
• Sunflower: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 18 hours.
• Barley: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 1.25-1.5 days. Use only unhulled barley; "whole" hulled barley and pearled barley won't sprout.
• Quinoa: Soak 2-4 hours, sprout 12 hours. Very fast sprouter. Rinse seeds multiple times to get off soapy tasting saponin in seed coat.
• Wheat, including Kamut and Spelt: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 1-1.5 days. Hard Winter wheat is better than soft Spring wheat.
• Alfalfa, Clover: For greens: soak 4-6 hours, sprout 6-8 days.
• Garbanzo: Soak 12-18 hours, sprout 1.5+ days.
• Lentils, brown/green and red: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 1.0 day.
• Mung beans: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 18 hrs - 1 day.
• Adzuki beans: Soak 8-14 hours, sprout 1.0 day.

Read more!

Genetic Fake Out - Turning Back The Clock

Hey there,

A study published earlier this year proves that people who engage in moderate exercise are biologically younger than their inactive counterparts.

The study looked at certain biological markers in the DNA of test subjects and found that people who exercise regularly and with some intensity (i.e. picking up the remote control to change channels doesn't count) had the same biological markers as people ten years younger.

"Lynn F. Cherkas of King's College London and colleagues studied 2,401 white twins, administering questionnaires on physical activity level, smoking habits and socioeconomic status. The participants also provided a blood sample from which DNA was extracted.

The researchers examined the length of telomeres -- repeated sequences at the end of chromosomes -- in the twins' white blood cells.... These telomeres progressively shorten over time and may serve as a marker of biological age.

The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found the mean difference in... the telomeres length between the most active -- who performed an average of 199 minutes of physical activity per week -- and least active -- 16 minutes of physical activity per week -- subjects was 200 nucleotides.

In other words, the most active subjects had telomeres the same length as sedentary individuals up to 10 years younger, on average."[1]

So, here's the deal. 199 minutes of activity per week equates to about 28 minutes per day. That means getting out and walking, running, bike riding, playing with your kids, dancing to your favorite tunes or working out with your favorite aerobics DVD instructor every day - or just 40 minutes per day 5x/week.

If you want to not only liver longer AND healthier, an active lifestyle will provide that and many other benefits as well. So, put down the channel changer (or push back from the keyboard) and go out there and enjoy your day!

[1]Source: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2008/01/28/Exercise_may_be_fountain_of_youth/UPI-29121201566405

Read more!