In an age of convenience fast food quick fix artificial food people are solving their energy problems through short term stimulation instead of nourishment.  This instant gratification of stimulating and nutrient deficient food can only take a person so far before they become exhausted or sick.  

However even healthy foods have limited usable nutrition without efficient assimilation and absorption.  To get maximum return on your eating a general rule is:  The less done with your food the better its return will be – which means raw, plant based whole foods are ideal because their enzymes remain intact. 

Enzymes are catalysts necessary for most biological processes to occur at significant rates, and digestion is one of the main biological processes affected.  Enzymes are the key to maximizing energy return from the foods you eat.  Many of these important enzymes are destroyed when foods are cooked above certain temperature (118′) or processed.  When these enzymes are missing the body must create them before the food can be absorbed and assimilated. This creates more work and stress for the body. 

Some evidence suggests consuming cooked, processed foods for many years may actually exhaust the body’s enzyme-producing glands. This results in poor digestion and assimilation later in life and may be one explanation for rapid signs of aging and disease; food no longer nourishes the body the way it once did because it’s not being digested properly anymore.

It is important to understand the difference between energy obtained from stimulation versus energy derived from proper nourishment for long-term health and vitality.

The more processed a food is the more stimulating affect it will have on the nervous system which can lead to adrenal fatigue.   A diet of enzyme rich whole foods (raw and sprouted) is less stimulating and way more nourishing. 

Raw, whole foods provide sustainable energy that is not dependent on processed carbs, refined sugars, or caffeine.  Many convenient ‘energy’ bars offer little more than candy bars which stimulate the adrenal glands which provide a false energy.  

Alive, raw, whole foods containing natural enzymes provide sustainable energy and vitality, not quick bursts of stimulation.  Sustainable  energy producing foods are:

• whole – unprocessed and unrefined (i.e. In original state: nothing added, nothing removed)
• raw and rich in naturally occurring enzymes
• alkaline or alkaline-forming
• high in natural vitamins and minerals
• best in sprouted form

Compared to all other foods, sprouted foods offer the best net energy yield. Sprouts are full of enzymes, vitamins, minerals and protein, making them one of the most complete and nutritional of all foods tested. Besides your typical brussel and alfalfa sprouts, other examples of sprouted foods include: bean sprouts, sprouted almond, sprouted flax seed, and sprouted buckwheat. The Chinese discovered the nutritional value of sprouts thousands of years ago. Recently, many North American scientific studies are confirming the benefits of sprouts in a healthy diet.

Sprouted seeds are  a “predigested” food, meaning they can be more efficiently used in the body than non-sprouted seeds. When a seed sprouts, it is literally digesting its own protein and starch which decreases calories and carbohydrate content. Sprouting also creates amino acids and substantially increases vitamins, minerals and protein. This makes sprouts a powerful food because less ingested food is required than with non-sprouted foods to ensure sufficient nutrients reach the blood and cells. In addition, since the increased protein content of sprouts is in the most digestible form – amino acids – the body is able to put a large amount of the protein to use. Buckwheat, for example, is one of the best sprouts because approximately 20 percent of its makeup is protein, which makes it exceptionally amino-acid-rich. Furthermore, since buckwheat is technically a seed and not a grain, it is gluten-free.

Since the sprouting process does much of the energy conversion for the body; less energy is needed to digest which results in a greater net gain. In contrast, consuming cooked, processed foods, and isolated proteins which the body must break down before they can be recognized and utilized, results in significantly less efficiency.

The net gain of food is a term given to the energy remaining once digestion and assimilation have taken place. As a rule, cooked, refined and processed foods yield the lowest net gain. Unprocessed, whole food sources offer a superior return. Raw foods are even better. Taken one step further, whole, raw, sprouted foods provide the highest net energy gain possible—through nourishment, not stimulation.  

One of the first questions that may naturally come up as you learn the Marche Method and start having an abundance of all different kinds of sprouts around is this:   “Okay, I am surrounded by sprouts! Now, what the heck do I do with them?”

Sprouts are delicious all by themselves, but even better when you find a spectrum of different ways to enjoy them in foods that are familiar to you.  Experimentation is wonderful, but it’s good to have a springboard for our culinary creativity.  Many have found this in books like The Complete Guide to Growing and Using Sprouts.

We have had many requests to “stock” our site with more basic sprouting information, related products, and good deals on little extras that can make your sprouting process simpler. We are happy to start off with a great addition to the fold. The title says it all:  The Complete Guide to Growing and Using Sprouts – Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply Including Easy to Make Recipes.

Many people have enjoyed the Back to Basics series for a long time, ever since they first started coming out in the early 80s.   So when Daniel Cavallaro, President of  SeThInk Media and producer of the Seeds of Sustainability education series was approached by Rick Helweg to write a forward for his Complete Guide to Growing and Using Sprouts, our team was super excited!

In keeping with the proud tradition of the Back to Basics series, this book is well written, exhaustively researched, and has a little something for everyone, from beginners to seasoned pros.  Not only does it cover the many different methods of sprouting, it’s chock full of delicious recipes that will appeal to ANY foody.  So many sprouting books out on the market focus on one or the other, so many feel it’s really nice to sit down and be able to page back and forth between the two.

We know you will enjoy this valuable resource so order your copy today and Happy Sprouting!

Growing wheat grass is a fun way to add serious green power to your diet. For most people, though, it can be frustrating to wait up to 12 days for the wheat grass to be ready. So here are a few tips to reduce the time it takes.

Pre-sprout your wheat berries using the Marche Method. This no rinse sprouting method will give your wheatberries a great start, and the grass will actually grow faster because you gave it such a good head start with nice thick roots and a little blade already starting to stick out. Because the Marche method is a no-rinse method that keeps the moisture in balance, your sprouts will be in perfect condition to be spead thickly on a half inch or so of soil and grown.

Interestingly enough, when you watch a time lapse video of wheatgrass, the short stubby blades actually start out pushing upwards in a spiral formation. Wheatgrass has been touted by thousands as a cure all, but its most interesting application may be in smoking cessation. Smokers have reported that simply adding fresh wheat grass to their daily routine eliminates their cravings and removes the nicotine from their body quickly, so quitting can be a quick and simple process. One person said he was skeptical at first, but then started taking wheatgrass and almost immediately could no longer stand the taste, smell, or feeling of tobacco in his body.

So regardless of what your reason is for being interested in wheatgrass, give it a try! Its easy and fun to grow, and the possible health benefits are endless!

Health Benefits of Walnut Oil:

Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins B-1, B-2, and B-3, Vitamin-E and niacin, the health benefits of walnuts and/or were first identified in 1931 when researchers discovered that they were a significant source of vitamin C.  Since then numerous studies been done to evaluate the effects of walnut and walnut oil consumption on disease prevalence, mortality, and disease risk factors.  It is now well established that eating walnuts regularly has definite health benefits, the most important on being a reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease.  Walnuts are also rich in phytonutrients and are an excellent source of selenium, phosphorous, magnesium, zinc, iron, and calcium

In order to get these benefits it is important for the walnuts to be uncooked and fresh.  Awakening and curing the walnuts is the best way to achieve this.  The serving size of walnut oil is less than the amount of walnuts needed to get the same nutritional benefit.

For example:  A 35 gram serving of walnut oil provides the same nutritional benefits as 50 grams of walnuts.

Consumption of walnuts or walnut oil has been shown to lower total cholesterol, LDL (bad cholesterol) and the ratio of LDL to HDL (good cholesterol). Furthermore, regular walnut oil consumption reduced triglyceride levels 19 to 33% in a 45-day study. In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration stated:

“Supportive research shows that eating 1.5 ounces per day of walnuts, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”

The high concentration of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which is an omega-3 fatty acid that is converted to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and omega-3 fatty acids (which are easily utilized by the body) are the reason walnut oil has cardio-protective benefits. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that one tablespoon of walnut oil provides 1.4 grams of ALA. Men require 1.6 grams and women 1.1 grams of ALA per day. Walnuts differ from other nuts because they primarily consist of omega-3 fatty acids whereas monounsaturated fats are found in higher levels in most other types of nuts.

Walnuts and walnut oil have been cited as one of the best antioxidant sources among the tree nuts.  Antioxidants are substances that counter the effects of free radicals, which are substances that cause cell damage and accelerate the aging process. Walnuts are especially dense in the antioxidant ellagic acid, which aids in controlling the replication of malignant tumors and has anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antiseptic properties. Gallic acid and malic acid, both antioxidants, are present in smaller quantities and have similar protective effects. This demonstrates yet again that nutrition is best derived from whole foods verses liquid vitamins and other vitamin supplements.

Studies show regular use of walnut oil provides a dietary source of essential fatty acids and antioxidants, both of which are often difficult to attain in adequate quantities within a typical Western diet. The practical benefits of this regular use are significant reductions in coronary heart disease risk and possible decreases in cancer risk and slowing of the aging process.

To use walnut oil in your cooking remember it is best used uncooked in cold sauces, salads, tossed in pasta, or brushed on grilled fish or meat just before serving.  It is also great in desert recipes for a nutty flavor!

Enjoy!

Veggie takes center stage in fight against hunger

By Michelle Rindles
Staff Writer
The Union (Californian based Newspaper)

Nevada City based SeThInk Media company hopes to advance the sprouts’ cause to help end hunger worldwide with an educational DVD. While organic foods and vegetarian diets have seen a dramatic increase in popularity in recent years, other foodies are even more dedicated than that.  In raw or living food diets, people eat only uncooked foods as a way to preserve the enzymes within.

Sprouts take the center stage there.

Raw foods are easier to digest and lead to healthier bodies and more energy, proponents say.  But a raw diet presents numerous challenges.  How does a person keep their food living until they’re ready to eat? Many use jars with water and seeds inside.  To keep the sprouts alive, they must dreain and rinse the sprouting seeds each day.

“You miss one rinse and they go bad,” said SeThInk founder Daniel Cavallaro.  “It takes several days of focus and intention.”

It’s impractical for large scale production, busy lifestyles or climates with water shortages.

“If this is a good way of growing food, why are we having to waste so much water?” Daniel said.

A solution came to inventor Robin Marche while he was living outside arid Tucson, Ariz., cooking for a commune there in the 1980’s and ‘90’s.  He devised a new water-friendly method to cultivate sprouts that eliminated the need to rinse.  It can be used in large-scale production, and the sprouts also stay fresher longer.

Nevada City’s SeThInk Media company produced a DVD training people how to use that method – and another method of producing un-processed ‘living’ oils.

The company wants to bring the unusual diet into the mainstream, and also to developing countries with limited water supply and nutrient-deficient diets.  One organization brought the technique to Haiti in the wake of January’s devastating earthquake.

It could be a life-saver for people where a tough climate hinders traditional agriculture.

“We want to share it with the right people so they can do good in the world,” Cavallaro said.

A workshop on the new sprouts-growing technique is set for 2-4 p.m. each Saturday in the month of July at the Alternative Building Center, 563 Idaho Maryland Road, in Grass Valley.  It is co-sponsored by Nevada City’s A.P.P.L.E. Center for Sustainable Living.  Participants can sign up online at www.seedsofsustainability.org/nclocalworkshop.htm

The cost is $55, which includes a copy of the DVD, a $47 value.

If you are a parent who has struggled to get your child to eat their ‘greens’ then perhaps you might want to introduce them to sprouts and sprouting.  Sprouts provide amazing healthy food ideas and there is no better way to turn your children onto the health benefits of sprouted foods than to directly involve them in the sprouting process.

Children naturally love to see things grow and it is usually fairly easy to catch their attention and curiosity when you tell them, ‘We are going to grow our own greens!’ Introducing them to the life processes of germination and sprouting can be very fun when they get to be the little gardeners of their own vegetables.

A story was shared with us about a 9 year old boy who absolutely refused to eat any green vegetables for his whole childhood.  The mother had resigned to supplementing his diet with green vitamins that can be purchased in most health food stores.

One day she decided to ask him to help her soak some lentil seeds that she had planned to sprout for her salads.  The boy asked why the seeds needed to soak and the mother explained that the seed ‘needs to be awakened from its nap’.  The boy’s imagination took over from there and as he filled the jar with water he talked to the seeds saying, ‘wake up you sleepy heads, it’s time to go to work’.

The boy stayed with those seeds throughout their process of awakening and the mother told him a story of how the little seeds only job they wanted to have was to help human bodies to become like them – strong, healthy, and energized.  The boy asked how they would help his body become that way and the mother told him that all he had to do was allow them into his body and they would do all the work from inside!

The boy loved the idea of his newfound friends becoming a part of him and by the time the little tails showed up on those lentil sprouts he could not wait to sit down and enjoy them.  The mother said he told them before he ate them, ‘okay little guys, now that you are wide awake and ready to go, you need to come to the factory where you have been hired.’  She was amazed at how he then began sprouting for himself, each time assigning his new employees with jobs like ‘today you are going to help me jump high and run faster’.

Use your imagination and engage your child into the wonders of the life processes of their bodies through them being able to steward the life process of a little seed that will help him to grow! You can also use you imagination with the possibilities of healthy food ideas that sprouts and sprouted foods opens up.

Have you seen these crazy bean sprouters that are attached to the flush of your toilet for rinsing? I am all for fresh sprouts and good sprouting results but do you really want your food to be coming out of your toilet or bathroom and on to your table? I am sure you can pick up a clean water source from inside the cistern of your toilet but you will have:

1. The thought of where your sprouts were grown to contend with and
2. I am not so sure the rest of the environment within your bathroom is hygienic for food production, particularly your toilet!

For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, there are articles and Youtube videos floating around under the title “Bean Sprouter”. The device consists of a plastic bottle tipped upside down with the neck of the bottle pointing down. The bottle has a hole in the base (which becomes the top when inverted) for a hose to be inserted and your beans for sprouting sit in the bottle with some sort of mesh to prevent them from coming out the bottle neck. The hose is attached to a source of incoming water within the cistern of your toilet so that each time the toilet is flushed, water flows up the hose in to the bottle, down over the sprouts and then drains out the neck.

The principle behind it is fine. I am all for a sprouting method that eliminates the need for daily rinsing, as the bean sprouter effectively becomes an automatic sprouter. In saying that, I just cannot get my head around my sprouts being rinsed by my toilet….! Imagine sitting down to a fresh plate of sprouts and eating them at the porcelain throne….. Not that likely, so why would you want to grow them there?

Take away your sprouting headaches with the Marche Sprouting Method; no daily rinsing, no mess, no fuss and no toilet involved….!!!! Eating fresh sprouted foods is great for your body and growing the sprouts should not be a painful experience. Throw away the crazy bean sprouter and benefit from the years of research from Master Sprout Alchemist Robin Marche using his simple yet highly effective method of growing sprouts.

Choosing a Suitable Sprouter

So you have found some customers on your journey of growing sprouts for profit, now you need a suitable sprouting method. There are several sprouting methods available so let’s take a quick look at them. If you are growing sprouts commercially or even as a hobby for some extra spending money, the main things you are looking for in a sprouter are:

• The ability to grow large amounts of sprouts – this will be critical if you scale your business up
• Consistent results – your customers will be depending on your delicious goods!
• A fast sprouting method – this will make planning easier and turnover/output higher with the same set-up
• To be cost effective to set-up, which gets you to profit much quicker

Things you do not want in a sprouter:

• Require excessive amounts of space
• Requires daily rinsing of sprouts, as this turns the process in to work!
• It should not be complicated and require excessive cleaning between batches
• It should not use excessive amounts of water

A selection of sprouters is outlined below. You can find more detailed reviews by following the link at the end of each section.

Sprouting (glass) jars

This simple method involves soaking your seeds in water overnight, then draining them out and leaving the seeds spread around the inside surface of a glass jar to begin the sprouting process. Although you will certainly be able to grow sprouts in a jar, glass jars do not offer very good air circulation or drainage, so you will need to rinse them out with water 2-3 times a day to prevent the sprouts from spoiling. This may not be a suitable method if you do not have the time or are not available throughout the day to do the rinsing. If your kids are helping out (as they may love to do), then glass may not be suitable as it becomes slippery once wet during the rinsing process and broken glass is of course quite hazardous.

There are some glass jars available with a mesh screen built in to the lid of the jar that makes the rinsing process a little easier, however if you are looking at growing sprouts for profit, you are going to need quite a few jars and quite a bit of space to make enough sprouts to sell and the rinsing process for multiple jars becomes quite excessive. You are also more susceptible to losing a batch to spoiling from mold growth and you may disappoint your customers! For further details you can read more about sprouting jars here.

Sprouting Trays

Trays are the next step up from glass jars and they are often designed with improved drainage and better air flow. This helps to reduce spoiled sprouts that go slimy or moldy. There are also some stackable trays that will allow you to grow a greater volume if your intention is growing sprouts for profit. If using trays, you will still need to rinse the sprouts daily and failing to do so could lose your whole batch! They are also quite prone to drying out due to the large exposed surface area, so in warmer conditions, they may need to be ‘misted’ during the day using a spray bottle. There are also increased costs involved up front to purchase trays that are going to last a while and they can take up quite a bit of room. It is important to note that the trays must be cleaned thoroughly between batches to prevent mold growth and spoiled sprouts. You can read more about sprouting trays here.

Automatic sprouters

These devices are usually designed with improved air flow and drainage and have some sort of in-built water spraying device. This is usually set to operate based on a set time interval, where it sprays your sprouts to rinse them at regular intervals. This is a great way to automate your growing process if your lifestyle does not allow you to be attending to your sprouts throughout the day. There are a few drawbacks with the automatic sprouter; they are quite expensive to purchase, the water consumption can be excessive if you are environmentally conscious or have a shortage of available water and it is essential to clean the sprouter out thoroughly between batches. The cleaning factor is particularly important to note, as often automatic sprouters have many parts and places for bacteria to grow if not thoroughly cleaned after each use. Depending on the size of the sprouter and the amount of sprouts you intend to sell, buying multiple automatic sprouters is not usually viable if you are intending to make a profit! You can read more about automatic sprouters here.

Marche Sprouting Method

This is a revolutionary new sprouting method developed by Robin Marche through 20 years of research and development of sustainable growing methods. It uses a simple yet highly effective method of moisture regulation that eliminates the need for daily rinsing. The method itself is very simple to learn, very cheap to set-up and you can grow as little or as much sprouted vegetables as you would like in just 72 hours. You do some simple steps at the start and then leave them alone until they are ready. It is the ideal sprouting method when growing sprouts for profit for its simplicity, cost and ability to grow large amounts of sprouts without the need to attend to them daily and consume excess amounts of water.

A simple source of additional income can be to grow sprouts to sell. This could be as a hobby or it could grow in to a profitable business if you find a suitable market and customers. It is also something that is so simple, your kids may want to start growing sprouts themselves or they may like to join in and help you, as they certainly love to learn and watch the growing process . It is also a fantastic way for them to see the actual process of growing vegetables instead of just seeing them come from a packet or the store. Whatever the reasons are that draws you to growing sprouts for profit, you don’t need to do this on a commercial scale to make some money and you certainly don’t need an elaborate or expensive set-up to get started. There are however two aspects that are critical for success:

1. Customers to buy your sprouts
2. An inexpensive sprouter or growing method suitable for larger volume production

Where do I find customers?

This is of course a critical part of the process but it just requires a little thinking and observation. Basically you just need to think about where sprouts are consumed in larger quantities and who is likely to eat them. Some suggestions for where sprouts are used to help get your thought process started are:

• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Sandwich shops
• Any other food outlet that provides healthier options and salads

It is of course best to approach your potential customer first and if you do, be sure to take some of your delicious sprouts for them to taste! You can also discuss what type of sprouts they use the most of , how much they use and how often they will need you supply them. If you think about who consumes sprouts, the answer today is just about anyone! They are becoming an increasingly popular food in any household due to their amazing health benefits and they are especially popular with organic food consumers, raw foodists, vegans and vegeatarians, so anyone supplying foods to these markets may be interested in your sprouts.

Local markets and especially food markets are a great place to find customers as people will love the fact that your sprouts are so fresh and locally grown and supplied. You will need to package them up in to smaller containers or bags but this is not a particularly difficult process. With sprouting jars, trays and automatic sprouters, your sprouts could be quite wet and will need to be rinsed and dried out a little so they do not spoil in the bag or container. This step needs to be planned in to ensure you have adequate time to complete this. Sprouts grown using the Marche Method, will not require rinsing and drying back as they come out dry to touch and last remarkably long in the refridgerator.

The next step on your journey of growing sprouts for profit is choosing a suitable sprouter to ensure you can meet the needs of your customer…! The last thing you want to do is let them down if you lose a batch of sprouts that have spoiled and you do not want the growing process to be time consuming, as it is a much more enjoyable opportunity if it is fun!

The automatic sprouter is often viewed as the top level system for serious sprouters. They are designed to provide some sort of rinsing or misting device to eliminate the needs for daily rinsing. This is a considerable benefit, as you don’t want the powerful health benefits of eating sprouts to be overshadowed by a process that requires time consuming daily attention or the chance of losing a batch just before it is ready!

Benefits of the Automatic Sprouter

• No daily rinsing!
• Usually incorporate a good drainage system
• Less chance of mold growth and spoiled sprouts due to poor drainage
• Can be designed to allow a greater volume of sprouts to be grown
• Can speed up the sprouting process by the more consistent presence of water

Drawbacks of Automatic Sprouters

• Expensive to purchase
• Can be complex and fiddly to assemble
• Require thorough cleaning of all internal components between batches
• Uses excessive amounts of water
• Must be located near a sink for drainage or have a large bucket for rinsing water to drain in to
• Units that recycle the water for repeated rinses are prone to bacteria and mold growth

So are automatic sprouters the ultimate system for growing sprouts? We don’t believe so, particularly for the commercial automatic sprouters you can buy today. They do produce good results but cleaning is excessive still and they are quite expensive to buy. There is another automatic sprouter or method…. It offers:

• No daily rinsing of sprouts
• No time consuming cleaning between batches
• No complicated components
• Very low set-up cost
• The ability to grow large amounts of sprouts
• Sprouts that last much longer due to their sprouting method

Sound good? You can see what we feel is the ultimate sprouter. You may think we are biased but believe us, we have tried every type of sprouter and the Marche Sprouting Method will revolutionize the way sprouted foods are grown right around the world.

Happy sprouting!