Did you know that by investing less than $10 in equipment and by spending a few minutes a day, you can grow some of the most nutritious food on the planet?  That’s right, you can do this with SPROUTING!  Sprouts are edible little seeds that have just been germinated.  They have been consumed for thousands of years by Chinese nobles, people in Eastern Asia and Europe and Captain Cook’s shipmates to ward off scurvy.  Sprouts are an explosion of life and should be an important part of the diet.  They are easier to digest so that your body can access their full nutrient profile.  Today’s mass-produced and rapidly-supplied vegetables are coated with a multitude of chemicals, picked before they’re ripe, shipped thousands of miles, and stored for many days before they even reach the supermarket.  By the time they reach your mouth they are far from fresh.  By growing your own sprouts you can have beautiful, organic, fresh, nutrient-dense vegetables of all kinds any time of the year.

Sprouts have, pound for pound, the largest amount of nutrients of any food.  Sprouting increases the vitamin content of seeds significantly and are a tremendous source of antioxidants, vitamin A and C, B vitamins, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, magnesium, selenium, iron and zinc.  The sprouted seeds of some legumes, like lentils, peanuts, and soybeans, contain complete protein, as do many seeds.

The most popular seeds to be sprouted are grain, vegetable, nut and legume.   Eating sprouts is a good way to supplement your diet with food enzymes that are critical for literally every biochemical reaction that takes place in your body.  Sprouts can range from radish, onion, broccoli and kale to chia, flaxseed, buckwheat and mung bean.  Almost anything can be sprouted and each type of seed is its own powerhouse when it comes to nutrition.

• Onion and garlic sprouts have a natural antibiotic affect on the body, making it more resistant to bacteria and parasites.
• Radish sprouts are great for clearing the respiratory system and sinuses during a cold.
• Red clover sprouts help to detoxify the body, purify the blood and relax the nervous system.
• Wheatgrass sprouts are amazing for helping all intestinal disorders, healing the body of many ailments and is an excellent tonic for the entire body.
• Sprouted wheat kernels have decreased amounts of gluten proteins and increased amount of folate and fiber.

Incorporating sprouts into your diet may significantly enhance your health, energy and longevity.

All seeds contain enzyme inhibitors (anti-nutrients) that allow them to remain dormant and be stored for years.   These anti-nutrients also help plants to survive by warding off pests and insects because once ingested, the plant’s predators become sick.  Once exposed to moisture and temperature, the enzyme inhibitors are neutralized and the seeds come to life.  In this embryonic stage, sprouts are bursting with nutrients and are essentially a predigested food.  Anti-nutrients like phytic acid or phytate locks up calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc.  Deficiencies in these nutrients can stunt growth, cause anemia and bone loss and a host of other health issues.  Eating nuts and seeds that aren’t sprouted can be very problematic for those with weak digestion.  The enzyme inhibitors found in plant foods can cause mental illness, allergic reactions and deficiencies in protein as the body has a difficult time breaking them down.

Our diets today are much different than our ancestors and we demand a lot more nutrients than ever before due to our stressful/busy lifestyles.  By incorporating something as simple as sprouting, we are able to increase our nutrient intake ten fold.  Sprouting is super easy, even a 5 year old can do it!

Getting Started:

1-Use raw, unsprouted nuts, grains, seeds, sprouting vegetable seeds or legumes that are free from chemicals (I order mine from www.sprouting.com)

2-Get a sprouting jar or use a mason jar and cover with cheese cloth and an elastic.

3-Place seeds in jar and cover with clean water, rinse and refill jar with water and let sit (times will vary-follow directions on package).

4-Once they have been soaked for the appropriate amount of time, rinse and drain.

5-Place out of sun and upside down on a cloth (to catch extra moisture).

6-Rinse and drain morning and night until you start seeing little sprouts (using by day 3).

7-The sprouts will vary from 1/8 to 2-inches long.  When ready, rinse and drain again and store in a jar or container in fridge.

8-Keep in refrigerator for up to 7 days, but everyday you need to rinse the sprouted beans, grains, nuts or seeds and put them in a fresh bowl.  This will avoid having any mold or bacteria grow.

HAPPY SPROUTING!!

 

 

So, you’ve made it through the first 4-6 months of motherhood, congratulations!  If you’re like any other first time mom, you can feel overwhelmed during the first 6 months with all the middle of the night feedings, messy diapers, lack of time you have for friends, family and spouse, the crazy “routine”, that isn’t really a routine at all and oh, the postpartum depression that so many of us go through.  In addition to this, every time you turn around, someone or something is telling you what you SHOULD and SHOULD NOT  do….ahhhhh!!

 

Now that your baby is about 6 months old, it’s time to introduce some nourishing food (depending on size and maturity of your infant) in addition to breast milk, or formula.  The reason that babies NEED to start eating solids at about 6 months is because this is the time of life when baby starts to run out of iron, and neither breast milk, raw milk or formula (as it’s not easily assimilated and absorbed), will provide enough.  When babies are born their digestive tracts are immature, so we want to be careful not to overload it too quickly.  Every baby will have a different response to different foods and it’s important to take note of negative reactions.  Signs of intolerance include redness around the mouth, fussiness, over-activity, skin rashes, not sleeping well, bloating and excessive gas and nasal or chest congestion.  If your child experiences any of these reactions, try again in a few months.

Now, WHAT DO I FEED MY BABY?  For most people reading this, you’re probably thinking rice cereal (me included up until I became a holistic nutritionist).  Unfortunately, this is NOT the right answer…why you ask, well let’s back up here a minute and give you a little lesson on the GI system.  We have many different enzymes that our bodies make, which are all needed to breakdown specific food groups, namely proteins, fats and carbohydrates.   Lipase digests fats, protease digests proteins and amylase digests carbohydrates.  Here’s the thing, because babies GI system is immature, it takes at least 16 months for the carbohydrate enzyme (amylase) to come on line.  This is a huge problem when we are starting them on rice cereal, followed by wheat, barely, etc.   Foods introduced in this way, with the absence of the right digestive enzyme to break it down, increases the likelihood of food allergies (particularly allergies to those foods introduced).  If baby’s digestive tract is not well developed, large particles of food may be absorbed.  If they reach the bloodstream, the immune system mounts a response that leads to an allergic reaction.  Hmmm, interesting that the amount of people with food sensitivities has sky-rocketed over the past 30 years, with one of the most common being gluten (wheat, barely, rye).  What babies DO have is the ability to produce pepsin and proteolytic enzymes and digestive juices (hydrochloric acid in the stomach),  that work on proteins and lipase that work on fats.  This makes complete sense since the milk from a healthy mother is about 50-60% fat, critical for growth and development.  Therefore, a baby should be consuming animal foods as their first source of solid food, rather than carbohydrates, especially grains.  Remember that the amount of milk greatly decreases as more solid foods are introduced.

 

Now let’s take a look at the specifics…

From about 4-6 months minimal foods are tolerated, but if you do introduce foods before 6 months it should be egg yolks, avocado or cod liver oil.  Many books on feeding babies written decades ago recommended cod liver oil as it contains vitamins A and D, both critical for normal growth AND normal behavior.

From about 6-8 months, chicken, duck, beef, turkey and fish are highly recommended.  Bone broth (from chicken, lamb, beef), fermented foods like kefir or yogurt, mashed fruits such as bananas, melon, avocado and mangoes.  Cooked vegetables like zucchini, squash, carrots and beets served with butter or coconut oil.  As well, cooked and pureed fruits like apples, pears, berries and apricots.  Fruits and starchy carbohydrates are easily tolerated as they don’t need to be broken down as much as grains.

From about 8-12 months, continue to add variety and increase thickness and lumpiness into the foods.  Homemade stews and soups are great options as are small amounts of dairy like cottage cheese, raw cheese and cream.  Pickles and sauerkraut are great for increasing the “good” bacteria in the gut and finger foods like lightly steamed veggie sticks, avocado and tropical fruits.

Once babies are over 1 year of age, grains can slowly be introduced into the diet, preferably soaked and cooked to help the digestive system out.  Babies love oats and most have no troubles digesting them at this age.  Leafy greens (cooked) with butter, raw cucumbers and tomatoes and citrus fruits can now be introduced.  Whole eggs, oysters and sardines are great for their developing brains.  MILK CONSUMPTION SHOULD BE 16-20 OUNCES/DAY.

 

 

Foods to avoid…

Up to 6 months: raw, even cooked vegetables, which are difficult for the digestive system.

Up to 9 months:  Citrus and tomato, which are common allergens.

Up to 1 year: Infants should not be given honey, instead use blackstrap molasses, which is high in iron and calcium, or maple syrup.  Egg whites should be avoided in the first year due to their high allergenic potential.  All grains should be withheld until baby reaches a year, and then introduced slowly and carefully prepared (soaked and cooked).

Try to avoid commercial dairy products, modern soy foods, margarine, fruit juices and reduced-fat or low-fat foods, extruded grains and all processed foods.

I speak a lot about the digestive system because it’s where ALL degenerative disease begins.  If we can give our babies the right nutrition from the beginning, their chances of developing food sensitivities, irritable bowel syndrome, autoimmune disease and cancer are greatly reduced.