very overwhelmed with all this soaking and sprouting stuff...

[DKPA]

so i've been reading a lot of threads on soaking and sprouting nuts, seeds, grains and beans and i feel like i can't get any definite instructions on how and why to do this, does anyone have a good link? also i'm all about being healthy and natural but this seems like an insane amount of work, does everyone really soak everything before cooking? how bad is it to eat the grains normally, are you really missing out on a lot of the benefit of the grains?

also maybe i'm just being weird and uninformed but the thought of my nuts or seeds growing a tail is kind of disgusting to me lol...so do you eat the tail?

any thoughts on all this would be appreciated, this has been stressing me out all day!

[casmer]

Soaking and sprouting is supposed to breakdown "anti-nutrients" like, phytic acid, which can interfere/block important mineral absorption in the gut.  At least that's what the WAPF says.  http://www.westonaprice.org/images/pdfs/healthy4life2011.pdf that pdf file has recipes in it from the Weston A Price Foundation (WAPF).  Also, Nourishing Traditions (book by Sally Fallon) has quite a bit of information about soaking and sprouting.

I too am overwhelmed at the thought of soaking and sprouting everything.  I would suggest starting very slowly, one thing at a time.  When that becomes routine, add another.  I personally want to try the Crispy Nuts.  They sound great!

I don't know if you can see the "tail" or not.  Probably not on the nuts, as you are only soaking them like 7 hours.

[sunnygir1]

I don't soak everything every time, but I do it when I can.

Almonds are my favorite.  I soak them in salted water over night, then drain and toast them in the oven at 200F all day, stirring occasionally.  They are wonderful and very different from regular toasted nuts.  I do the same with sunflower seeds.

Another easy thing to start is breakfast cereal.  If you plan to eat hot cereal in the morning, oatmeal, for example, set it to soak before you go to bed, then throw it on the stove in the morning.

[casmer]

Have you tried using a dehydrator?  If it wasn't 100+ here in Texas, I'd try the oven.  

[DKPA]

thanks for the replies.  just wondering, if you use the oven at 200 degrees doesn't that defeat the health benefit of soaking the almonds? this is just based on other posts, i personally have no clue lol and no i havent tried a dehydrator, ill have to look into it:)

[DKPA]

o i and i have the book by sally fallon on hold at the library thanks! and thanks for acknowledging that yes its very overwhelming!

[sunnygir1]

I don't know what cooking at 200 degrees destroys, but I don't think it defeats the purpose.  I think soaking/sprouting still increases the digestibility of the food -- you don't have to eat it raw.  For example, if I soak my beans or grains and then cook them (bring them to a boil at 212 degrees) they certainly get to that temp.  Or if I bake bread with sprouted grain flour I would still bake the bread in a hot oven.

[forestrymom]

Yeah, if cooking at 200 degrees defeats the purpose, then why soak anything? Most of what we soak, we cook. 

[casmer]

Sally Fallon recommends 150-170F.  If you click on that link up there that I posted, you'll find some WAPF recipes and Crispy Nuts is one of them.  I don't agree 100% with everything Sally Fallon says or writes, but Nourishing Traditions can be a good place to start. 

[Ravenlunatic]

I started eating more "traditionally" about a year and a half ago.  I have some digestive issues and so my choices of food are based on what is best for my tummy.  I have done what these gals suggest, read the popular books and educate myself (this is continuous as there IS so much to learn), then make one choice at a time.  I started by sprouting 2 or 3 kinds of seeds and added making lacto fermented cucumbers (pickles),  then I stopped sprouting seeds but instead sought out raw goat milk and made homemade yogurt.  It is a process (I assume you have made new choices in what foods you want to eat) and a journey to go the 'traditional' way of eating.  Good luck.

I started sprouting with a couple of glass jars, rubber bands, regular screen cut up into squares (to fit over the jars and to be secured with the rubber band).  Just buy some alfalfa seeds and maybe another choice, soak them in the jars with enough water (and a few inches above) overnight.  IN the morning drain the liquid (the screen holds the seeds in the jars).  Add clean water and rinse several times.  Then set the jar upsidedown on a bowl edge or somehow so  all the water drains out and no seeds remain soaking.  You can rinse them 2 or 3 times a day (morning and before bed) and in a few days they will sprout.  It is quite awesome.  Continue the process until the sprouts get to the consistancy you want.  Like I let my alfalfa go quite a long time (days) and my mung beans only one day before I gobble them up.

[DKPA]

thanksso much for the replies, thats great that you can dry nuts, seeds etc at higher than 150 degrees like the book says because my oven doesn't go that low! i curios to read more opinions of sally fallon and also nina planck, who seems a little bit more normal lol

[DKPA]

sorry about all the typos, very tired!