12 Steps to Whole Foods
Sprouting and Dehydrating Additionally, I suggest you have three types of sprouts in your fridge at all times, to use in these ways: • Sprout an alfalfa/clover mix, and add a large spoonful to your granola or oatmeal every morning. Also notice that you can put 2 Tbsp. in many of the salad dressing recipes in Chapter 3. Alfalfa is one of the best natural sources of vitamin K. This nutrient helps blood to clot by moving calcium into proteins that form a microscopic net to capture red blood cells. Vitamin K likewise helps bones to knit by working with vitamin D to build good bones. Your body can’t use calcium without it. Alfalfa not only helps keep calcium in bones, but it also helps keep calcium out of the linings of arteries. • Sprout sunflower seeds, which have a mild flavor and most people like, and add a spoonful of these to your granola or other cereal every morning. • Sprout savory, heavier seeds such as broccoli seeds and mung beans—add ¼ - ½ C to a dinner salad or sandwich. The only thing more nutritious than broccoli is a sprouted broccoli seed! Other Sproutable Foods Beans: kidney, lima, black, soy, adzuki—ready in 3 days Buckwheat: ready in 2 days Grains: wheat, rye, oats, spelt, Kamut, barley—ready in 3-4 days (rinse very well and be careful to avoid standing water in the grains) Legumes: lentils—ready in 3-4 days Nuts: pecans, walnuts—ready in 1 day Quinoa: ready in 1-2 days Seeds: sunflower, pumpkin, melon, sesame—ready in 2-3 days Small seeds: chia, onion, radish, clover, flax, cress, fenugreek, coriander, carrot—ready in 2 days 204 12 Steps to Whole Foods © Copyright Robyn Openshaw
Sprouting and Dehydrating The Virtues of Flax Seed Flax, a seed cultivated since ancient times but gaining new popularity the more it is studied, is one of the most perfect foods available in nature. I can’t think of a food that, by itself, provides as many benefits. When you soak flax a few hours so that it germinates, it is absolutely unparalleled, nutritionally. The American Cancer Institute has acknowledged 27 different compounds in flax that are anti-carcinogenic! Flax is comprised of 35% essential fatty acids (EFAs), the ones your body cannot manufacture on its own and must be provided by diet. More than half of those EFAs are Omega-3s, critical for heart health and hard to find in other foods. No other food has higher Omega-3s than flax does. The flax seed also is high in protein, vitamins, and phytonutrients, and it contains a massive dose of fiber— both soluble and insoluble. In a flax cracker with ¼ C of seeds, you get 10 grams of fiber! Little-known but critically important compounds that are garnering more interest from researchers are lignans, which are important in immune function and help neutralize estrogens and metabolize phytoestrogens. Flax has 75-800 times more lignans than any other plant foods. It has also been linked to preventing depression, and it’s the first food I recommend when someone tells me they’ve been battling a mood disorder. All these benefits together yield immune support, healthy digestion and cholesterol levels, a positive mood, and even glossy hair and dewy skin. I recommend you buy whole flax, not preground seeds. Flax oxidizes quickly when ground. When you grind them in your high-powered blender (or an inexpensive coffee grinder), you should use them right away or store them in the fridge for only a short period of time before using them. I buy them in bulk in our GreenSmoothieGirl.com group buys and freeze gallon bags of flax for use in granola and crackers made in my dehydrator. I share my family’s favorite recipes with you in this chapter. A small amount (1-2 Tbsp.) of flax daily is plenty. Don’t overdo it, as it is powerful medicine and estrogenic in too-large quantities. Dehydrated Snacks Using the dehydrator is a great way to preserve live food, to add crunch to living food if you like chips and crackers, and to find new and interesting ways to eat treats that are exploding with life and nutrition. My favorite lunch is a green smoothie and dehydrated live-food crackers with guacamole or eggplant dip. Eating a lunch like this will give you massive energy throughout the afternoon until dinnertime. To preserve all the enzymes in the food, dehydrate under 115° To be safe, I set my dehydrator at 105°, which takes a bit longer. Dehydrating preserves food rather well, but if the snack is not completely dry and you keep © Copyright Robyn Openshaw 12 Steps to Whole Foods 205
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Sprouting and Dehydrating<br />
The Virtues of Flax Seed<br />
Flax, a seed cultivated since ancient times but gaining new popularity the more it is studied, is one of the most<br />
perfect foods available in nature. I can’t think of a food that, by itself, provides as many benefits. When you<br />
soak flax a few hours so that it germinates, it is absolutely unparalleled, nutritionally. The American Cancer<br />
Institute has acknowledged 27 different compounds in flax that are anti-carcinogenic!<br />
Flax is comprised of 35% essential fatty acids (EFAs), the ones your body cannot manufacture on its own and<br />
must be provided by diet. More than half of those EFAs are Omega-3s, critical for heart health and hard <strong>to</strong> find<br />
in other foods. No other food has higher Omega-3s than flax does.<br />
The flax seed also is high in protein, vitamins, and phy<strong>to</strong>nutrients, and it contains a massive dose of fiber—<br />
both soluble and insoluble. In a flax cracker with ¼ C of seeds, you get 10 grams of fiber!<br />
Little-known but critically important compounds that<br />
are garnering more interest from researchers are<br />
lignans, which are important in immune function and<br />
help neutralize estrogens and metabolize<br />
phy<strong>to</strong>estrogens. Flax has 75-800 times more lignans<br />
than any other plant foods. It has also been linked <strong>to</strong><br />
preventing depression, and it’s the first food I<br />
recommend when someone tells me they’ve been<br />
battling a mood disorder.<br />
All these benefits <strong>to</strong>gether yield immune support,<br />
healthy digestion and cholesterol levels, a positive<br />
mood, and even glossy hair and dewy skin. I<br />
recommend you buy whole flax, not preground seeds.<br />
Flax oxidizes quickly when ground. When you grind<br />
them in your high-powered blender (or an inexpensive coffee grinder), you should use them right away or s<strong>to</strong>re<br />
them in the fridge for only a short period of time before using them. I buy them in bulk in our<br />
GreenSmoothieGirl.com group buys and freeze gallon bags of flax for use in granola and crackers made in my<br />
dehydra<strong>to</strong>r. I share my family’s favorite recipes with you in this chapter.<br />
A small amount (1-2 Tbsp.) of flax daily is plenty. Don’t overdo it, as it is powerful medicine and estrogenic in<br />
<strong>to</strong>o-large quantities.<br />
Dehydrated Snacks<br />
Using the dehydra<strong>to</strong>r is a great way <strong>to</strong> preserve live food, <strong>to</strong> add crunch <strong>to</strong> living food if you like chips and<br />
crackers, and <strong>to</strong> find new and interesting ways <strong>to</strong> eat treats that are exploding with life and nutrition. My<br />
favorite lunch is a green smoothie and dehydrated live-food crackers with guacamole or eggplant dip. Eating a<br />
lunch like this will give you massive energy throughout the afternoon until dinnertime.<br />
To preserve all the enzymes in the food, dehydrate under 115° To be safe, I set my dehydra<strong>to</strong>r at 105°, which<br />
takes a bit longer. Dehydrating preserves food rather well, but if the snack is not completely dry and you keep<br />
© Copyright Robyn Openshaw <strong>12</strong> <strong>Steps</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Whole</strong> <strong>Foods</strong> 205