Sprouting is the process of growing a plant from a seed.
Remember that time, in school, when you had to make a plant grow from an avocado seed?
You stuck toothpicks in it, plopped it in a glass of water, placed it in front of the window and then waited forever for it to grow.
Well, you were sprouting a seed.
SOME 3rd GRADER’S AVACADO PLANT WE’RE TOTALLY JEALOUS OF.
Grains are seeds.
Sometimes the seeds are called kernels or berries. It doesn’t really matter, they are still seeds.
Grains that are used to make foods come from grasses (plants) called cereal grasses.
Your morning bowl of cereal is called cereal because the food you’re eating is made from cereal grasses.
Wheat, rye, spelt, corn, rice, millet, and barley are some examples of cereal grains.
WHEAT STALKS (THE PLANT PART) AND WHEAT SEEDS.
Seeds are made up of three separate parts.
The endosperm is the starchy interior and the biggest part of the seed. Starch is the seed’s own sugar that it saves and uses for energy (food) later on. Kind of like a battery.
The bran is the outside layer of the seed. It’s hard and rough and protects the seed. Your body can’t completely breakdown and absorb the bran but that’s what makes it a good thing. Bran helps to push waste out of the body. In other words, it helps you poop.
The germ is the living part of the seed that grows into a plant. The main source of nutrients (stuff your body needs to live) is in the germ.
THE PARTS OF A WHEAT SEED.
Sprouting a wheat seed changes its parts.
When the plant grows it uses the stored energy (endosperm) and breaks it down.
This makes it easier for the body to use because the hard work has already been done by the plant.
Sprouting also stops a substance in seeds that keeps nutrients (the good stuff) from being grabbed by the body.
It’s like a key that unlocks a door. When the door is unlocked the body can grab the stuff that is inside and use it.
WHEAT SEEDS THAT HAVE BEGUN TO SPROUT INTO NEW WHEAT PLANTS.
Once the seed has been properly sprouted it's dried and ground into flour.
The flour is mixed up with water and other ingredients to make things like cereal, pasta, bread, tortillas, and pancakes.
Anything that is made with wheat flour can also be made with sprouted wheat flour.
SPROUTED WHEAT FLOUR
So, why should you care?
Because when you eat foods that are made with sprouted wheat flour you get a lot more of the good stuff that the body needs to work right.
When you eat good food, you feel good.
And, that’s it.
SPROUTED WHEAT BREAD