MINI COURSE 2

Super Nutrition Through Germinating and Spouting

The Re-emergence Of an old Truth In our work at The Vitalitians Society, the use of raw and living foods has evolved into a new way of living and eating. We see a new relationship between food and life. Yet this relationship is not a new or novel concept, rather, it is a re-emergence of an ancient truth. The following are keys to this re-emerging system; the germinating and sprouting of foods, the use of grasses and leafy green vegetables, the importance of juices and the (careful) use of dehydrated and fermented foods. Many ancient cultures knew the value of germinating and sprouting grains, seeds, legumes, beans and nuts. The use of sprouted seeds for food and medicine is more than twice as old as the Great Wall of China and was even noted in their historical records. Today more and more data is being compiled on the amazing nutritional value of sprouting. Research by Dr. Jeffrey B. Land, professor and bio-chemist at the University of Puget Sound, has shown that 6 cups of sprouted lentils contain the full recommended daily allowance of protein (about 60 grams) in a fully digestible form. He then concluded that these could provide a significant portion of daily protein needs in a safe and inexpensive. These living foods that are germinated and sprouted afford us the most concentrated natural sources of vitamins, chelated minerals, enzymes and amino acids (proteins in a digestible form). These also Contain abundant enzymes and bio-electrical energy, one important reason for their desirability. Pound for pound, lentils and bean sprouts contain as much protein as red meat, yet in a totally digestible form without the fat, cholesterol, hormones and antibiotics that are found in most present day meats. Why this occurs bears some examination and explanation. Germination is the important process which results when seeds, grains, legumes and nuts are soaked in water for a period of time. Water removes certain metabolic inhibitors which are present to protect the seed from bacterial invasion and preserve it during its dormant state. Soaked seeds are more easily digested. During the germination process, the seed springs into life and becomes more available nutritionally for human needs. Inherent enzyme inhibitors, phytates (natural insecticides), oxalates, etc., present in every seed, nut or grain are removed through fermenting and before pre-digestion occurs. By this we mean that the starches are converted into simple sugars, proteins are broken down into amino acids, fats converted into soluble fatty acids and vitamins are created and enhanced. Germinating is the process employed to make many of the seed and nut sauces at the Institute. For every one pound of seed, it will grow into eight to twelve pounds of super food. Sprouting carries this life-beginning process farther, resulting in a variety of living foods such as tray grown sprouts from sunflower seeds and buckwheat seeds. Later on we will explain how to grow these green sprouts on trays. Several other sprouts are eaten before they develop any leaves. Aside from the many health benefits from eating sprouts, these processes may present a solution to the growing problem of world hunger. By making inexpensive, abundant and highly nutritious foods like seeds, beans and grains even more healthful, sprouting is an ideal way to combat problems of dietary deficiency. In our research at Hippocrates we have concluded that while there are virtually endless varieties of foods that can be sprouted, certain categories of the most beneficial sprouts have evolved which provide for very different types of utilization by the body. As the following partial chart suggests, Groups 1 and 2 are for cleansing and rebuilding the body, while Groups 3 and 4 provide maximum energy and endurance and are jokingly referred to as the “macho sprouts”. Group 5 is for the re-mineralization of the body due to the high mineral content of these unique beans which must be sprouted with the complete absence of sunlight stimulation to provide this vital effect. Group 6 is also unique, due to its internal gentle healing quality, not unlike that of a nurturing parent versus the dramatic healing effect of the chlorophyll-rich, tray-grown green sprouts like wheatgrass, sunflower and buckwheat. Each of these has a unique quality and should be considered in your daily dietary choices. Sprouts are not only economical, practical and magnificent givers of life and health, but are perfect foods for environmental purposes. Indeed they are the food for generations to come. Tray Greens     Also integral to your program is the green sprouts of sunflower and buckwheat seeds. These are sprouted, and then planted in soil on trays, similar to wheatgrass. Basically, this amounts to indoor gardening. These tray-grown sprouts are equally rich in chlorophyll and nutrients. With the wheatgrass they comprise a major portion of the “living food” at the Institute. They are eaten in salads shortly after harvesting and are juiced for “green drinks” which are consumed twice daily on your program. A green drink consists of a variety of vegetable juices and at least 50% should be green sprout juice. Not only do these drinks alkalinize the system but they provide immediate, highest quality, full spectrum nutrition to the body. One is simply not on the Hippocrates Diet unless consuming at least two of these drinks a day. Both the wheatgrass and the greens are economical and easy to grow. To begin, you will need ordinary topsoil combined with 50% peat moss – both readily available at any nursery. As you progress, you will be producing the highest quality compost from discarded root mats and your soil will improve continually. Additionally, you will be partaking in a soil regeneration program, returning to the earth and recycling what was taken out. You will need trays to hold the soil. We use planting trays with drainage. One tray is needed to hold the soil and seeds for planting, and another as a cover to hold in the moisture. If you want to have one tray of wheatgrass every day, you will need about 16 trays in all. For the greens you may use as many or fewer, depending on your needs. By experimenting with different amounts you will eventually find the right number of trays you to need to plant. To store the soil and peat moss mixture, an empty trash container might suffice. If you plan to compost the used root mats, you will need another such container with holes drilled every four inches round for air circulation. More information on composting will follow. To plant wheatgrass, soak one cup of whole winter wheat seeds for 8 hours in a lot of water. Then sprout for another 8 hours with the jar upside down in a dish drainer. Rinse at last two times in warm water to prevent drying out. Then spread a one inch layer of soil over the tray, being careful not to let the seeds spill in the trough. Try not to let the seeds pile on top of one another. Sunflower and buckwheat are planted more densely than wheat because their root systems are not as strong. Water thoroughly but do not over water. You can tell if you have over watered if you see it standing in the gutter. Next, place the cover and leave it for three days or until the lid starts to lift as a result of the sprouts pushing it up. At that point uncover and water thoroughly and place in a bright spot but not in direct sunlight. Water once a day along the trough. Your plants will be mature enough to use in a total of seven days, depending on the weather and climate. The procedure for growing tray-grown sprouts of sunflower and buckwheat is similar. When purchasing your seeds be sure to buy seeds with their hulls left on and purchase organically grown or biologically grown seeds. For each tray soak 1 ½ cups sunflower and ¾ sup dry buckwheat seeds in quart jars filled with water. The amount of water you will need is one full quart for the sunflower and ½ quart for the buckwheat. Soak for eight hours, then drain the seeds and allow them to sprout for 8 to 12 hours. Plant them in the same way as wheatgrass. To compost the soil from the tray after harvesting the sprouts you break the root mats apart and place them in a plastic garbage can with holes drilled every four inches. Cover the can and continue to add layers of mats and vegetable scraps from the kitchen, especially the pulp from the juicer, until the can is full. In about three months, the soil inside will be ready to use for planting. To use this recycled soil at 25% peatmoss for improved moisture retention.

The Value of Juices

Fresh juices are another key to the Hippocrates program. The extracted juices from fresh vegetables, some fruits and tray-grown sprouts allow us to gain all the benefits and outstanding nutritional qualities in an easily assimilated form. These are digested immediately and begin cleansing and healing long before the same whole foods could begin to work. In addition, whole foods use up valuable energy because of the prolonged digestion process which can be used in healing.

Juicing is not the same thing as blending or even liquefying. A blender makes a fruit or vegetable appear liquefied, whereas a juicer extracts only the liquid, leaving the cellulose or fiber behind. At Hippocrates, we use several juicers for preparing fresh juices. The Champion is an excellent machine. Please note, however, that this machine is ideal for making a variety of juices, yet it is distinctly different from a wheatgrass juicer which is a low speed machine that presses the juice out of the more fibrous sprouts, greens and grass; a job that the high speed machines cannot do efficiently. A Norwalk press can also be used to extract leafy green juice.

A popular breakfast at the Institute is watermelon juice made with any of the mentioned juicers. During juicing we include the rind and seeds. This juice is excellent for the kidneys and bladder and it functions beautifully as a diuretic. By utilizing the whole food, the sugar content is reduced and there is additional protein as well as vitamins A, B and C and chlorophyll.

As mentioned before, the “green drinks” on our living food program are vital to health and well-being. These are made from juiced sunflower and buckwheat sprouts and vegetables such as cucumber, celery, parsley, carrots, peppers, etc. All are juiced in a slow turning juicer like the wheatgrass juicer. What gives these drinks their healing qualities is that they are made almost entirely from the indoor, tray-grown sprouts. These are nutritionally packed “living foods” and the other vegetable juices are merely added for flavor. We recommend that everyone drink at least two eight ounce glasses of “green drink” per day. These "green drinks” are an exceptional source of chlorophyll with its attendant oxygen. They also supply the complete pre=digested protein needed each day (about 25 grams). Another factor about these juices we wish to emphasize is their desired alkalinizing effect upon the body.

Germinating a bean, seed, nut, legume or grain is a beautifully simple procedure. Basically all that is needed is a jar, some seeds and water. To germinate for sauces, etc., just soak the seeds or nuts the required time in the purest water available. Be sure to rinse well to remove all inhibitors before preparing sauces, seed milks, etc. The seeds or nuts are now ready to be made into delicious dressings, sauces or seed and nut loaves. One can learn how to prepare these in our recipe books.

Sprouting requires a few more simple steps. First, be aware that soaking time varies according to the size of the seed. All small seeds similar to alfalfa, radish, red clover, sesame, cabbage, mustard, etc. can be soaked for 4 to 6 hours. Larger nuts and beans like almonds, filberts, Brazil nuts, pinto, chickpeas, etc. can be soaked for 10 to 12 hours. However, climate, season and temperature play a significant role as in warmer times soaking is greatly reduced. We must reiterate, for mung and aduki beans to realize their full potential as life-givers to the body, they must be sprouted in darkness, recreating the pattern nature created for them.

To begin, you will need some wide mouth jars, some plastic screen mesh, a rubber band to secure the mesh to the top of the jar, and, of course, the seeds. People who are away from home daily will find automatic sprouters are a useful piece of equipment. For traveling, sprouting can be conducted in sprouting bags.

After soaking the appropriate time, pour off the soak water and rinse well. Turn the jar upside down to let it drain. Use a dish drainer to hold the jar at an angle. Then continue to rinse the sprouts morning and evening to keep them from drying out. It is important to keep them moist, warm and well-drained. Room temperature is ideal – in warmer climates they will grow more quickly with a greater chance to spoil. So rinse them more often in warmer area.

Between rinsing, place the jars upside down at a 45 degree angle to allow for drainage and circulation. When they are ready you will want to remove the hulls of such seeds as alfalfa, fenugreek, cabbage, mung, aduki and radish. Others, such as the grains, hulled sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, lentils and chickpeas can be eaten as they are. To remove hulls, place the sprouts in the sink or a large pan and fill with water. Then carefully shake the sprouts to loosen the hulls and brush the hulls aside. Next, carefully lift the floating sprouts out of the water so as not to disturb the hulls which are floating along the sides or sunk to the bottom. Place the hulled sprouts in a colander to drain. Sprouts will keep in the refrigerator for about a week, but the quicker you eat them the richer they are in nutrients.

Some words about clover sprouts are in order. Small seeds do gradually increase in weight and volume after sprouting, so don’t overfill the jar. These may be set in direct light for a few days to green their leaves.

Wheatgrass – The Green Miracle

Another key to Hippocrates’ success has been wheatgrass, a miraculous food that is now widely recognized as a health builder and restorative. This truth is also not a new concept. Over 50 million years ago, the emergence of the grasses caused a major reorganization of the animal world and those that could utilize its nourishing qualities thrived. Though we humans do not have the ability to process large quantities of these grass fibers, current research is showing that chlorophyll extract (juice) is an excellent phytonutrient healer.

Wheatgrass juice is one of nature’s richest sources of vitamins A, C and E and contains all of the known mineral elements. It is rich in calcium, phosphorous, iron, potassium, sulphur, sodium, cobalt and zinc. According to recent research, the grasses are exceptionally high in B vitamins, especially vitamin B-17 (laetrile). Wheatgrass contains chlorophyll, a substance that is referred to as nature’s great healer. Chlorophyll produces an unfavorable environment for bacterial growth in the body and helps purify the liver, builds a clean bloodstream and aids in proper digestion, as well as helping to balance the blood sugar. Wheatgrass is a complete protein.

Because wheatgrass is a powerful cleanser, it may cause nausea in some people soon after ingestion. This is merely a reaction to the release of toxins within the system. Start with small quantities, one ounce or so and gradually increase the intake to four ounces. By implanting Wheatgrass juice directly into the colon, it is used as part of a sound colon cleansing program, a process we will describe in detail later.

Once juiced, wheatgrass is not stable and tends to go bad quickly so it is best to use it immediately or within 15 minutes. However, cut grass will store for a week or so in the refrigerator in plastic containers, (bags, etc.). Frozen wheatgrass juice will keep for some time, but is not as effective as freshly made juice, containing only a shadow of its whole benefit.

Dehydrated and Fermented Foods

Another method we employ is dehydration, the bridge from cooked to raw foods. This method of drying fruits, vegetables, nut-and-seed mixtures opens a door to a whole new world of healthy nutritious and delicious eating. Dehydrators are readily available today and while some vitamin and enzyme breakdown occurs during this process, it is still much preferred to cooking. We should mention that you must purchase the highest quality organic produce available, making certain it is fresh and fully ripe.

Fruit has long been thought of as the ultimate food by many on health quests. However, we have observed that while small amounts of fruit in the daily diet are usually beneficial, an all fruit, or mostly fruit diet is over-stimulating and aggravating to certain illnesses. Such a diet is too rich in sugar to be used so extensively in our modern world. Of course, for blood sugar, cancer, yeast and microbial problems even a small amount is unacceptable. Therefore, at the Institute we recommend less fruit and more vegetables.

Fermented foods are also controversial in their benefits. For many years we advocated a wide variety of fermented foods and drinks for all people, but we noticed that they sometimes caused adverse reactions. Fermented drinks like Rejuvelac and fermented seed cheeses and nut loaves were found to harbor some unfriendly bacteria. There are some legitimate and desirable uses for these foods in some people’s diet, but for a certain percentage of health seekers, occasional raw sauerkraut is enough.

In rounding out our dietary program, I wish to clarify a few points. While a 1005 raw food diet is ideal, many of us need to function in a toxic, lower vibrational world. In order to facilitate this we have found that, unless serious health problems exist, a diet of 80% raw and living food and 20% cooked food is acceptable. Steamed vegetables, high-performance grains like quinoa, amaranth and the alkaline millet, baked squashes and yams are good nutritional choices. Also, with the increasing evidence that serious disease results from an excess of three basics – proteins, fats and sugars – we firmly recommend, even on a living food diet, that proportions should be as follows by weight: 5% proteins from algae, germinated or sprouted seeds and nuts; 5% fats from whole foods like avocado, sprouts, nuts & seeds with the major portion of the food, 90% coming from complex carbohydrates, such as sprouts, greens and raw vegetables with occasional fruits.