Last week I sprouted some sunflower seeds. Sprinkled on freshly cut fruit – what could be better!
Why sprouted seeds? Sprouting seeds make them bio-available when they are consumed. In simple terms digestion and breakdown has started before you take a bite. Sprouted seeds are softer and easier to chew and break down. Once in the stomach the seeds do not require water to soften them, and the high nutrient levels are ready for absorption! Sprouting increases the nutrient levels of protein, calcium, zinc, potassium, copper, magnesium, Vitamins A, E, D and B, as well as iron and chlorophyll in the seeds! It worth the small effort to have seeds germinate in your kitchen. Save on plastic packaging by sprouting yourself, save on money by sprouting yourself.
How to Sprout
Begin with 1/4 cup of hulled sunflower seeds, rinse and then soak for 6 hours in 1 cup of filtered water, keeping the seeds at room temperature (a kitchen glass will work for this). After 6 hours strain the seeds, saving the soaking water for your plants (the plants will love you!), and gently rinse the seeds using a colander. Spread the sunflower seeds out in the colander, cover them with a kitchen towel. Repeat the rinsing and spreading out 3 times a day. When “tails” sprout to 1/4 of an inch in length, move the seeds to the refrigerator, where they will continue to sprout. Rinse daily.
Watch as the seeds “sprout to life” before your very eyes!
Shanthi