digestion
Y’all ready for some virtual sprouting? I’m posting this because there seems to be a lot of misconceptions that sprouting is difficult, time consuming, or requires special equipment. I wrote about this last year but now I have some good pictures to share with you. You can see for yourself, sprouting is easier than cooking!
First off, why should you sprout?
1. Get more nutrition bang for your buck
Suffice it to say that more nutrients become available for your body to digest when a grain or bean is sprouted because anti-nutrients (like phytic acid) are neutralized. So, eating cooked grains is fine, but eating sprouted grains is better.
2. Do a favor for your digestion
How so? First, the germinated grain breaks down more complex carbs into smaller pieces that are easier to digest. Next, enzymes are set free by sprouting and consuming live enzymes helps the digestion process along.
If you’d like to read more abou the benefits of sprouting, read this informative article.
Ok, onto the virtual sprouting!
Step 1 – Soak overnight
At the top of the post you’re seeing whole wheat berries in a bowl covered with water. This is your first step. You only need a bowl, water, and a whole grain like wheat, spelt, kamut, quinoa, rye…or a bean like lentils or adzuki or chickpeas.
Step 2 – Drain, rinse and place back in the bowl
Yup, that’s it. Continue to rinse and drain 2 or 3 times a day.
Depending on what you are sprouting, it may take a few days to start seeing growth. In this case, my wheat berries began to sprout after the first day.
They may not all sprout at the same time…for me, the ones on top got dried out more quickly so they took longer. After another day the sprouts got bigger…
…and bigger! So what started as a dry whole grain that was impossible to eat, has turned into a tender, tasty grain that is nutritious and ready to eat. No cooking required.
At this point I gave them one final rinse, then stored in a tupperware in the refrigerator where they will last about a week.
What to do with your sprouts after you’ve lovingly grown some? You can eat them raw, for starters. In my next post I will share a recipe to do exactly that. It’s great for summer when you really don’t want to use the stove! Or you can cook with them. Think of it like using leftover rice or grains…add veggies and dressing to your sprouts for a salad or throw them into soup.
A cautionary note: Sprouts are not recommended for women who are preganant because of possible bacteria growth. (This is why the rinsing multiple times a day is important, but what’s fine for adults could not be so fine for growing babies) Also, I have read that sprouting kidney beans makes them toxic. So do a little research or use the grains/beans I suggested in this post to start.
What are you going to make with your sprouts?
June 16th, 2009 | beans, digestion, raw foods, try new things, vegan, vegetarian, whole grains | 17 Comments »
This topic has been on my mind a lot lately. People hesitate to tell you about their gas or constipation, but take look in any grocery store and you will see evidence that a huge percentage of people suffer from digestive troubles. Brands like Immodium or Pepto Bismol would be out of business otherwise.
Actually, I’m sure these brands are doing just fine. The economy can only be good for sales of antacids and heartburn meds! Here’s an ad from Pepto Bismol speaking to exactly that:
So, what are we to think? We are broken people should be grateful to medicine for allowing our lives to be comfortable? Or maybe, just maybe, something is off. Even the simplest creatures must eat food and digest it. Why should so many people be suffering from trying to do the same?
On a recent trip to the grocery store, I counted 15 different types of fiber supplements, 16 kinds of laxatives, 10 ways to get relief from gas, 17 anti-diarrheal medications and a whopping 36 antacid/heartburn relievers! In each category there was at least 1 product dedicated especially to children or infants.
Really? Even kids can’t poop properly?
Since our digestion is so tied to our energy levels I thought I’d point out that the store also carried 2 kinds of medicine to keep you awake (and countless sodas and coffees.) But, oh, take too much of those? Well then there was 5 kinds of sleep aids.
Something is wrong here.
I took a stroll through the rest of the store. All in all, a pretty nice store with a good selection albeit nothing organic. They had 15 kinds of dried beans. 13 different varieties of apples. They even had 8 types of fresh dark, leafy greens. But there definitely was not 36 varieties of any fiber-rich whole food.
I’m not saying I know anything about grocery store stocking but imagine a world with 36 types of kale on the shelf. Is that the same world that uses medications to aid digestion day in and day out?
My point is that is is possible to have a healthy, functioning digestive system and medications are not the answer. The Standard American Diet is to blame. Cleaning up your diet will take you much closer to happy digestion than any box of pills.
I was popping Tums and Pepto and running for Immodium fairly often prior to changing my eating habits. And heaven knows there is a time and a place for medicines like these! But I’d prefer not to consume more man-made chemicals than necessary. I’ll just be over here, eating some kale instead.
There are lots of ways to remedy a pissed-off digestive track. And it could take some time and trial and error. This is a big area I work with clients on. Everyone is different but please know that what you eat is the biggest factor in how well your digestion works. Other factors may include: physical activity, emotional and mental health.
Here is an idea for a natural remedy for diarrhea that even the cleanest eater might need during say, flu season.
Ume Plum Tea
1 cup water
1/2 umeboshi plum
1 heaping tsp. kuzu, diluted in 1/4 cup cold water
a few drops soy sauce
1. Bring water and plum to a boil. Simmer 3 minutes.
2. Add dilution of kuzu, stirring to break up lumps.
3. Bring back to a boil. Add soy sauce and let simmer 4 more minutes.
Drink while hot. Leaving out the kuzu, this drink is also good for nausea and heartburn.
This post is proudly part of The Kathleen Show’s Prevention, Not Prescripton Tuesdays and Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays.
April 9th, 2009 | beans, digestion, groceries, public health | 19 Comments »
My breakfast can be kind of lazy. I mean, I do all the work. I boil the water, measure the oats, chop the fruit…and then I do all the eating and digesting! What does my breakfast do? It just kinda sits there. Well, breakfast, times are tough and we’ve got to make some changes around here so we’re gonna have to let you go. Time to bring in a morning meal that works a little harder so I don’t have to.
I think I’ve found a perfect candidate. I’ll still be eating a mixture of whole grains each morning, like oats, millet, amaranth and quinoa. But things are gonna be different around here:
1. My new breakfast grains have overnight hours.
Here’s something I didn’t know until recently: whole grains like brown rice and oats contain phytic acid as a natural part of the grain’s bran. Phytic acid gets cozy with minerals like calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc and prevents their absorption in the intestinal tract. Boooooo
2. My new breakfast grains do more of my work.
When I saw Sally Fallon speak last weekend she talked a lot about how to aid digestion in the preparation of food. Her suggestion was to add a splash of lemon juice or vinegar to the soaking water of oats. In a sort of pre-digestion process, the oats start to break down and are later easier to digest. This means my body does less work and I have more energy. See this is what I mean by my breakfast doing some work around here!
3. My new breakfast grains get creative.
Fruit and raisins are good. But I’ve been thinking of ways to diversify for the sake of my tastebuds and nutrient intake. Try this: shred a few carrots into your grains about halfway through cooking time. Carrots are naturally sweet and work well with a few raisins and pecans. Breakfast comes out tasting like a carrot cake!
Hard Working Breakfast Grains
Serves 1
1/3 cup mixed whole grains (try oats, millet, amaranth or quinoa)
1 cup water
splash of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Optional mix-ins: raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, shredded carrots, chopped fruit, peanut butter, nuts, seeds, maybe a tablespoon of ghee if you’re feeling decadent
Soak grains overnight in a bowl with a vinegar or lemon juice. In the morning, strain and combine with water in a pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Halfway through cooking time, add your choice of mix-ins.
You might notice that your oats/grains taste lighter and more fluffy than usual. I thought that even without fruit they tasted sweeter.
What do you like to eat for breakfast?
Also, I’d like to promote a great idea for a blogger cookbook from Foods That Fit. I’m going to contribute and you should too!
February 27th, 2009 | digestion, recipe, vegan, vegetarian, whole grains | No Comments »
Have you noticed that most people don’t like beans? Bring up the idea of eating beans and they’ll wrinkle their noses right up. But have you also noticed that people love hummus? As a dip or a spread or a pita filling, people love it so much that companies have come out with tons of hummus variations with red peppers or garlic, etc.
So…hummus is made from beans…people love hummus… Ha!
It’s just genius. Because beans are really, really, really good for you. I mean, you know that. But how often do Americans break out a can of beans with excitement? What I love about ‘em is how versatile they are. Beans can go in everything, but to get people on board with the idea, start with hummus.
Making it at home is super easy. Recipes vary but always include chickpeas, olive oil, tahini and garlic. But I like to mix it up. You can use different beans and seasonings but the main idea is the same. Tell everyone, “It’s just like hummus!”
Taco Style “It’s Just Like Hummus”
1 can organic pinto beans
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
handful of cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp. ground flax seed (optional)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 Tbl. olive oil
Soak the beans in water if you have time (like, a few hours). This will help them digest more easily. Discard soaking water. In a small pan, heat 1 Tbl. olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Put all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor. Blend, adding oil a little at a time. Serve as you would hummus.
I brought this to a party but made extra for myself and ate it throughout the week as a snack and as part of a full meal.
What are some other ways to make beans taste great?
February 24th, 2009 | beans, digestion, quick and easy, recipe, vegan, vegetarian | No Comments »
There are a lot of good blogs out there about health and wellness, food and exercise. But you know what I’ve yet to come across? A blog post about something incredibly important to everyone, from babies to senior citizens, meat eaters and raw vegans. I’ve never seen a blog post about having a Proper Bowel Movement (PBM).
Yikes! I said it. That’s right. Poo. Shit. Crap. Dookie. Whatever you call it, or maybe shy away from calling it, it happens. Right? And it’s also an extremely important part of good overall health that seems to get ignored. Yet we have an aisle full of Pepto and Immodium at the drugstore so I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has suffered from digestive difficulties.
So what constitutes a PBM? I’m no doctor and everyone is different. But here are some general guidelines I’ve picked up along the way.
Frequency
Three times per day is great. Two times per day is good. Once is ok. Any less than that, consider yourself constipated. Why is that bad? Your body is full of toxins. (“Toxins” are a nice way of saying putrefied foodstuffs and chemicals).
Size, shape and texture
A PBM should be soft, but formed, and easy to move. A nice medium brown is what we’re going for (unless you’ve been eating beets or other colorful foods). Finally, a PBM should be pretty large. A newborn baby has a small yet perfectly clean colon – what comes out is still sizable. If your BMs are skinny or small amounts, your insides are clogged up. This can make you feel tired and even lead to disease. Putrefied food wants out. End of story.
So, obviously our bodies don’t always move things along like we wish they would. When was the last time you had 3 PBMs in one day?? Ok, you don’t have to answer that in the comments unless you really want to…
There are lots of colon cleanses out there, things like hydrotherapy, laxatives and enemas. I personally have not tried any of these so I can’t speak to how they work. In my mind, it’s always better to at least start with natural, common sense techniques. Here are some things you can do to create PBMs for yourself. Start now and you could see a difference in just a few days.
1. Eat lots more fresh fruits, vegetables and beans, especially things like fiber-rich kale. Eat plenty of RAW items.
2. Eat less meat and dairy. Eliminate greasy, processed and sugary foods. Pretend your insides are metal pans and your intestines are doing the dishes. Eat things that clean up easily. (Hint: it’s not animal fat) And as an older gentleman I used to know would say “cheese is a plug.” He was right.
3. Try adding ground flax seed to your food. It’s got good fat to keep things inside well-oiled, in addition to extra fiber. Start with 1/4 tsp. every day and see how it goes. Also try drinking hot water first thing in the mornings, maybe with a little lemon.
4. Kick caffeine. Our adrenal glands are necessary for PBMs, so you may be becoming dependent on your latte habit for your morning movement. Let your adrenal glands work as they are supposed to and you’ll have many more PBMs to, er, look forward to.
5. Drink plenty of water. Drinking after meals instead of before helps because you are not diluting the acid and flora of digestion.
6. Exercise. Movement on the outside makes movement on the inside. Literally. In yoga, twists and inversions are especially helpful.
6. Finally, just notice each day the quality of your output. Gross as it seems, it’s an excellent indicator of your overall health. Plus, it’s hard to be Little Miss Sunshine when your insides are tied in knots.
I’m sure by now your New Year’s Resolution is for awesome PBMs! I mean, how could you not be psyched about this??? If you have any additional tips for natural laxative alternatives, please leave in the comments.
January 6th, 2009 | digestion, disease, flax | No Comments »
The reason it was so important for me to make my holiday cookies healthier is because I tend to eat a lot of cookies. And I must have eaten even more than usual because I’m up a few pounds and not thrilled about it. (btw, they got mixed but mostly good reviews from the family) Frankly, I haven’t been getting to yoga as often as usual and that’s probably got a lot to do with how I’m feeling too.
Besides the scale getting me down, I spent the holidays eating a lot of meat at relatives’ dinner tables and of course en route to these tables at McDonalds on the Massachusetts Turnpike…sigh…my digestive system is still working it all out. Boooo. I’m going to chalk it all up to a reminder about eating well because I really don’t feel great. Kinda grumpy. Kinda glum.
All I really felt like eating yesterday and today was salad. Nice leafy greens to wash it all away and leave me feeling a little lighter! Pictured above is a salad I made with lettuce, dinosaur kale, tomatoes, avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, cayenne pepper and ground flax seed. Also, a sandwich using leftover sundried tomato spread (a Veganomicon recipe!) and sprouts on sprouted grain bread. My belly said, “This is more like it!”
In addition to detoxing from the holiday food coma, Max and I are packing and getting ready for our trip to Puerto Rico! We’re leaving in two days and will be back in 2009. I like that it’s sort of a farewell to 2008 and sunny segue to the new year. But it’s too bad about having to wear a bikini in a few days… When I get back I’m considering going raw for awhile, to get a fresh start on the inside 
What are you doing as 2008 wraps up, and to commemorate the new year?
December 28th, 2008 | digestion, raw foods, winter | No Comments »
When I was a kid, the smell of egg salad always made me kind of gag. With this recipe, it’s not a problem. Furthermore, the tofu in this recipe is free-range and did not have its beak cut off unhumanely! I really like this recipe because it’s super easy, tasty, doesn’t smell eggy, and when eaten as a sandwich it doesn’t look suspicious to co-workers who typically see my lunches and gasp “NOW what are you eating???”
Eggless Egg Salad
adapted from The Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics
1 lb. organic extra firm tofu
1/2 cup vegannaise
1/4 cup tahini
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup pickle, diced
1 Tbl. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. turmeric
salt & pepper, to taste
other ideas to add:
splash of tamari
splash of mirin
splash of umeboshi vinegar
tomato, diced
mushrooms, diced
Cut block of tofu in half and place in pot, covered with water. Bring to a boil and let boil for 5 minutes. This improves digestibility. Next, cook onion in a pan until translucent. Remove tofu and onion from heat and let cool. In a bowl, combine all other ingredients. Add onion and chop or crumble tofu in. Mix thoroughly. Eat at room temperature if you are in a hurry, or chill in the refrigerator if you have time.
October 20th, 2008 | digestion, macrobiotics, quick and easy, recipe, vegan, vegetarian | No Comments »
Common sense strikes again. This week I tested out my new Veganomicon cookbook (LOVE) and went for gold with the Mac and Cheese recipe! It made good use of “nooch” which apparently is what the vegan world calls nutritional yeast. I’m still learning these things. Nooch, like hootch. Got it.
Anyway the mac and cheese was great, appealing to the hubby as well. Score. In cleaning up (yes, he’s great) he was shocked that it was so easy to clean, nothing like what you’d expect of a mac and cheese casserole dish! It reminded me that ever since we gave up on meat and dairy the garbage generally doesn’t smell as much, the bowels generally move with greater ease, and yes, the dishes are generally easier to clean.
It makes me apply a very scientific approach to what I eat: What would this food do if I left it on the counter for a couple of weeks? Would it grow mold and stink up the house? Liquify? Grow limbs? I mean, even lettuce is gross when it goes bad but it mostly just turns to liquid that doesn’t smell unless you put your face in it. Compared to other things, it’s downright heavenly. And I imagine this is what my colon feels like, having to hang out with decomposed whatnot all day. It’s the lettuce and clean food that is least offensive, least likely to cause a problem. What would you prefer go through your system?
This post suddenly got kind of gross, but to back up, the mac and cheese was delish and the new cookbook gets 5 stars from me.
September 2nd, 2008 | digestion, vegan | No Comments »
In order to detox my extremely toxic-feeling body I decided to go all-raw again for a week or two. After 4 days I’m already feeling major improvements, plus I lost about 5 lbs. as a side bonus. PLUS I had a really good day today – got a great offer on the condo I’m selling, discovered some old friends on Facebook, found some new yoga classes to teach, and am really enjoying this book I’m reading – but none of that has to do with the raw diet. Or does it…
Anyway, without going into too much detail, the raw diet is incredibly, er, cleansing. I was reading some blog posts the other day about fiber supplements. Ha! That’s for wimps! I’ve been doing my usual fresh fruit and nuts for breakfast, a nut/veggie pate over salad for lunch, and tonight I made a Spanish rice dish with sprouted grains, tomatoes, peppers, etc.
The juicer is coming in mighty handy, and as I was looking for a way to get rid of some extra veggies in the fridge I looked online for some juice recipes. Kristen’s idea for plant blood sounded cool, so I tried it tonight. Mine used 1 cucumber, 1 zucchini, 1 beet with greens, and 1 collard leaf. As I’m drinking it now I’m thinking it may have been nice to add an apple or something sweet. Next time.
August 14th, 2008 | digestion, raw foods, recipe, vegan | 7 Comments »
I got this idea from someone, on some blog, I don’t remember which, talking about eating miso in ways other than soup. (Does that count as giving credit? Geez) And so I tried this as a snack and it pretty much rocks– it also quells my sometimes desire to run to Dunkin Donuts for a creamcheese fix.
There are three components to my happy snack:
A Sprouted Grain Bagel
Way healthier than any other kind of bagel, even whole wheat. I get an onion poppyseed kind but there are lots. Ezekial is the main brand I know of, although I think I’ve been buying another cheaper brand I can’t remember right now. They’re in the freezer section.
An Avocado
Avocado has good fats, the kind that keep your bones from creaking but your belly slim. Way better than fatty cow products if you ask me.
A Spoonful of Miso
Any kind! I like dark barley miso but I’m not the boss of you. Miso is great for digestion, fyi.
Mash the avocado with about half a Tablespoon of miso in a bowl using a fork. You can use more miso but start small and add to taste. It can get salty fast. When well combined, spread onto a toasted bagel. And if you are the person that gave me this idea, please shout it out!
June 10th, 2008 | digestion, quick and easy, recipe, vegan, vegetarian, whole grains | No Comments »
