By FMT’s Lifestyle Desk
The hottest trend of 2016 isn’t parading down fashion catwalks, but posing on the shelves of the organic and natural food sections of supermarkets, and the counters of oh-so-not-mainstream hipster restaurants. Sprouted foods are sprouting everywhere in the form of grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and vegetables, and byproducts such as sprouted grain breads and sprouted almond butter.
If you’re scratching your head over why anyone would want to eat mini-trees (and why seeds are being sold seemingly beyond their expiry date), here’s a little primer that takes you to the root of the matter:
What are sprouted foods?
As the names suggests, they’re sprouts: germinated seeds of grains, legumes, nuts and vegetables which have begun the process of turning into plants. When a food is in between the seed and full-blown plant stage, it has unique nutritional benefits.
Benefits of sprouted foods
A range of nutrients, including calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc are easier to absorb from foods that are in the sprout stage. When foods sprout, the phytic acid that is naturally bound to nutrients (making them less easy for your body to absorb) gets neutralized.
Sprouted foods are also easier to digest because sprouting changes the starchy components of the food. The starchy portion of the grain will have been digested by the young shoot to fuel its awakening. Since it’s the starch that makes many grains and legumes difficult to digest, and contributes to the gas that some people get from them, the sprouted versions of foods (that would otherwise cause digestive problems) should be a breeze to consume.
Common sprouted foods
All seeds sprout, but not all of them are good to eat in their sprouted form. If you’re unfamiliar with what is safe and what is not, stick to the tried and true sprouts, namely: alfalfa, almonds, barley, broccoli, buckwheat, cabbage, chia, corn, kidney beans, lentils, mung beans, pumpkin, radish and sunflower.
* Based on an article published in the world’s first meat-free dining platform, www.KindMeal.my