If your grandparents have been around awhile, they might remember when the instructions for making oatmeal from whole oats used to include soaking the oats overnight before eating (1). In traditional cultures, soaking, fermenting, and sprouting seeds, grains, and beans were common practice, but these are rarely done in the average American diet today. The nutritional reasons for these methods seem to have been lost over the past couple hundred years. Now, you can cook oatmeal from whole oats in mere minutes, but you won't be getting nearly as much nutritional potential from them as your great grandparents did.
Grains, beans, and other seeds are tiny but powerful. Provided with some soil, water, and sunlight, a seed can grow into an enormous plant – that’s some awesome potential. As a result, grains and beans contain a ton of nutrients, including protein, iron, fiber, calcium, magnesium, antioxidants and more. If you’re in the swing of things, you have probably heard about the proposed health benefits of “whole grains” based on this information, but there is more to the story. If these foods are not soaked and sprouted, their nutritional value is severely diminished.
Because a seed contains so many nutrients to help it transform into a large plant, it keeps them strategically and chemically locked inside the seed to protect them until they are needed (2). When are they needed? When the seeds are exposed to moisture in the soil and told to sprout, which can be replicated at home during food preparation, as it was done for thousands of years. If seeds are not soaked and preferably sprouted, a chemical compound called phytic acid (present in many foods but overflowing in grains, seeds, and bean) holds the nutrients hostage AND prevents the absorption of nutrients in the body. Therefore, even if you are eating whole grains and can break the seeds down enough somehow to extract nutrients, they will not be absorbed. Amazingly, when seeds are first sprouted, phytase is released, which breaks down the phytic acid, allowing nutrients to be set free and absorbed into our bodies instead of being passed through untouched.
So, soaking and sprouting serve two beautiful purposes: releasing chemically trapped nutrients, and producing phytase to break down phytic acid so that these nutrients can be properly absorbed. Phytic acid is common in many foods, but beans, grains, and other seeds have it in spades, which is why these preparation techniques are so nutritionally vital (3,4). Phytic acid protects calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc from being absorbed by the digestive system by acting as a chelating agent, trapping them in non-soluble forms (5,6). Sprouting and soaking grains, seeds, and beans are ancient practices, and were not abandoned until recently (7). I guess the benefit of less prep time outweighed the benefit of available and absorbable nutrients? I think that the reasons behind the soaking and sprouting have been lost, with detrimental effects. Soaking beans and seeds does take more time and planning (the process can be multiple days in some cases), but the benefits are worth it.
So, soaking and sprouting serve two beautiful purposes: releasing chemically trapped nutrients, and producing phytase to break down phytic acid so that these nutrients can be properly absorbed. Phytic acid is common in many foods, but beans, grains, and other seeds have it in spades, which is why these preparation techniques are so nutritionally vital (3,4). Phytic acid protects calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc from being absorbed by the digestive system by acting as a chelating agent, trapping them in non-soluble forms (5,6). Sprouting and soaking grains, seeds, and beans are ancient practices, and were not abandoned until recently (7). I guess the benefit of less prep time outweighed the benefit of available and absorbable nutrients? I think that the reasons behind the soaking and sprouting have been lost, with detrimental effects. Soaking beans and seeds does take more time and planning (the process can be multiple days in some cases), but the benefits are worth it.
Looking into the literature, there is plenty about phytic acid and how removing it dramatically increases the absorption of minerals. In one study from 2003, it was found that removing the phytic acid increased the absorption of iron from rice by over 300%, from oat by at least 800%, and from wheat by a whopping 1100% (8)! I have been wondering lately about how vegetarians tend to have low iron and vitamin B, despite vitamin supplementation and increased grain and vegetable consumption due to the lack of animal sources for these. I think this may be part of the answer – whole grains do contain a lot of iron, but it’s impossible to absorb it when the grains haven’t been soaked or sprouted. This mantra holds true for soybeans, as well, a staple in many vegetarians' diets. A study by Hurrell, et. al. shows that soybeans contain tons of phytic acid that prevents the absorption of minerals. However, even when they removed the phytic acid, the iron still wasn’t being properly absorbed, which points to other possible causes (9).
I know - it is depressing and difficult to accept the fact that "9 whole grain bread" you pay extra for is basically useless, nutrition-wise. Through all my new food research thus far, I'm still not entirely convinced that grains, beans, and other seeds are crucial to a balanced, high nutrient diet, but I understand how difficult it is to give up grains, especially everday bread. To start, replace your white or whole wheat bread with bread made from sprouted grains, found in the frozen section of grocery stores. My brother introduced me to Ezekiel bread made from multiple sprouted grains, and it is quite delicious. You can have your bread and eat it, too.
I know - it is depressing and difficult to accept the fact that "9 whole grain bread" you pay extra for is basically useless, nutrition-wise. Through all my new food research thus far, I'm still not entirely convinced that grains, beans, and other seeds are crucial to a balanced, high nutrient diet, but I understand how difficult it is to give up grains, especially everday bread. To start, replace your white or whole wheat bread with bread made from sprouted grains, found in the frozen section of grocery stores. My brother introduced me to Ezekiel bread made from multiple sprouted grains, and it is quite delicious. You can have your bread and eat it, too.
Next, I'll post about our first oat soaking adventure.
References:
1. Fallon S. Nourishing Traditions. Newtrends Publishing, Inc. 1999
2. Shanahan C and Shanahan L. Deep Nutrition: Why your genes need traditional food. Big Box Books, 2008.
3. Harland BF, Oberleas D. Phytate in foods. World Rev Nutr Diet. 1987;52:235-59.
4. Makover RU. Extraction and determination of phytic acid in beans. Cereal Chem 1970;47:288–95
5. Rackis J. J Amer Oil Chem. SOC. 31,161A (1974)
6. Oberleas D. Phytates, in Toxicants Occurring Naturally in Foods. National Academy of Science, Washington, D.C. 1973.
7. Whole Health Source. http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2010/05/traditional-preparation-methods-improve.html
8. Hurrell RF, Reddy MB, Juillerat MA, Cook JD. Degradation of phytic acid in cereal porridges improves iron absorption by human subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 May;77(5):1213-9.
9. Hurrell RF, Juillerat MA, Reddy MB, Lynch SR, Dassenko SA, Cook JD. Soy protein, phytate, and iron absorption in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 1992 Sep;56(3):573-8.
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