Are sprouted grains more nutritious than regular whole grains?

My local farmers’ market was busy with the Saturday morning bustle of people buying homemade goods and locally grown fruits and vegetables. One of the vendors had a swarm of customers inspecting freshly baked breads. “They’re sprouted-grain breads,” the baker told me, and explained that they tasted better and were healthier than regular whole-grain breads. A sample was delicious — the recipe included sprouted Kamut and spelt, and the bread had a nutty flavor — but was it more nutritious than the regular whole-grain bread I’d just purchased from another vendor? About sprouted grains For more on the subject, I turned to Kristina Secinaro, a registered dietitian at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She explained that sprouted grains are simply whole-grain seeds that have just begun to sprout. In order to catch the sprouts at just the right moment in the growing process, whole-grain seeds are typically soaked and then nurtured in environments with controlled amounts of warmth and moisture. This can be done at home (in a vented jar) or at food manufacturing plants (in special equipment). The moist environment can promote bacterial growth. For that reason, Secinaro recommends that you don’t eat raw sprouted grains. Instead, mash them into a paste for use in baked goods, or cook the raw sprouts before adding them to a meal. Cooking or baking the sprouts should be enough to kill any bacteria. You’ll also need to refrigerate cooked spro...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs