Health Benefits of Sprouting Whole Wheat Berries

A study from the University of Camerino in Italy supported the increase in antioxidants and showed how they were able to prevent cancer cells from forming and attenuate existing cancerous cells. The antioxidants scavenge , which cause oxidative damage to DNA.

Now, before you run out to buy some wheat berries to sprout you should know you probably will not find something this healthy in your local grocery store. Most of the stuff there is processed and/or refined. You should be able to find them with a bit of rooting around, preferably organically grown, not necessarily certified. I buy mine bulk from a local, family run, organic grain farm and mill.

I have found several tasty and satisfying ways to make them a part of my regular fair. I usually sprout about a cup or two at a time by soaking them for 12 hours in a mason jar with a screen for a lid. This facilitates rinsing them before covering them in water and a couple of times a day after draining them.

You can experiment with how long to sprout them for depending on how you plan to prepare them. As I generally crack them in a hand-mill after dehydration I only sprout them for a day or two. Then I spread them on a large tray and stick them in an oven preheated to less than 150 degrees F. I turn the oven off and turn the oven light on and they are usually dry in less than a day.

I crack them so they don’t need to be cooked as long to prepare the dishes, but a mill is not essential. I then use them to make cream of wheat, which is very tasty sweetened with honey and naturally produced Maple Syrup. I also add a little Stevia, which is a health topic for another discussion.

The sprouted grains can also be added to soups, which adds a nice flavor and chewy texture, not to mention the benefits of additional vitamins and enzymes. They also can be used with a variety of root vegetables or whatever you fancy to make casseroles.

If you want some very healthy, inexpensive staple meals the soups and casseroles can provide these. You can insure that you are consuming all of the nutrients provided by eating meat, without the expense. Prepare the soups and casseroles using a good beef or chicken stock.

Again, you probably won’t be able to but this at your local grocery store and may have to make it from scratch as I do. For me, this means finding free range chickens and obtaining beef knuckle bones, marrow bones and meaty neck or rib bones from pasture fed stock. I generally simmer these for a couple of days to extract all of the nutrients.