Sprouts and Sprouting
When you sprout seeds, grains, beans or lentils they burst into life and the nutritional content increases hugely in just a few days. Sprouting them makes them much easier to digest and assimilate. So if you have trouble digesting grains or beans, sprouting is the answer, making all the difference to digestion. Sprouting also reduces the carbohydrate content.
Sprouting is so simple to do anyone can get great results with very little effort in days.
What can be sprouted? Lentils, chickpeas, sesame, sunflower seeds, alfalfa, mung beans, whole grains like spelt, kamut and much more. You will have fresh enzymes rich, fat-busting, detoxifying, nutrient rich food available all year round.
Sprouts can be added to salads, lightly steamed or add to a stir-fry at the end of cooking. Avoid cooking sprouts too much. They are extremely cleansing and enhance the detoxification process and encourage the metabolism.
Alfalfa sprouts boost zinc levels, which are generally low in people. Sprouts improve the liver and hormone function, as well as promoting cellular growth and renewal.
How to sprout – Soak the beans, lentils, grains or seeds in water overnight or for a few hours at least. Discard the water.
Method one – place the soaked grains etc in a large glass jar, not too many as they need room to expand and grow. Place a piece of netting over the opening of the jar and secure with an elastic band. Pour water into the jar through the netting and then pour out the water through the netting, do this twice a day. DO NOT leave sprouts sitting in water they will rot.
Method two – sprouting sacks available especially made for the job, place the soaked grains, seeds etc into the sack – dunk the sack into some fresh water, then immediately hang the sack up, allowing the sprouts to drain, twice a day. Sacks are made from hemp fabric or some sort of netting.
Method three is similar – place the soaked grain etc in a basket, place in water and hang up immediately, allowing the basket to drain do this twice a day. Cover the basket to keep the flies etc off.
In about three to five days they should be ready. Wash well, drain and store in the fridge, consume as soon as possible. Within three days, maximum.
Sprouted grain bread
First option.
The sprouts are dried in the sun or in a food dehydrator or in an oven at a very low temperature. Then they are ground in a blender or flourmill. Use this flour in the same way you would use any flour.
Second option.
Take 800g of the whole-grains and sprout until they are about an inch long. Grind them in a meat grinder, hand or electric one, both are inexpensive. Place in an oiled oven proof dish, cover with a lid and bake for 4 hours at 250F or 130C until the bread is easy to remove from the dish.
Nutrients - Vitamin B3, B6, C, E, Beta-caretene, folic acid, iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, fiber and protein.
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Cucumber, dissolving uric acid
The cool cucumber is actually an herb, the fruit of the herb. It contains 96 percent water, excellent for hydrating and cooling during hot days. It is cleansing to the whole system, aids in digestion, a good diuretic, and a mild laxative. Cucumber helps to flush out the kidneys and the bladder, dissolving uric acid, helping to prevent infections, and cystitis.
Cucumber Riata – Cut the cucumber down the middle length ways remove the seeds in the middle, then chop up finely, place it into a sieve and allow it to drain for a short while. Then add it to some plain natural yogurt and some chopped fresh mint, mix well and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours. This is served with a spicy hot curry, a contrast of hot and cold.
Use cucumber in juices with other fruits and vegetables or use in salads. It can be chopped or slices or cut into sticks for dips instead of crackers or chips. They can also be used in party food, slice the cucumber in half lengthways scoop out the seeds and replace with your favourite ingredients, cut into three inch lengths.
Nutrients - Vitamin C, beta-carotene, folic acid, calcium, iron, potassium, silica, and zinc.
Read MoreBroccoli, why you can’t live without it
We all know broccoli and that it’s packed with nutrients and fiber. It is deeply cleansing to the body especially the liver, and digestive tract. Anything that has a positive effect on the liver, will improve the function of the whole body, speeding metabolism, eliminating waste more efficiently, preventing build-up of toxins and fats. Folic acid helps towards the production of serotonin, our happy chemical. So many of the foods recommended contain large amounts of nutrients that contribute to the production of our feel good chemicals.
Broccoli only needs steaming for a short time to reserve its nutrients. Contain B5 which is involved in turning fats to energy; B5 also helps the adrenal glands. Well known for protecting against cancer.
Cauliflower and broccoli
1 small broccoli, in small pieces
1 small cauliflower, in small pieces
Steam them together for a short time, leaving them still crisp. Serve cold or slightly warm.
Dressing –
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh orange juice (if you have no problems with orange)
Grated fresh ginger
Herbal salt
Mix all ingredients together and sprinkle with some pine nuts
Nutrients – Vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and fiber.
Read MoreGinger, excellent anti-inflammatory
The part of the plant used is the swollen roots or to be precise the rhizome, which are swollen underground stems. The rhizomes are used either fresh or dried in the form of a powder. It has been described as sweetish, definitely pungent, and spicy with a wonderful aroma. Medicinally ginger is described as an herb, it increases perspiration, improves digestion, liver function, controls nausea, vomiting and coughing. It stimulates circulation, relaxes spasms and relieves pain.
Definitely a warming herb, and traditionally has been used in “cold” conditions like frigidity and impotence. Research shows ginger is effective in helping – hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels) good for cholesterol problems, and has anti-inflammatory properties.
It helps to increase peristalsis and the secretion of bile and gastric juices. For external use it has been used for spasmodic pain, rheumatism, lumbago, menstrual cramps, bruises, and sprains. Initial studies have shown that the active ingredients in ginger are compounds called gingerols that have a similar structure to capsaicin, the active ingredient of chilli peppers and capsicums, known anti-inflammatory pain relievers.
Put fresh ginger in a brown paper bag and store in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator, or peel and chop it up to put into the freezer. In India, it is used to spice tea called chai and numerous dishes like bean and lentil curries to fresh chutneys. We are all familiar with pickled ginger slices in Japanese cuisine. Ginger powder is used to spice up coffee in many parts of the Middle East.
Ginger Infused Oil
Plenty of chopped up ginger or ginger powder
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Large glass jar with lid
Place the ginger in the jar about a third full, and then cover the ginger completely with the oil. Leave in a cupboard for two weeks, shaking the jar every day. After two weeks strain off the ginger and put the oil in a dark glass bottle and store in a cool place.
Use in salad dressings or to drizzle over food when you want to add some instant thermagenics or flavour. There are several recipes in this program that use ginger, especially fresh ginger.
Nutrients - Gingerols, calcium, magnesium, phosporus, and phenals.
Read MoreFresh pineapple reduces inflammation and arthritis pain
No need to describe this fruit we all recognise this one. All fresh fruits including pineapple are packed with enzymes, however pineapple is well known for being packed with an enzyme called bromelain. This gives the fruit some amazing natural anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. Of course like most fruits it’s bursting with vitamin C. They are second only to bananas as the US’s favourite tropical fruit.
It is this enzyme bromelain that make pineapple useful in treating bruises, sprains and strains by reducing swelling, tenderness and pain. This anti-inflammatory will help in relieving osteo-arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and reduce postoperative swelling. Bromelain also acts as a digestive enzyme aiding in protein digestion. Most of the bromelain is concentrated in the core of the pineapple and for this reason I always add the stem to my smoothies. Pineapple is also known for preventing fluid retention. To gain the benefit of bromelain as an anti-inflammatory or as a digestive enzyme, it is important to know that enzymes are very sensitive to light and temperatures, especially heat. So any commercially bought pineapple products will be dead so to speak, the enzymes will have been destroyed. This goes for store-bought juices, canned, frozen, and dried pineapple.
When choosing a fresh pineapple colour isn’t necessarily a good indicator of ripeness, some are in their prime when they are still green, it depends on the variety. The most important factor in determining ripeness is aroma; let your nose help you decide. Ripe pineapples give off a sweet, fresh tropical smell. Avoid pineapples that give off a slightly alcoholic smell, they are too ripe and are beginning to ferment. Avoid pineapples with soft spots or areas of dark discoloration.
Pineapple “Rum Pud”
One or two pineapples
Add fresh mango (or frozen – you prepared when they were in season)
Fresh Ginger
Thick coconut milk
A dash or two of rum
A banana or two
Leave the leaves on the pineapple and cut a pineapple in half length ways. Scoop or cut out the flesh leaving the pineapple halves in tack to use as containers. Cut up the flesh into cubes removing the stem. Put the pineapple into a bowl, add freshly grated ginger to taste, thick coconut milk and a little rum, slice or chop up bananas and mix all ingredients together. Place the ingredients back into the pineapple halves and serve immediately.
Nutrients - Vitamin C, beta-carotene, folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and bromelain.
Read MoreSerotonin, our natural prozac help stabilize moods and reduce pain
Foods that will elevate your levels naturally
The B vitamins and zinc are important as they help the brain to manufacture neuro-chemicals out of amino acids (protein foods). B3 is very important and is found in a B complex supplement. Do not take B3 on its own, however you can take a B complex and add an extra B3 supplement if you wanted to. The reason to do this is that all the vitamin Bs work together in harmony, having a synergistic affect on each other. So why is B3 so important for elevating moods? If you are short of B3 your body will have to make it from tryptophan. You want to reserve your store of tryptophan for the production serotonin and not for making B3.
Eating foods that contain a good amount of tryptophan will ensure better levels of serotonin.
Seeds – pumpkin, sunflower, sesame
Nuts – hazelnuts and almonds
Wild game
Chicken
Turkey
Bananas
Prawns
Yogurts
Foods rich in B vitamins
Whole-grains like brown rice and oats
Egg yolks
Green leafy vegetables
Legumes like such as lentils
Fish
The body will use up a lot of its resources and reserves like vitamins – if you smoke, drink alcohol on a regular basis, regularly eat junk, sugary things, and white flour products.
Read MoreSupport orgainic if you can – help your Arthritis
By supporting the organic movement, we help to minimize chemical damage which poses a real threat to the future of humanity. We need to think hard before choosing an intensively produced product over an organic product simply because of the small extra cost.
Organic food is free from insecticides, pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, fertilisers and a whole host of other toxic artificial additives, flavourings, colourings and preservatives. The combination of these residues may be more toxic than you realize due to the synergistic effects of multiple residues on foods that can accumulate in human tissue. The health effect of all of this pollution is slowly becoming clear.
Agro-chemicals were not developed with nutrition, health or the environment in mind.So what we get is a cheap but inferior product with a cocktail of up to 40 different chemicals, waxes and insecticides.
Organic farmers are committed to fine food, and they will have left the trees in a meadow with healthy soil, filled with a diversity of butterflies, lady birds, birds and wildlife in general.
There are many hidden costs to intensive farming and spraying especially to the workers that have to handle the chemicals often without safety clothing, suffering all sorts of diseases.
Organic produce may well cost a bit more but this is no comparison to the possible cost if we don’t try to support organic foods. There is the cost to the tax payer for the subsidies to agro-chemical farming. The cost of cleaning up the environment as the chemicals end up in our water-ways killing fish and then there is the possible cost of healthcare as an indirect and direct result of the cocktail of chemicals. Then there is the cost to the wildlife, whose natural habitats are being systematically destroyed.
“The UK pesticide market is currently worth about £500 million every year. It is extraordinary that the cost of removing pesticides from drinking water amounts to a huge £120 million annually,” says Professor Pretty. In Britain subsidies on normally grown food works out at about 40 pence in every pound spent on food. This cost is paid through the taxation system.
Organic farmers earn lower subsidies because they grow rotation crops so they are unable to maximise subsidy income. They cost society about 25 pence in every pound. When you cost in the real cost of industrial agriculture and take away the subsidies that favour the wrong use of resources, you end up with a situation where, organic food would actually cost less than conventional! The situation is also very much like this in the USA.
More and more people are going organic and prices for organic foods have been falling over the last five years as more and more organic food is bought. It is vital that we safeguard the future of organic farming by paying a little bit extra to keep organic farmers in business.
Organic farming is generally smaller scale and more labour intensive, sometimes with smaller crop yields. Farmers also have to convert their land to organic production over a period of years, and as organic farming relies on crop rotation, up to 25% of land may be left to lie fallow at any one time to increase natural soil fertility.
Organic food’s strength lies in what it doesn’t contain. There is, in fact, only food in organic food as regulations prohibit hydrogenated fat that can cause of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity, aspartame thought to be a neurotoxin – affecting the nervous system, phosphoric acid found in many soda drinks causing osteoporosis, antibiotics which interfere with our immune system, hormones that are causing feminization of wild life, low sperm count, obesity, various cancers, pesticides causing or encouraging mutagenic, carcinogenic effects,GM foods – who knows what the long term effects will be, linked to IBS, Crohn’s disease, autism, other gut-based disease, or any of the 7000 artificial colourings, flavourings, preservatives and processing aids that are permitted in conventional food that have been linked to cancer, liver disease, gut problems. These are chemicals, food additives and processes that are not allowed in organic foods.
Also look out for wild crafted, hydroponic, bio-dynamic and eco-friendly grown foods.
Arthritis & Pain Program at The Haven
