At Olive Retreat we soak and germinate grains, rice, beans, nuts and seeds as much as possible and we always do so if we have a guest that has a food intolerance or digestive health issues (i.e. most of the retreats!) We are often asked how to soak and why, so I thought I would share some information on this topic. Basically you can soak any seed, and germinate (sprout) most of them. This basic chart will help you navigate the many options of sprouting and soaking.
Seeds of all forms (grains, nuts, rice) are meant to be plants one day. Most of them have a strategy in nature to stop them from growing a new plant until the circumstances are perfect for the little plant to survive. Just like us. If the mother’s womb is under constant inflammation attacks (PCOS, endometriosis, severe PMS, etc), the risk is high that there will be a miscarriage, so she has to detox. What seeds need most of all to grow is water. They can stay a long time in a dark and dry place, like a very dry soil, and wait for the right moment for it to germinate and become a little plant. Water is what makes these dormant seeds to wake up.
The seeds have an outer layer of what is called enzyme inhibitors, to keep them “sleeping” and to stop them from germinating until it comes in contact with water. These enzymes are a bit bitter, and can be hard to digest for some sensitive people and some animals. They also inhibit us from absorbing some nutrients, making it better for all tummies to soak them before cooking them like rice and beans. When these inhibitors are dissolved in water, a whole rage of new enzymes “wake up” and the little seed activates dormant nutrients. It becomes a super compact little nutrient storage, enough to feed a new plant. It is a very complex process, a small miracle of nature, developed during billions of years to serve nature (us) with new plants and food.
Most of us just cook these plant seeds and the inhibitors are then destroyed but also the good enzymes that wake the nutrients up, which are destroyed above 40 degrees. So it is much better to soak them first, rinse them, and then cook them lightly or preferably eat them raw. Even better, if you can let them germinate so that you see small sprouts and then eat them, or just stir fry them lightly. Tomorrow more on how to sprout and eat. Mix with clean water, maybe ad a drop of honey or agave or vanilla and you have the best “mylk” (non-dairy milk).
Like this:
Like Loading...
Published by O• L I V E
Naturopaths who deeply believe Natural Immunity is still the best, and therefore we work in defense of it.
Since 20+ years we have successfully been consultants in the natural health sector to support individuals and we are in particular working with entrepreneurs and professionals. Our mission is to defend natural health, the only one that really works so far. We mainly but not entirely use Eastern philosophy such as Ayurveda, TCM, Yoga, Thai chi, Falun Gong, and only honest modern science.
Everyone can heal naturally, it's what bodies and (free) minds want. Our O• Method is based on physics, chemistry and biology with emphasis on the first one as the rest often follow naturally. We divide our work in three parts: Body-Mind-Soul. To allow them all to detox and let go we work with energy (Prana, Xi, Vitality, Spirit, Pneuma or whatever you call the life force, it's the same force mentioned in ancient texts) to heal on all levels, i.e. from chronic disease, toxicity, depression and traumas using our own method, reaching 96% success rate which is unheard of by others in our sector. Would you know of anyone with that result, let us know.
Considering that we invented and dumped >120.000 (petro)chemically derived substances since 1945, of which many are very toxic, getting healthy will most likely include a good old body detox sooner or later.
My love for Ayurveda started in 1993 with Deepak Chopra and after a few turns in life I quit my job as a Nordic Brand Manager and BI strategist at the largest Nordic telecom operator and re-schooled in natural medicine. Besides Dr. Chopra I have studied Dr. Lad, Dr. Siva (Pune, India) and other prominent teachers in their field, but the real difference comes with a practiced. I added nutrition, Orthomolecular Medicine with Dr. Nielsen (USA/Spain) and herbalism.
Today we teach those whom want to continue our work and we love to dig down in etymology and the original (mainly Avestan, Pali and Sanskrit) scripts to understand the words fully and I fall in love with the concepts over and over again for every sutra. This love affair that created a few books (Amazon), presentations, essayes and many events and consultations, is still giving us Yang-Yin balance and inspiration. I guess with that we are recognizing the value of Dao De Ching 💚🌿💜
Workshops and about:
https://oliveretreat.com/about/
Books:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cristina+azcarate&i=digital-text&ref=nb_sb_noss
View all posts by O• L I V E
O· L I V E 
One thought on “Soak Them and Get More”