About Sprouts and Enzymes

Aboutsprouts and enzymes…

There’s more to sprouts than just alittle crunch in your salad

by Sol Azulay
San Diego Earth Times, Novem

ber 1997

Extensiveresearch has proved be- yond a doubt that sprouts are an important part of thefood of the future. Chinese nobles, 5,000 years ago, ate sprouts for healing andrejuvenation. During World War II, when the United States was concerned about apossible meat shortage, the scientific community advised the president that theconsumption of germinated seeds was the best and cheapest alternative toproteins in meat. Sprouts are a complete protein. Organic minerals found infresh juices and sprouts dramatically contributes to the maintenance of health.Untreated natural sprouts have power to build nerves, tissue, bones and blood.

Commercially available supplements synthetically preparedcontain no “life force,” and therefore are not really natural. Sproutsare rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins and natural enzymes, combined exactlyas God intended for us to consume. The “magic” of sprouts is that theyare easily grown as a 100 percent organic food. Only clean water and 4 days areneeded to get a fully grown, crispy, tasty vegetable. Germination of sproutsdoes not require soil, pesticides or fungicides what a contribution to ournatural environment!

Natural foods contain enzymes, minerals, amino acids andothers important elements. Many researchers believe that natural vitamincomplexes contain valuable food components not found in synthetic vitamins.Experiments confirm that processed foods lead to degenerative diseases andbreakdown in reproductive capacity by the third generation.

The increase of vitamin content in sprouts during thesprouting period is tremendous. A clear increase in vitamin content has beenmeasured in numerous experiments that compared sprouts to the unsprouted seed.Germinated seeds and grain showed an increase in vitamins, minerals, proteinsand enzymes of 25 to 4,000 percent!

Looking at enzymes

Digestive enzymes help the digestive process to assimilateproteins, carbohydrates and fat. In 1930, only 80 enzymes have been identified;in 1970, more than 1,300 enzymes were known. By now, over 4,000 have been found- and counting.

If we do not get enzymes with our daily food to aid ourdigestion, our body’s digestive enzymes will carry the complete load, depletingthe limited resources. Enzymes have a vital activity factor that is exhaustible,and our capacity to make enzymes is limited.

It appears that the safest answer is to sprout all yourintake of seeds and grains. In this process the inhibitors are neutralized andlife process commences with enzymes that are alive and active.

There are more reasons why sprouts are an excellent additionto your present diet. Sprouts are pure, natural, organic and therefore free fromartificial toxin. Sprouts are not a culinary decoration they are real life food!

I started developing propagation technologies for otherpurposes 15 years ago when I owned a successful cut flower greenhouse business.Since then, I have had a dream of facilitating the consumption of seeds, grainand natural juices by developing simple automatic appliances. Seeking the latestscientific information on the enzymes, I interviewed Warren Peary and WilliamPeavy, Ph.D. in their warm Albuquerque home. Dr. Peavy received his M.A. inhorticulture science from the University of California and a Ph.D. from KansasState University. He was a columnist for the El Paso times, has written over onehundred published articles and a few books.

Q: I would like to present the interestingquestions I have been recently asked by our readers. Gerontologists [Scientistswho study aging] say that 120 years could be the average human life span versus75 right now. How is it possible for anyone to live in good health anywhere nearthat length of time?

A: A good deal of research indicates thata large part of the answer lies in eating high-enzyme foods every day. Mostpeople don’t know what high-enzyme foods are.

Q: Can’t the enzymes produced by our bodycarry this function effectively?

A: All of us have a limited capacity toproduce enzymes. Like the engine of the car that has a limited capacity toproduce horsepower. And this capacity declines with age. It is this capacitywhich we are born with, that determines our maximum potential life span. Someare born with a greater potential life span, and others less. In any case, as weage, in general, our body is able to produce less and less enzymes. It is thisgeneral decline in enzyme activity in our body that is a fundamental cause ofaging. When enzyme activity gets too low, the process of death occurs.

Q: How exactly do enzymes affect our agingprocess?

A: One of the first indication that enzymeactivity is waning in your body is a reduction in the efficiency of yourdigestive system. Virtually all of us have a rapid deterioration in theefficiency of our digestive system as we grow older due to a decrease ofdigestive enzymes. So serious is this that around two-thirds of allhospitalizations are for problems of the digestive system. Medicines for thedigestive system are the number one selling class of drugs. As we age, we losethe ability to produce adequate hydrochloric acid while 35 percent of peopleover 65 produce none at all. While the digestive system is deteriorating, theenzyme activity throughout the rest of your body is also in decline. Thisdecline is a fundamental cause of aging as well as many of the diseasesassociated with aging.

Q: Is there anything we can do that willslow down this decline in enzyme activity and even maximize its activity in ourbody?

A: The answer is YES! One of the bigreasons why we lose the ability to make digestive and other enzymes at such anearly age (relative to our maximum life spans) is because we force our bodies toproduce excessively concentrated digestive enzymes all our life. This is becausewe get little or no enzymes from our food. Why is this? Because we cookvirtually everything we eat and cooking destroys enzymes, (enzyme destructionbegins at 118 degrees Fahrenheit). All raw foods contain the enzymes needed forthe digestion of their own nutrients. These include the proteolytic, amylolytic,and lipolytic enzymes our body works so hard to produce. Man is the only animalthat cooks virtually everything he eats. All animals in the wild eat everythingraw and get the enzymes in the food they need and are free of degenerativediseases such as heart disease and cancer. This is actually the way natureintended for us to eat all our food. Biologically, we are animals and have thesame requirements for enzymes.

Q: What are the effects on our bodies ofnot getting enough enzymes in our diets?

A: The work of researchers such as Dr.Edward Howell has shown that we literally wear-out our enzyme-making machineryby forcing our body to produce such a concentrated flow of digestive enzymes allof our life. By squandering our enzyme-making capacity on digestive enzymes, ourbody has less capacity or energy to create and preserve the thousands of otherenzymes in our body. As a consequence, enzyme activity throughout your entirebody declines rapidly. The aging process accelerates at a much faster rate andyounger age than it should.

Q: How do you get a high enzyme diet? Areyou saying we have to eat all raw food?

A: Theoretically, it is what our body ismade for and it might be optimal but virtually none of us is going to do it.Instead, there is a much easier way to get high amount of enzymes in your dietwhile still enjoying your cooked food. This is by eating a food that has anexceptionally high enzyme content. That food is germinated or sprouted seedssuch as grains and beans. Sprouted seeds are germinated over a three to five dayspan when enzyme activity in the seed reaches a maximum and the sprout is stillsmall. After the 5th day, enzyme content drops off markedly as the sprout growslonger and longer. Sprouts are grown long, like vegetables, and have very littleenzymes compared to sprouted seeds. This is a very important distinction tomake. People who grow sprouts are often not aware of this because theinformation is hidden in arcane journals on plant biochemistry. Harvestingsprouts in their first 4 – 5 days is crucial.

Q: What about vegetable and fruits?

A: While raw vegetables and fruits haveenzymes, they are low in concentration compared to sprouted seeds. Thedifferences in enzyme concentration are enormous.

Q: How big?

A: There is 10 to 100 times more enzymesin sprouted seeds than in vegetables or fruits depending on the enzyme and theseed that is being sprouted. There is no food on the planet higher in enzymesthan sprouted seeds. They are also a great source of vitamins C, carotenoid A, Bvitamins, and minerals.

Q: Can you conclude this for me?

A: Sprouted seeds should be made anintegral part of your diet to spare digestive enzymes, maximize enzyme activity,and slow the aging process. They can be grown on your kitchen counter. They arethe fountain of youth. In our new book Super Nutrition Gardening weexplain sprouting seeds in chapter 3. You also need good seeds such as certifiedorganic seeds.

Q: According to your extensive research,what seeds are highest in enzymes?

A: The 4 seeds we most highly recommendare rye, wheat, mung bean, and lentils. Alfalfa is fine as well.