LIVING FOODS LIFESTYLE

Sprouts, whilst inexpensive and easy to grow, afford one of the most concentrated but truly natural sources of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids (protein) known. They are also biogenic - alive - and capable of transferring their life energy to your body. Biogenic foods are foods that when planted will create new life. All raw un-sprouted seeds, beans, grains and nuts are biogenic. When they are sprouted and eaten, the provide the body with a form of living energy - a composite of vital food factors not yet isolated by scientists, but proven to be of value in nature's laboratory of day to day life.

Other important foods, such as fresh vegetables and fruits (before cooking), are considered bioactive. That is, whilst rich in organic minerals, proteins and contribute towards improved well-being, they are not capable of creating new life. At the other extreme are processed, denatured and cooked foods, on which I feel modern people have become altogether too dependent. In the Living Foods lifestyle, I suggest that these foods be eaten infrequently, or preferably, avoided altogether.

When you eat a spout you are eating a tiny, easy to digest plant that is at the peak of nutritional value. The seed releases all of its stored nutrients in a burst of vitality as it attempts to become a full-sized plant. When you eat a sprout, you literally get the best of what a seed, be it a radish, alfalfa or any of the other edible varieties, has to offer in terms of nutrition.

The Living Foods lifestyle is composed of raw, uncooked foods such as sprouts, greens, fresh vegetables and fruits, sea vegetables and naturally fermented products. This diet has grown in popularity over the years. It has become the nucleus of a practical form of truly healthful living.

At the very centre of the Living Foods diet are sprouts and indoor garden greens. I myself have lived primarily on sprouted seeds and greens, beans, grains and nuts for more than two decades. Not only have I healed my body of 'un-healable' disease - arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer and subsequent heart disease, owing to the nature of the cancer , but I have also achieved a greater level of vitality and health than I had even as a child. I have also remained British Masters' Powerlifting champion for many years, with success at World and Commonwealth level. This is a sport which demands the utmost in strength and dedication. I also spent many years as a successful marathon runner, fortunate to win five events.. Throughout this time I fought back hard with the cancer, using the same dedication and discipline. I am completely convinced that eating foods which were presented to my body complete with all their enzymes and in a highly bio-available form created the environment which has allowed me to still be here today!!

As a practising nutritionist, many of my patients have benefited enormously when they allow the Living Foods lifestyle to replace their previous way of eating. Even a minor helping ,of sprouted foods, along with the usual fare, contributes significantly towards supplying the raw materials for the body to work with.

Sprouts are food for a new generation and for our own re-generation as well. You don't have to be a fanatic to enjoy the flavour and health benefits of sprouts. The addition of even a cup or two of sprouts to your daily diet will make a considerable difference in the way you feel. This 'feel-good' factor is immensely important, to body, mind and spirit. Sprouting fits into almost any lifestyle. It is ideal for dieters, growing children, the elderly, vegetarians, athletes, people on the go who do not always eat correctly, and for anyone who seeks to improve the way they feel and look - and that's about everyone, if we are being honest! In more ways than one, sprouts are food for a new generation. Aren't you ready for economic savings, renewed health and vigor and the variety and great taste of sprouts - the unique, simple, life-giving food?

Organic Versus Non-Organic

In a sense, all plants grown on soil are organic, but there are great differences in how they are grown. Organically grown seeds come from plants that are grown without the use of man-made chemical fertilisers, herbiscides and pesticides. They are balanced seeds grown on balanced soil. It is this very balance between the plant and the soil that protects it against disease, pests and other dangers. Non-organically grown seeds, on the other hand, usually come from plants that are grown on soil heavily fertilised with petrochemicals. The plants themselves are sprayed with a battery of harmful chemicals to ward off weeds and pests. Whilst some agricultural experts claim that the methods used to grow plants make no difference whatsoever, my experience has taught me otherwise. Every chemical agent affects the body in some way. Not only does petrochemical farming have the short term effect of destroying our valuable topsoil, it also has a frightening potential to destroy our health. Obtaining organically-grown seeds will support the growers who are attempting To enrich the soil and the health of human beings everywhere, rather than those who are depleting both.

From Seed To Nutritious Food

At the foundation of the living foods concept is the seed. Filled with nutrients needed by the growing plant, and suffused with vital enzymes, seeds are the very core of life. All the energy and life of a plant goes towards making seeds. Each seed holds vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats and carbohydrates (starches) in reserve, awaiting the suitable environment to begin growing. When air, water and a suitable temperature are provided, an incredible flow of energy is released, natural chemical changes occur. Enzymes are produced to convert the concentrated nutrients into those needed by the growing plant. As the sprouting process continues, carbohydrates are transformed by the action of enzymes into simple sugars. Complex proteins are converted into more simple amino acids and fats are changed into fatty acids, which are easily digested soluble compounds. Vitamin C, along with some other vitamins found only in trace amounts in the seed, is produced in larger amounts during sprouting. In addition, sprouts absorb minerals and vital trace elements from the water used to grow and rinse them. Moreover the minerals in sprouts are chelated, that is in their natural state, they are chemically bound to amino acids, so that they are easily assimilated by the human body.

Enzymes And Vital Food Factors In Sprouts

Enzymes are greatly activated in the sprouting process. Just minutes after raw un-sprouted seeds are placed in water to soak, enzymes begin making the young sprouts into easy-to-digest food for humans. In sprouts, as in other uncooked foods, all the nutrients work together in natural harmony and balance for optimal use by the human body. Cooking destroys this balance, breaking down the molecular arrangement of nutrients. Enzymes are destroyed by temperatures over 105F, as are a large percentage of vitamins in foods. Minerals in cooked food are no longer chelated, and are therefore more difficult for the body to use. Protein is also damaged by cooking, as the amino acid ratios become unbalanced. Cooking protein foods, especially animal foods such as red meat and eggs, tend to putrefy and decay, producing toxic wastes which must be removed from the body via the kidneys. Proteins from sprouts and other uncooked foods produce fewer toxic substances during digestion.

Beyond enzymes, which are a valuable aid to digestion, sprouts contain what I call vital food factors - the energy currents which flow through all living bodies and differentiate them from dead bodies. Whilst little hard data has been collected on just how and why the vital food factors - found primarily in sprouts and other living foods affect human health, my own experience and observation of hundreds of other people points to an amazing ability of sprouts to regenerate body cells and tissues.

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