The Starburst of Life: Biogenic Foods
Growing Sprouts and Indoor Gardening
http://www.geocities.com/newlibertyvillage/earthstar/starburst.htm
(The following information is adapted from “The Chemistry of Youth”, by E.B. Szekely)
The Biocidic World – Can we Survive It?
Man is a masterpiece of nature, created and perfected in nature’s laboratory through millions of years. Man’s whole being is conditioned to absorb pure, natural substances: air, water, foods, etc., and to be surrounded by a natural, unpolluted environment.
After the second world war, an accelerated flood of synthetic and toxic additives inundated our markets and supermarket chains, which soon became all-sidedly omnipresent in all products which the innocent and ignorant housewives carried home to deteriorate the health of their families. Instead of purity, freshness, and wholesomeness, the new post-war criteria for desirable food became taste, texture, and shelf-life. In geometrical progression ever since, the greediness of the lethal food industry and the all-pervading sophisticated and deceiving promotion of television and radio have become an omnipresent menace of corruption to the public mind and body.
It is mind-staggering to try to conceive that, according to the statistics of our bicentennial year (and it’s much worse now in the 21st century), 5550 different synthetic chemicals, a total of a billion pounds a year in over 32,000 products, are conspiring against the innocent, uninformed, and misinformed consumer, making it very improbable that our nation will ever survive to celebrate a tricentennial anniversary.
Whenever food manufacturers remove a natural substance from a food, they always replace it with a synthetic adulterant. Of course, this manipulation disturbs the whole natural biochemical balance in the food. Each time a synthetic is consumed, the biogenic and biological processes of the organism receive a shock to which they are desperately trying to adjust themselves, very often with little success. Each time, a precondition of disease is added to the already disturbed living processes, developed and perpetuated over millions of years. Their continuous, more and more aggressive disturbance proliferates a long line of chronic and degenerative ailments. Even in ordinary simple foods, a great number of synthetic, and often toxic additives are ingested. Just for an example:
· Ice cream contains coal tar dye, diglycerides, monoglycerides, antibiotics, artificial flavors, carboxymethyl cellulose, artificial colors, etc.
· Frozen apple pies contain nicotine, lindane, chlordane, lead arsenate, methoxybenzene, sodium-phenylphenate, malathion, etc.
· Margarine has traces of monoisopropyl citrate, diglycerides, isopropyl citrate, monoglycerides, etc.
· Breads contain coal tar dye, diglycerides, ditertiary buthyl paracresol, ammonium chloride, polyoxyethylene, and monoglycerides.
· Pickled vegetables: sodium nitrate, aluminum sulphate.
· Bottled fruit juices: saccharine, parathion, dimethyl polysiloxane, benzoic acid, etc.
· In meats: stilbestol, dieldrin, aureomycin, methoxyclor, toxaphene, chlordane, heptachlor, benzene hexachloride, etc., etc.
· Potatoes: all kinds of pesticides: ethylene dibromide, heptachlor, dieldrin, chlordane, etc.
We could go on and on the endless thousands of synthetic and toxic additives, but I think these few samples are enough. But the bottom line is simple: If we are to survive our toxic environment we have to stop now. We must go back to living foods from the Earthly Mother. My best advice is this, strive for simplicity once again. Go back to simple, slow foods, home-cooked meals made from fresh, organic, homegrown ingredients wherever possible. Go back to living foods and most of all, supplement the poor quality of foods available today with fresh sprouts, and learn to grow tender, fresh baby greens in shallow buckets and small containers. Learn how to make homemade sauerkraut or other fermented vegetables, and concentrate on unshelled nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes. Biogenic, living foods are the logical answer to restoring healthy foods for the planet and the human organism.
Why Sprouts?
When a plant’s seeds are dispersed, the plant has made sure to equip them with all the nutrients needed for a new start. As a result, seeds, grains, beans, and nuts are the most concentrated complete storehouse of nutrients of all foods. They are also the only foods which are biogenic, that is, capable of generating and creating new life.
A sprout is a germinating seed. First the root tip breaks through the seed coat, and stem and leaf development follow. As the seed sprouts, the starch is broken down into simple sugars. Other favorable nutritional changes also occur. The levels of Vitamins C, E, and the entire B complex all increase, particularly Vitamin C in greened sprouts. Plant hormones and plant enzymes increase dramatically, and all the magical, life-generating forces contained within the seed double, triple, and quadruple themselves as the sprout-tendrils grow out of the seed. At the end of the fourth day of sprouting, not only is the seed deliciously tender and ready to eat, but it has transformed itself into a new life form: a baby green plant, bursting with vitamins, minerals, plant hormones, plant enzymes, and all the yet-undiscovered unknown components necessary to health.
Considering the remarkable increase of enzymes in the germinating seed, it will be a good idea to mention something about these mysterious catalytic substances and the role they play in the human organism.
The biochemical processes in the cells are stimulated by enzymes, which are the keys to open the gates of life. They split proteins into different utilizable amino acids, liberate from foods the amino acids, minerals, and vitamins we need, stimulate oxygen transport, stabilize iron in the hemoglobin, and regulate coagulation of the blood. They catabolize and eliminate carbon dioxide from the lungs, transform nutrients into glands, nerves, bones, and muscles, etc. In short, with the help of enzymes, the organism is able to transmute the elements it needs from other elements, also a reversible process, in the manner of the legendary medieval alchemist.
It is simple and economical to grow sprouted seeds, salad greens and wheatgrass in our homes. The cost of homegrown organic salad greens may be one-tenth of what we pay for commercial salad greens, which have little nutritional value. The growing of indoor greens takes little space and only 15 minutes or so of daily care.
For example, wheat grass can be snipped very fine and sprinkled on salads, sandwiches, soups, or it may be added to cooked foods. Wheat grass is a complete food; it is high in chlorophyll, which is a protective, cleansing food, especially for toxic city living. Studies have shown that chlorophyll in living food can greatly increase the lifespan of people who have been exposed to lethal radiation. (People living in cities are exposed daily to radiation from x-rays, fluorescent lights, iodine B1 and radioactive pollutants.) Chlorophyll has been shown to regenerate the bloodstream and is a powerful blood cleanser. Pots of wheatgrass growing on the windowsills will help to help purify the air in the home.
Buckwheat greens are an excellent, mild-tasting lettuce. They are fresh because they go from the soil right into your plate and are loaded with live enzymes, which are needed by every process in the body. These greens are a rich source of rutin, which is a blood builder and lecithin, which helps eliminate excess cholesterol. Lecithin is also a brain food. Buckwheat greens are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, with good amount of B-vitamins such as riboflavin.
Sunflower greens are vitamin-rich meat substitutes at one-quarter the price of meat and actually supply more protein than the body can use. They can be used in salads, sandwiches, and soups or added to any food. These greens are a good source of vitamin D and B complex, and minerals, especially potassium, calcium and iron, and of course, a rich source of chlorophyll.
Live Foods Are the Most Important
Sprouted seeds and grains are inexpensive and easy to grow and 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 provide the body with a form of living energy.)
A diet of predominately cooked food destroys most of the valuable live enzymes, vitamins and usable protein. As much as 85% of the original nutrients may be lost in the cooking process. When we consider the problems of over-population, starvation and the wasteful use of water needed to produce meat, it becomes obvious that cooked foods, especially meats, are a wasteful and inefficient use of valuable resources. Changing to a predominately raw-food, plant-based diet would significantly reduce much of the suffering of humanity and the destruction of our magnificent planet.
The older we get, the more severe is our craving for cooked food. A diet of primarily cooked, dead food reduces the bodys’enzyme supply by 30-50%. Even though our diet may be considered nutritious, it will not be digested properly without a sufficient concentration of enzymes in the body. Eating sprouted grains, grasses and seeds are important in our modern, toxic world and will significantly rebuild the enzyme level in our cells.
We should begin a gradual transition from biocidic foods such as meat, processed foods, sugar, white flour, pasteurized dairy products, carbonated drinks, inorganic salt, snack foods, canned and processed foods, strong condiments, coffee, ice cream, alcohol and cigarettes, to a live food diet (biogenic and bioactive) of raw vegetables, tree ripened fresh fruit and nuts, sprouted grains, grasses and seeds, fermented milks, raw cheeses, home made live sauerkraut’s, with occasional simple cooked, biostatic foods, such as brown rice, lightly steamed vegetables, baked potato, sprouted or naturally fermented breads, etc. For detailed information about Biogenic Nutrition, see the book, Search for the Ageless, Volume 3, The Chemistry of Youth, by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely. It is available from the International Biogenic Society, P.O. Box 849 , Nelson, B.C., Canada V1L 6A5.
Begin by reducing the size of meals. Eliminate, or reduce meat consumption to fewer days a week and replace it with sprouts, cooked oats or millet, whole grains and more vegetables. Move toward regular fasting by skipping breakfast maybe 1-2 times a week. After a few weeks of improved diet you can fast for 24 hours once or twice a month. Fast on lemon water or fruit. The more you eliminate the bad foods and increase the live foods, the easier it will be to develop the habit of natural, biogenic nutrition.
Instructions for Growing Sprouts and Indoor Greens
Sprouting Instructions
The instructions below are for using Sprout Ease sprouting lids on wide-mouth quart jars. These screen lids are available by writing to Sprout-Ease, P.O. Box 769 , Kerrville , TX 78029-0769 . There are other methods and innovative ways to sprout seeds. Search the Internet or ask at the health food store.
Salad Sprouting Mix Instructions:
· Measure 1 heaping tablespoon of sprouting mix seeds into a quart jar.
· Add about 3 inches of fresh water.
· Put the yellow (Sprout Ease) lid on the jar.
· Let the seed soak overnight (about 8 hours)
· Drain and rinse twice daily for 4-5 days. (To rinse, fill the jar of seeds with water, turn it upside down over the sink and shake the jar hard to get the hulls out)
· Place the jar at a 45-degree angle, mouth down, in a 5” x 7” x 2” plastic tray where it can drain freely. (See “Supply list” below) Do not allow the seeds to block the circulation of air.
· About the third day, change to the green lid and on the 4th or 5th day change to the red lid. This will allow the hulls to rinse out thoroughly.
· For the first 3-4 days, keep the jars in a cool, shady place, not in direct sunlight.
· On the 4th day, place the jar in indirect light to help the sprouts develop chlorophyll. Sprouts will be matured on about the fifth or sixth day and ready to eat. They can then be stored in the refrigerator by leaving them in the jar and continuing to rinse them once a day.
Indoor Gardening Instructions
Growing Wheat Grass, Sunflower and Buckwheat greens:
· Fill any 6” diameter (or larger) size pot with damp, organic soil.
· Soak the wheat berries, sunflower seed or buckwheat seed overnight. (ex: use 3 Tbsp. of seed for a six inch pot)
· The next morning, spread the soaked seeds over the soil. Each seed may be touching on all sides, but they should form a single flat layer of seeds. All the seeds should have access to the soil, but do not need to be covered with soil.
· Using a spray bottle, immediately begin to spray the seeds lightly with water, once in the morning and once in the evening. Cover this layer of seed loosely with a piece of plastic. Allow plastic edges to drape over the pot, do not tuck underneath, as the seeds need air to grow.
· When the tiny shoots begin to appear, remove the covering and continue to spray the seeds lightly, twice daily.
· Place the pots in indirect sunlight, either inside on a windowsill or outside in a shady spot. On about the seventh day, the greens will be at their peak. The buckwheat and sunflower greens will be from 5-7 inches tall, the wheatgrass, about 7 or 8 inches tall.
· Cut all greens as close to the base as possible. This is where the majority of vitamins are stored.
· If possible, you may compost and recycle the used soil.
Growing Garlic or Onion Greens:
· Fill any 8” diameter size bucket (or larger) with damp, organic soil.
· Separate garlic bulbs into cloves and press them (pointed end up) into soil not more than 1” apart. Leave the tips exposed about ¼”. Plant shallot bulbs the same way.
· Spray the cloves or bulbs lightly once in the morning and once in the evening.
· Place the pots in indirect sunlight, either inside on a windowsill or outside in a shady spot.
· Garlic and onions can supply us with continuously growing greens which we can harvest daily by cutting the largest leaves. It is a good idea to plant two buckets of garlic and onion greens once a month. The green shoots will continue to grow and may be snipped off several times before the plant finally turns brown.
Morning Mix (seed milk) Instructions:
· Measure 3 or 4 level tablespoons of Morning Mix to a quart jar (an equal mix of some or all of the following raw seeds: buckwheat groats, oat groats, sunflower seed, sesame seed and flaxseed). Add enough water to soak the seeds. Warm water is best to activate the digestive process in the seeds (about 100 degrees F).
· Soak the mixture overnight.
· Next morning, drain the water (we use a yellow Sprout Ease lid). The flaxseed, when soaked, produces a clear, jelly-like substance that coats the damp mixture of seeds.
· Add the mixture to a blender and pour in about one and a half or two cups of clean water.
· For a sweeter taste, add one banana or dates, figs, or raisins (soaked overnight) and a little raw honey and Celtic salt. (Celtic salt can be ordered from The Grain & Salt Society by calling 1-800-867-7258.)
· Blend well into a smoothie.
The Morning Mix drink makes a nutritious, living, and satisfying breakfast and is an especially good live food meal for children. We usually drink this every morning, but it can also be used for any other meal of the day. If you find you have trouble digesting the grain hulls, strain the mixture before adding the fruit and sweetener. For a living cereal, use a smaller amount of heated water and blend into a creamy warm cereal and add a little organic butter and unrefined Celtic Sea Salt.
Suggested Supply List for Sprouting and Indoor Gardening
Items needed to get started
· Sprout Ease (sprouting lids) are available from most health food stores.
· Wide mouth quart size jars used for sprouting seeds and grains can be purchased inexpensively at most dollar stores. (start with 3 jars)
· Plastic baskets for draining the sprouting jars are available at Wal-Mart and measure about 5” x 7” x 2” high. (start with 3 baskets)
· Gallon size plastic paint buckets work well for the indoor garden greens and can be purchased at Wal-Mart. (start with 3 buckets)
· Spray bottle for misting baby greens.
· Bagged potting soil. See “Soil Preparation” below.
· Salad sprouting seeds. You can purchase seeds individually, according to your personal tastes, or purchase a one pound mixture of the four seeds listed below from “NOW” brand called “Zesty Sprouting Mix.”)
alfalfa 1 pound
red clover 1 pound
radish 1 pound
fenugreek 1 pound
· Seeds for indoor greens. (See “Sources” list below)
buckwheat (unhulled raw) 1 pound
