Seed activation is a very easy and effective way to improve the nutritional quality of many nuts, grains, legumes and seeds. There is an increased awareness in nutrition, and there is a popular belief that eating whole plant food is good for our heath. This is why we want to reduce the concentrations of anti-nutrients and toxins naturally present in many plants, fruits and seeds as much as possible, specially since they are our main source of nourishment. This doesn’t only apply to vegetarians and vegans, but to everyone who wants to improve their health and quality of life.
These compounds found in plants and their seeds, that could harm us, exist for different reasons: as a defence mechanism of the plant against possible pests, fungi, insects or other predators; as a storage mechanism for certain nutrients within the seed, which will use them at the moment of “awakening”; or simply as molecules that are part of natural processes that may harm us. Examples of toxins and anti-nutrients are gluten, phytates, oxalates, tannins, lectins, enzyme inhibitors, mycotoxins, goitrins, saponins, among others.
How can you activate?
Soaking is one of the methods that helps us reduce some of these compounds. It imitates what happens in nature when a seed comes into contact with water, which is when the process of activating or “awakening” begins, and after the seed sprouts and grows into a plant.
There are some things we need to consider when activating the seeds that we are going to consume. The first would be that only undamaged seeds, nuts or whole grains can be activated correctly. Soaking processed or damaged grains is of little use, since when losing their shell or when their structure is modified, their cellular mechanisms also disappear. In other words, they lose their ability to sprout. There is also no use in activating roasted or otherwise cooked seeds since they have also lost their ability to germinate. There are cases where we soak already cooked seeds, but this is not to activate them, but to produce fermentations (which also help improve the quality of many foods).
While we can easily activate whole grains and legumes that we are going to boil later, such as brown rice, lentils or amaranth, it becomes more complicated when we want to store the seeds after activation. If you want to activate nuts, sesame and pumpkin seeds, or wheat and rye grains to make healthier flour (if you have a home mill), you would dehydrate these seeds after having soaked them, for which you would need a dehydrator.
Something else to consider is the soaking time. Each seed needs to soak for different lengths of time. As a general rule, it can be said that the larger the seed, the longer the activation time. This can range from a few hours in the case of small seeds such as sesame, to up to one or two days in the case of almonds. Having said that we don’t always remember or have enough time and it is ok, It is better to soak the seeds for as long as possible even if it is not for the recommended amount of time than not to activate them at all.
and what about sprouting?
After soaking, if we leave the wet seeds to rest in the air for a few hours / days, they start to sprout (the first little tail you see is the root), thus reducing the concentration of anti-nutrients even more. In this case, the characteristics of the seeds will change more noticeably, in terms of biochemistry, flavour, texture, and how we cook them.
Eating certain raw activated seeds and sprouts is considered to have health benefits, this is only partly true. One must take into account the concentration of starches in the seeds that we germinate, since the consumption of raw starch can harm our digestion. In these cases it is better to cook the seeds and sprouts, even if it is just for a little, to help digest them better. Examples of activated seeds and sprouts with high concentrations of starch are grain and legume sprouts, such as activated buckwheat or lentil sprouts, among others.
Your nourishment depends on you
Reducing the amount of anti-nutrients in your food, whether by soaking, sprouting, fermentation and / or cooking has many health benefits. They facilitate and improve digestion, making the most of the nutrients in the food, and even reducing the possibility of food allergies. It has been observed that people allergic to certain seeds, do not react at all or as strongly when said seed has been activated or sprouted.
Cooking only eliminates some of the toxins and anti-nutrients in the food; If we activate before cooking we increase the available nutrients. Sprouting and fermentation help eliminate the majority of these compounds. But we cannot remove 100% of these anti-nutrients, and it is not necessary to. The body also has ways to regulate its negative effects, although the more we help it, the greater the benefit.
In very specific cases it has been found that some of the anti-nutrients may be of great benefit. There is evidence that suggests that phytates can help in particular types of cancer and can also help detox the body from heavy metals, mainly cadmium and lead. Some lectins can help regulate the immune system, and have effects against bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
Conventional vs. Agroecological
Activation is of little benefit if we only consume conventionally farmed, transgenic foods, rich in pesticides, with high concentrations of poisons, and a greater number of anti-nutrients and toxins due to hybridization, improper storage, and processing. There are theories proposing we can wash these foods with household products such as vinegar, baking soda, lemon and so on, which supposedly eliminate the chemicals and pesticides that conventionally grown food has. But what is not mentioned is that these may cause chemical reactions that can produce more harmful compounds than the ones they were originally intended to eliminate. In other cases, according with recent scientific studies, some food allergies like gluten intolerance are related to the presence of glyphosate in the food (which is found in high concentrations in non-organic foods).
It is for this reason that is very important to consume locally grown products, from organic, ecological and re-generative agriculture, where the use of poisons and artificial fertilisers are avoided, achieving healthy food and at the same time restoring balance in nature.
We are not what we eat, we are what we absorb, from our food and our environment.