Fermentation Support Forum

I have been reading a lot about sprouting then fermenting grains....what is folks take on this. It is a a bunch of work...

Also...once they are done...if you cook em....do you lose everything?
I mean if I sprout flour and then bake with it....or sprout and ferment and then make a porridge...do I lose everything I gained by doing it in the first place???

I keep hearing that cooking with ferments and sprouts causes the food to lose most of it's nutritional value...but some things are just not a good thing raw.

Hi Aliyanna,

This article http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/living-with-phytic-acid might answer most of your questions.

Some quotes below ...

Phytic acid is present in beans, seeds, nuts, grains—especially in the bran or outer hull; phytates are also found in tubers, and trace amounts occur in certain fruits and vegetables like berries and green beans.

High-phytate diets result in mineral deficiencies.

Phytase is the enzyme that neutralizes phytic acid and liberates the phosphorus. This enzyme co-exists in plant foods that contain phytic acid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytic_acid#cite_note-17

In-home food preparation techniques can break down the phytic acid in all of these foods. Simply cooking the food will reduce the phytic acid to some degree. More effective methods are soaking in an acid medium, lactic acid fermentation, and sprouting.

We sprout and soak because of lectins. They cause my kids a lot of issues. But I was wondering if all the goodies that you get when you soak and ferment if you cook the foods.

The good bacteria may be killed by cooking, but the nutritional benefits of fermenting (and cooking) grain is probably more important.

To supplant the lost good bacteria, we can add fermented ingredients to the grain ferment after cooking.