Hi everybody this is Monica Reinagle the nutrition diva here with your quick and dirty

tips for eating well and feeling fabulous we're talking about sprouted grains today. I'm sure

you've been seeing them pop up everywhere. Once upon a time not so long ago, grains such as wheat and oats were viewed as a

cornerstone of a healthy wholesome diet. These days, grains are often portrayed

as villains with books like Wheat Belli and Grain

Brain arguing that grains are to blame for everything from obesity to ADHD to crabgrass.

Okay, maybe not crabgrass, but going grain-free is definitely one of the

hottest dietary trends of the decade. At the same time though, sprouted grains are one of the hottest trends in food

manufacturing, appearing in everything from bread to pasta to breakfast cereals to

pretzels. Some people seem to think that sprouting a grain transforms it from a horrible

food into a healthy one. At best, I'd say it's a way to transform a somewhat nutritious food

into a slightly more nutritious one.

And at worst, it may just be a way of putting a health halo on a food that's gotten a bad reputation.

Now those of you who are longtime listeners, or maybe who started out by downloading the entire archive of past shows

may recall me talking about the nutritional benefits of sprouted grains once before way back in 2008. And since then a lot of new research has been

published so I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the subject. And the first question

is are sprouted grains more nutritious? Whether

you're sprouting a kernel of wheat or growing a tomato plant, getting that seed

to sprout profoundly changes its chemical composition. In the presence of moisture

and warmth, enzymes spring into action, breaking starches down into sugars,

reconfiguring protein molecules into different proteins, producing vitamins, and changing the chemical structure of minerals.

As a result, sprouted grains may be lower in gluten, higher in folate, and contain more bioavailable

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