Health is… happy cells

I am not suggesting in this book to eat only sprouts, however, I know that sprouts can provide us with high quality building blocks for better health.

 We need to include in our diet a wide variety of whole, living foods, and sprouts produce an excellent source.

If a person is able to grow all, or part, of their own food, then living foods are easy to provide. However, in times of drought and water restrictions, with increased costs of water (which councils and municipalities say is looming), many people may be limited in what food they can grow in their backyards. If someone is not able to have a garden, then sprouts in the kitchen will provide some food, over which there is quality control. Be generous to your cells. Lavish your cells with live foods.

Our cells can’t speak, however, when we feed them living sprouts, I am sure they vibrate with happiness. Health is like a bank account; the more we put into it, the more we get out of it. When we prepare a meal, we need to ask, “Will this food build health, strength and vitality?” Living foods should be part of everyone’s daily diet.

Recently, I asked Elsa, at ninety-one-years-young, what she thought of sprouts and she said they had been a part of her diet of natural foods for over 30 years. She said, “Live sprouts…these are embryonic, the youngest food you can eat, sprouts are surging with energy, vibrant with life, nutritious and such a versatile food. Sprouts are even more nutritious than the seeds from which they grow and they are the freshest source of food available, anywhere. All compounds that make up the plant are in the sprout. Sprouts are truly nature’s elixir. They are a must in every responsible person’s life”. Her lifestyle choices, and a natural foods’ diet, which includes sprouts, homegrown greens, and homemade yoghurt, and her zest for life, are important factors contributing to the health and longevity of this incredibly active, biologically youthful, lady. Elsa, originally from Leipzig, teaches two yoga classes each week and drives her own car. As always, tsöff (live well) Elsa!

We can learn from this example, and make decisions to eat foods that build vitality. Life is precious. Our body is an exquisite gift; it is the only one we will have. If we treat it poorly, we can’t trade it in on a new model when something goes wrong. If we take care of it, then it will serve us well.

{image] Mixed sprouts of almonds, cannellini, mung and pinto beans in a tossed salad with carrots, arracacha (p 114), pineapple, rau om, onion chives and a French dressing.

Sprouts have essential nutrients and living enzymes to provide optimum cellular health. Optimum health and preventative medicine starts with each person; the desire to want the best, and the actions that make it happen. Many people in our country have been living on the S.A.D. diet (The Standard Australian Diet) of mainly cooked, refined and processed foods. Real foods (that feed and nourish the cells to regenerate) are fresh, natural, and whole.

We need food to be able to live. Food, in our society is used for many reasons other than simply to satisfy hunger and provide nourishment. Food is used for pleasure, socialising, celebration and comfort. Food preferences are very much dictated by habits. For many people, what they eat is largely for pleasure of taste, not for the sake of nourishment.

{Image] Energy snack of mung sprouts (p 66), coriander p 112), sultanas and khat leaves (p 68).

Taste is a precious sense. Whole foods with full, natural flavour are what the body needs. However, modern food technology and advertising has bombarded us with pseudo-artificial-foods, usually sugary, salty and with lots of additives, which have an addictive effect on our taste buds and brain. But these foods cannot spell health, as they are nutrient deficient. We can use all five senses in eating; we hear the food being prepared in the kitchen, we certainly enjoy the smell of a delicious meal being cooked, and then we sit down to see the wonderful array of food, and enjoy the feel and taste. It is only optimum nutrition that can provide optimum health.

Perhaps we need a strong 6th sense. Some people consider we have a 6th sense and call it extrasensory perception (ESP), while others say it is a ‘gut-instinct’ when trying to choose the right course of action. Let’s call it, the sense to make sensible health promoting decisions. It will be a sense that needs daily training to be strong, for making healthy choices. My dictionary gives the definition of sense as: perceive, feel, to have special faculties, to become aware of, to comprehend and understand. We can certainly use all of these meanings if we truly want optimum health. To do this we need to learn all we can about the body, how it functions best, what nutrients it needs. We can then make good decisions. We have 10,000 taste buds, and we can teach them to love the best, and we can desire to do what our 6th sense of making sensible decisions, wants! Although some foods may be established habits, and habits are difficult to break, we can make the choice to improve the quality of nutrients we give our priceless body.

Quality of life is in your hands. There is everything to gain by looking after your health. What you grow in your garden or kitchen can make a difference to you and the health of your family; and if we share this information with others, it can create a ripple affect… as good health is so precious.

Let’s make a commitment to provide food that can give the best in nutrients and build for health and happiness in life. I have enjoyed researching for this book; it has shown me how amazing seeds are and how precious is the gift of life and health. I encourage you to maximise your health with sprouts, as they are such a valuable LIFETIME investment. Please pass on these ‘small seeds’ of information on sprouts, to generate better health for this generation and the next. My desire for you is good health and a long and happy life.