Sprouts are seeds that have started germinating (sprouting). Sprouts are a very popular superfood, because they are highly nutritional. This is because the so-called antinutrients are removed when the seeds start sprouting. Antinutrients prevent germination from happening, keeping the seeds ‘dormant’ until the conditions are right. It is thought that the antinutrients protect the plant from going instinct by making the seeds taste bitter and difficult to digest. This way birds will not eat them and even if they do eat them they will not be digested properly so that the seeds will be discarded and still be able to reproduce. Soaking, cooking, fermenting and sprouting will reduce the antinutrient levels of the seeds. When the antinutrients are reduced the seeds are not only digested more easily, but they also increase nutrient content and bioavailabity, which means they are more readily absorbed by the body. They contain some very important enzymes that are needed for food digestion.
Frying foods traditionally means to cook foods in boiling oil and this method is already
mentioned in the old testament of the bible. Also medieval authors Geoffrey Chaucer and
Miguel de Cervantes mention it in their novels. Nowadays frying in oil has a very bad reputation and rightfully so. A lot of oil is absorbed by frying the foods in oil and there are downsides even when the oil is rich in polyunsaturated fats. Vegetable oils contain a lot of omega 6 fatty acids which replaces the omega 3 fatty acid needs. Omega 3 fatty acids are called essential fatty acids because they have to come from food as our body can't produce them. Another downside of frying in oil is that when heating up vegetable oils high concentrations of aldehydes are released, which have been linked to cancer, heart disease and dementia.
