Sprouted bread

Sprouted bread is a type of bread made from whole grains that have been allowed to sprout, that is, to germinate. There are a few different types of sprouted grain bread. Some are made with added flour, some are made with added gluten, and some, such as Essene bread, are made with very few additional ingredients.

Sprouted breads
These are breads that contain the whole grain (or kernel, or berry) of various seeds, although only after they have been sprouted. They are different from 'white' bread in as much as 'white' breads are made from ground wheat endosperm (after removal of the bran and germ). Whole grain breads include the bran, germ and endosperm, therefore providing more fiber, and naturally-occurring vitamins and proteins. Sprouted (or germinated) grain breads have roughly the same amount of vitamins per gram.

Some claim that sprouted grains have 50-1350 times more minerals and vitamins than non-sprouted grains. Although there may be a slight increase per gram of such things, much of this increase follows the increased size of the grain due to the germination process and therefore, by and large, the amounts per gram remain the same. A comparison of nutritional analyses shows that sprouted grains contain about 75% the energy (carbohydrates), slightly higher protein and about 40% of the fat when compared to whole grains.

Wheat is not the only grain used for sprouted breads. Grains and legumes such as millet, barley, oat, lentil and soy may also be used. Bread that is made from an array of grains and legumes can provide a complete set of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. There may be a slight increase in trace minerals and nutrients over non-sprouted breads. Other than that, they supply much the same advantages as whole grain breads over refined grain breads, such as lowered risk of coronary heart disease.

Essene bread
Essene bread is a very primitive form of sprouted grain bread. It is often eaten uncooked, or slightly heated, by proponents of raw foods. The Essenes, a Jewish religious group that flourished from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD, are credited with the technique and basic recipes for Essene bread, which is made from sprouted wheat and prepared at a low temperature. These two practices ensure the maximum possible vitamin content for this foodstuff. The sprouting also breaks down the lectins and other substances that some individuals may be sensitive or allergic to.

The following is an excerpt from The Essene Gospel of Peace, as translated by Edmund Bordeaux Szekely. ""Let the angels of God prepare your bread. Moisten your wheat, that the angels of water may enter it. Then set it in the air, that the angel of air may embrace it. And leave it from morning to evening beneath the sun, that the angel of sunshine may descend upon it. And the blessings of the three angels will soon make the germ of life to sprout in your wheat. Then crush your grain, and make thin wafers, as did your forefathers when they departed out of Egypt, the house of bondage. Put them back again beneath the sun from its appearing, and when it is risen to its highest in the heavens, turn them over on the other side that they may be embraced there also by the angel of sunshine, and leave them there until the sun sets. For the angels of water, and air and of sunshine fed and ripened the wheat in the field, and they likewise must prepare also your bread. And the same sun which, with the fire of life, made the wheat to grow and ripen, must cook your bread with the same fire. For the fire of the sun gives life to the wheat, to the bread, and to the body. But the fire of death kills the wheat, the bread, and the body. And the living angels of the living God serve only living men. For God is the God of the living, and not the God of the dead."