Re: Sprouting coffee?

July 10, 2002

Coffee beans have been roasted, they won't sprout (and they're

not actually beans, as you probably know). Green (unroasted)

coffee beans may sprout, but then I doubt they would roast into

the same product, and I have no idea if it would make them

" better " at all. Caffeine is the main problem with coffee, I doubt

sprouting would have any impact on that - I could be wrong, of

course, but unless you have a source of green coffee beans

(which is possible, my dad buys them) so you can experiment

with sprouting and roasting and then have the beans tested,

there's probably no way to find out.

I personally think caffeine *in moderation* is okay for some

people, the moderation is the hard part since it's rather addictive.

Aubin

July 10, 2002

Los Viejos took coffee. Who knows. Maybe sprouted coffee could be THE new

cure for something. Or an old poison.

BB

> Hi All,

>

> I am new to this list for about a month. Sally Fallon does not recommend

the

> consumption of coffee. It is one of my weaknesses, especially here in New

> Orleans. Would sprouting the coffee beans make a difference as to whether

or

> not it is healthy? I get organic beans from whole Foods and a local Co-op

> and don't grind them until use. Looking for feedback.

>

> Jack

>

July 10, 2002

Hi Jack,

I agree with Aubin; I don't think sprouting would work. I doubt it

would work well even with unroasted beans. I also agree that

moderation is the key. You may have slightly less to worry about in

New Orleans too. Do you use chicory in your coffee? If so, that

reduces the caffeine somewhat and has the side benefit of providing a

small amount of fructo-oligosacharrides that help to feed beneficial

bacteria in the gut and may help to improve absorption of certain

minerals. Fructo-oligosacharrides are also found naturally in

blueberries, jerusalem artichokes, and asparagus as well as many

other foods.

Personally, I don't always like to have chicory in my coffee, but I

do like to occasionally order a chicory coffee when I'm at CC's or

Rue de la Course...and of course a beignet just isn't a beignet

without chicory coffee! :-) I even sometimes pick up chicory at my

co-op and blend it myself at home.

July 10, 2002

-

>If so, that

>reduces the caffeine somewhat and has the side benefit of providing a

>small amount of fructo-oligosacharrides that help to feed beneficial

>bacteria in the gut

What the FOS people neglect to mention is that while FOS will feed

beneficial bacteria, it'll do an even better job of feeding harmful

bacteria. Eating a little of it in natural whole foods is one thing,

though I doubt Jerusalem artichokes should be eaten in quantity over time,

but as a supplement or a staple it's a disaster.

-

July 10, 2002

> What the FOS people neglect to mention is that while FOS will feed

> beneficial bacteria, it'll do an even better job of feeding harmful

> bacteria. Eating a little of it in natural whole foods is one

> thing, though I doubt Jerusalem artichokes should be eaten in

> quantity over time, but as a supplement or a staple it's a disaster.

Whether that's true for supplements or not, chicory and the others

are natural sources...and have been consumed as important foodstuffs

by multiple cultures. There may indeed be problems with FOS, but

condemnation of them will require a pretty large body of evidence

since they're relatively ubiquitous in traditional foods - meaning

that if they are problematic, there's gonna be " a lot of esplainin to

do " with regard to some traditional diets.

What is the body of evidence against FOS anyway? Is there anything

other than that book...what was it...Breaking the Vicious Cycle?

July 11, 2002

Greetings Jack and all,

The main idea in " sprouting " is to increase nutrients

and their potential to be used by the body. I don't

know how that could apply to making coffee " healthy " .

However IMO the cold brewing method which minimizes

the leaching of the acids in coffee is superior to

conventional hot brewing at least for taste and I

suspect less acids is " healthier " .

Chef Jem

__________________________________________________

July 12, 2002

Thanks to Chem Jem and all who responded to my post.

It seems that there is a whole science into sprouting. My wife told me that

the tomatoes that she bought from the farmer's market had seeds that were

sprouting. To know what increases nutritional quantity and quality and what

doesn't is a mystery to me.