Broccoli and cheese soup from Panera Bread has always been one of my favorite meals, so of course I had to figure out how to make it on my own! This recipe is easy peesy if you have the right ingredients. I typically don’t like to measure things and go with a glug of this and a pinch of that, but I’ll share my estimates as best I can. As always, I recommend you play around with the ingredients to suit your taste.
Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Ingredients
1 medium onion
3-4 pods of garlic
2 Tablespoons of butter or olive oil
2 Tablespoons of flour
Bone broth – 2 quarts (homemade bone broth or store brand – I recommend organic and whatever brand has the highest protein and fat content)
Broccoli – 3 to 4 medium crowns
*Celery and carrots optional
Heavy whipping cream – 1 cup
Whole milk – 1 cup
Shredded cheese – 8 oz
Salt and pepper to taste
*Cayenne pepper sprinkled on top optional if you like the spice
Directions
First of all, sauté 1 medium onion and 3-4 garlic (3-4 pods) in a generous amount of butter or olive oil (about 2 Tablespoons).
Sauteed Onions and Garlic for Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Next, add 2 Tablespoons of flour and stir continuously on medium heat to create the roux.
Adding the Flour to Make a Roux for Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Steam broccoli before putting it in the blender along with any additional vegetables like carrots and celery. Using a steamer like this, turn the heat up to high until the water boils, then turn it down and simmer for just a few minutes keeping the texture still somewhat firm.
Steamed Broccoli for Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Steamed Carrots and Celery for Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Blend about 3/4 very well and the remaining 1/4 at a course level so you can still see some vegetable chunks. Add some type of liquid (broth, milk, or heavy whipping cream) to help with the blending. (If you have picky eaters who don’t like onions, you can blend the sautéed onions and garlic and no one will be the wiser!)a
I like to make my own bone broth with every chicken that I cook, so I always have bone broth in the freezer. To thaw it out I put it in a pot of warm – hot water for a couple of hours. I like to add all of my ingredients first and then add the broth so that everything evens out. If there’s any extra broth, I put it aside in some tupperware to replenish the soup as we eat it or I’ll use it to make a quick bowl of egg drop soup.
Bone Broth for Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Add milk, cream, and shredded cheese at a low to medium setting stirring continuously so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Turn the heat off once the cheese has melted and let sit for about 20-30 minutes to let the flavors soak in.
Add salt and pepper, give it a taste, maybe add a little more…but remember that you can always add more but never less. 😉
In Conclusion
There are many different variations you can choose based on personal preference. For example, you might like to play around with different cheeses like Monterey Jack or Havarti which would give it an even creamier texture. Shredded or diced chicken can also be added to make this a heartier meal. Milk, half and half, and heavy whipping cream can also be interchanged depending on your preference. I’m a big believer of tasting things along the way to get just the flavor I’m looking for, so have some fun with this recipe!
Kombucha is a beverage produced by fermenting sweet tea with a living culture of yeast and bacteria. There are numerous health benefits associated with drinking kombucha, but it’s the amazing taste that keeps my husband and I coming back for more!
Detoxifies Your Body – Because it is rich in enzymes and bacterial aids, it gives your pancreas and liver a break.
Prevents Cancer – It is high in glucaric acid which studies show can help prevent cancer.
Prevents and Treats Arthritis – It contains glucasamines which increases synovial hyaluronic acid production that preserves the cartilage structures which prevents arthritic pain and enables connective tissue bind moisture which increases lubrication and flexibility.
Aids Digestion and Gut Health – Because it is a probiotic beverage it has such benefits as improved digestion, fighting candida (which is an overgrowth of harmful yeast), mental clarity, and mood stability by basically crowding out the bad bacteria in your intestinal tract.
Boosts the Immune System – It is rich in anti-oxidants which boosts your immune system and energy levels.
Ok, so you’re convinced…drinking kombucha is great, and you want to do it! But where do you get it? Well, if you’re fortunate enough to live near some eclectic health stores, you should be able to buy some off the shelf for $3.50 – $4.00 a bottle or you could buy it in bulk online, but you might just be better off making it yourself! It sounds a little daunting to set up, but once you get a system going, it’s easy to maintain and you can tailor your kombucha to your specific liking. Here’s how we do it.
Ingredients/Materials Needed to Make Kombucha
Brewing Jars – You will need glass jars for the first fermentation. I like doing two jars at a time for a continuous brew for both my husband and I who have different brews, so we use a total of four gallon sized jars. This is the perfect system that allows each of us to drink 2-3 bottles a day and have plenty to share with guests! These plain glass gallon size jars are perfect. You’ll need to cover them with a double layer of paper towel secured with a rubber band.
Tea Pot – I picked up my tea pot at a thrift store ages ago and I love it’s wide mouth that enables me to add my loose leaf tea and sugar. You can find something similar on Amazon, or just make do with what you have.
Strainer – After brewing your loose leaf tea, you’ll want to strain it as you pour it into your container with something like these. You could also put the loose leaf tea in a diffuser like this.
Filtered Water – If you’re lucky enough to have well water, great! Use that. We have city water with no flouride (Yeah!) But while flouride isn’t good for you, it won’t really affect your brew (just your health). What you DO really want to watch our for is the chlorine. Chlorine may kill bad bacteria, but it also kills good bacteria, and it can kill your scoby. Chlorine is a gas and it will evaporate if you leave your water to sit out for 24 hours. You can also boil your water for 10 minutes to do the trick. If you want to invest in a good water filter, I have heard that the Big Berkey ones are the best.
Bottles – If you choose to do a second ferment (which I highly recommend because it creates a bubbly and slightly alcoholic – like less than a nonalcoholic beer, but still nice – beverage) then you’ll need glass containers (preferably dark in color) that can be sealed tightly. (You can also just pour the kombucha directly from the spigot and drink it that way too. This is known as continuous brew kombucha.) I really like using these bottles. I purchased 2 cases because I brew two gallon sized jars for both my husband and I (four all together) and this number of bottles works well with that. You’ll also love this bottle brush is great for cleaning out the bottles. *If you like to drink commercial kombucha from the store, you could just reuse those bottles. I just don’t think they provide as good of a seal.
Tea – It takes 8 tea bags for each batch of tea. I find that the rough equivalent of loose leaf tea is a good handful. 🙂 I started out buying tea from the grocery store, but there so many chemical contaminants in commercial tea that I find it’s better (and cheaper) to buy bulk organic tea on Amazon. There are many different types of tea to get, but it’s best to start with black tea to activate your kombucha. This is what I use to brew my husband’s kombucha. Once it gets going, you can choose different kinds of tea based on your preferences. I seem to be constantly pregnant or breastfeeding and/or just trying to avoid caffeine, so I use red raspberry leaf tea which not only tastes AMAZING, but has wonderful health benefits for women. *Special note: Red raspberry leaf tea has antimicrobial properties that will actually attack the scoby. To combat this, I trade out my not so good looking scobies with new baby scobies from my husband’s batch about every 6-8 weeks or so.
Sugar – If you’ve got the money, go ahead and buy the organic sugar, but being on a budget, I just get the cheapest kind from our local grocery store. I go through about ten pounds of sugar once every six weeks or so.
Scoby (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) – A scoby is the mushroom looking culture made up of bacteria and yeast that makes kombucha. The best thing to do is to find a friend who brews kombucha and to get one of their scobies. The scoby, or “mother” as it is so creepily called (Don’t tell your friends, “I kept my mother in a dark closet,” or you’ll really freak them out!) can be purchased online as well.
Directions for Brewing Kombucha
Brew the Tea – Boil a kettle of water and add a handful of the loose leaf tea (roughly the equivalent of 8 tea bags) and one and a half cups of sugar per gallon size batch. You’ll have to play with the right sugar amount depending on a variety of factors. If your kombucha is tasting too sweet, you’ll want to pare down the sugar to just a cup, but if your kombucha is too vinegary, you’ll want to add more sugar, like closer to two cups.
Ingredients for Kombucha
Let it Sit – After coming to a boil, the tea needs to steep. You don’t want to add hot water to the scoby because it can kill it, so let it sit until it’s room temperature.
Add the Tea and Water – Use a mesh filter to pour the tea into your gallon sized jars then fill to the top with filtered water. If you get a scoby online or from a friend, it should come with about a cup of liquid from it’s original brine. You’ll always want to leave at least a cup of the kombucha from the previous batch for the new batch. *Cleaning note: About every 6-8 weeks (or whenever the jar starts to look dirty), you’ll want to transfer the scoby and a cup of the leftover kombucha into a temporary bowl, clean out the jar, and put the scoby and the kombucha back into the jar.
Cover it Up – The kombucha needs to stay covered to keep out little critters, but it also needs fresh oxygen, so cover it with a folded paper towel or cheese cloth and put a rubber band over it to keep it sealed up.
Store in a Dark Place – Now the kombucha needs to “brew” for 5-7 days. It does best in a dark place where it won’t get disturbed. We brew four gallon sized jars in a rotational schedule, so I’ve set aside a nice cupboard space just for them. During the storage process, you’ll want to check on it periodically to make sure the scoby hasn’t risen up outside of the liquid. If it does, just push back down. *You’ll notice that I have a small jar in the back, that is to collect fruit flies! Basically, I add apple cider vinegar, water, and a bit of soap, then cover with saran wrap, cover with a ring, and poke several holes in the top of the saran wrap to catch the fruit flies.
Storing the Kombucha Tea Jars for Fermentation
Bottling – After your gallon sized jars have fermented for 5-7 days, you can taste test it to see if it is ready to bottle. The scoby essentially “eats” the sugar, but if the sugar is completely gone it will taste vinegary. If it gets too vinegary, it will start to lose its health benefits. If this is happening, you’ll want to bottle your kombucha sooner or add more sugar. If it tastes super sweet and not very carbonated, you might want to leave it to ferment for a few more days. These batches of kombucha below are nice, bubbly, and ready to go!
Two Kombucha Jars with Scobies
When bottling, you can pour right from the spigot into the bottle. Now, for some reason, I find that some spigots work better than others, so with some batches, I put a pouring lid on my glass jar and use a funnel to pour the kombucha into bottles. (You would also do this if you’re just using glass mason jars that don’t have spigots.)
Lid and Funnel for Pouring Kombucha
Store the Bottles – Once you seal up your bottles, you’ll want to store them for the second fermentation in a dark place where they will be undisturbed for another 5-7 days. Since my husband and I drink two different brews, I label his bottles “Scott”.
Storing Kombucha Bottles in a Cupboard
Move to the Refrigerator – Once you put the bottles in the refrigerator, it will stop the second fermentation process, so make sure they have been allowed enough time for this.
Store Your Empties – I know this might not really seem like part of the process, but the more you can create a streamlined system that everybody is aware of, the easier it will be to maintain the entire process. We have decided that it’s easiest to store the used bottles under the sink until it is time to brew again. To clean the bottles out, we just rinse them out with hot water. After about a year of doing this, we noticed there was some build up on the inside of the bottles, so we bought one of these brushes. It works wonderfully!
Enjoy! – Some people like to drink a kombucha first thing in the morning, others enjoy one after a nice meal, and some may enjoy sipping on one throughout the day. I personally enjoy one first thing in the morning, one around lunch time, and one in the evening. I typically like to drink one when I’m a bit hungry (not starving or it will give me an upset tummy) because it helps stave off the hunger.
Warning: If you brew it right, your kombucha bottles will form their own little mothers. We call this the “goober”. You might be tempted to spit it out, but it is literally the best part of the kombucha and FULL of probiotics. So, bottom’s up!
Caution: If you are just starting to drink kombucha for the first time, go slow and watch how it effects you. It is detoxifying your body, so you’ll want to beware of that, especially if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. I think it’s best to slowly sip on one or limit yourself to one cup at a time if you are just starting out and gradually work up to being able to consume an entire bottle in one sitting.
New Scobies: You will notice that after about 2-4 weeks, another scoby has grown on top of your original scoby. You can leave it there for awhile and it should be fine, but eventually it will need to come off or it will make your kombucha too vinegary. Find a spot between the two scobies, work your way from the outside it, and slowly separate. I usually just throw mine away, but I have heard of people making scoby jerky out of them, and of course you can always save it in a small glass jar with some kombucha to give to a friend who wants to start brewing kombucha.
Variations: If you’re just not into the kombucha flavor, you can add some extra ingredients to the bottling process to give it a better flavor. Some things I have enjoyed adding (separately) are freshly juiced ginger root, tart cranberry juice, and homemade elderberry syrup.
Sugar in Kombucha: There is a lot of controversy about how much sugar remains in the kombucha after brewing. Technically, the sugar added at the beginning of the process should be “consumed” by the scoby as part of the fermentation process. FDA regulations, however, require labels on commercial kombucha bottles to state how much sugar was added at the beginning of the process versus what is left behind at the end, which can be confusing. Basically, people who are on keto diets (so no to low carbs, i.e. sugar) still recommend drinking kombucha, so there you go. If you taste the sugary tea at the beginning of the process and then compare that to the taste at the end of the process, you will see that there is no way that the sugar content from beginning to end is the same. If your kombucha tastes sugary at the end of the process, let it sit for a few more days and then adjust the amount of sugar you add in the beginning.
In Conclusion
It may seem overwhelming at first to get a system going, but I promise you that it’s not that hard to maintain and the benefits FAR outweigh the efforts. I usually spend about 20-30 minutes a couple times a week on the entire process. And once you get the initial start up costs out of the way, buying the tea and sugar is a nominal fee to keep up with. So what are you waiting for? Go start making that kombucha already!
Here’s a great place if you have any troubleshooting questions along the way.
Homemade Continuous Brew Kombucha
Recipe Type: Beverage
Cuisine: Kombucha
Author: Stacey Maaser
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 batches
Enjoy the health benefits of kombucha without the cost by making your own!
Ingredients
Brewing Jars – 2 to 4 gallon size glass jars, iced tea jars with spigots, or gallon sized mason jars
Tea Pot – A teapot with a wide mouth top so you can easily throw in your tea and sugar
Strainer – A mesh strainer for straining out the loose leaf tea
Filtered Water – Use a good water source because your scoby is alive and needs a healthy source of water
Bottles – 12 to 24 grolsh style flip top bottles (or old store bought kombucha bottles) for an airtight seal
Tea – Black, organic, loose leaf tea is best, use different teas (like red raspberry leaf) once your kombucha is established (about 4-6 weeks)
Sugar – Whatever sugar tickles your fancy, you’ll go through a lot of it, but you just need one cup per batch to get started
Scoby – Buy a scoby online or get one from a friend
Instructions
Brew the Tea – Boil water, add a handful of loose leaf tea (or 8 tea bags), add one cup of sugar
Let it Sit – Let the tea steep and then cool
Scoby and Liquid – Put the scoby and the liquid it came with in your gallon sized jar
Add the Tea and Water – Use the wire mesh strainer to filter out the loose tea
Cover – Cover the glass jar with a folded paper towel or cheesecloth and a rubber band to let it breathe and keep out the bugs
Store in a Dark Place – Let it sit undisturbed for 5-7 days
Bottling – Pour the kombucha from your gallon glass jars into individual bottles
Store the Bottles – Keep undisturbed for another 5-7 days for the second fermentation
Move to the Refrigerator – Move the bottles you want to drink to the refrigerator
https://embracing-motherhood.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/embracing-motherhood.com_1.png400810Stacey Maaserhttps://embracing-motherhood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EM_Logo.pngStacey Maaser2018-06-24 16:41:252020-11-19 20:52:13The Best Way to Make Kombucha
When you eat a bran muffin, brown rice, or whole wheat bread, you think you’re making a healthy choice, right? Well, because of the phytic acid present in these foods, that is not the case. If you are not going to properly prepare your foods that contain phytic acid, it is actually a better option to eat a blueberry muffin made with white flour, white rice, and white bread.
Phytic acid is present in all seeds (which by definition includes nuts, beans, grain, oats, rice, corn, tubers, etc.), and is an anti-nutrient that protects plants, but is harmful to us if we eat it in its raw state. In order to unlock the phytic acid so that we can get the phosphorus within and prevent it from leeching additional nutrients from us, we need to unlock the phytase within the seed (or add it if enough isn’t there). We can do this by using proper preparation techniques such as soaking, sprouting, and sour leavening.
What is an Anti-Nutrient?
There are many different types of anti-nutrients such as protease inhibitors, lipase inhibitors, amylase inhibitors, oxalic acid and oxalates, glucosinolates, trypsin inhibitors, lectins, flavonoids, and saponins, and they are all good for plants, but bad for us. Basically, they are the protection system of plants. They are found most often in the hull or husk of a seed and acts as a protective coating that can be “taken off” when the conditions (for growing) are just right.
This Coat is Like the Anti-Nutrients in a Plant
Taking the Anti-Nutrient “Coat” Off
Phytic Acid is an Anti-Nutrient
Phytic acid is the specific anti-nutrient that I want to focus on here because it is prevalent in so many of our foods, and by properly preparing foods to unlock the phytic acid, we will also be unlocking the mechanisms of some of the other anti-nutrients as well.
Phytic Acid is an Anti-Nutrient (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Harbinary, 2009)
Good for Plants: When a seed is in conditions that are just right for growing (the right acidity or soil pH, enough moisture, and nutrients are present), phytase will be released that will unlock the phytic acid and release the phosphorus that it needs to grow. Because of phytic acid, seeds can stay dormant as they pass through the digestive tract of an animal and are in locations or conditions where the growing conditions are not ideal. Soil has a specific pH that when combined with water and nutrients unlocks the phytic acid so the seed can germinate and grow.
A Seed is Protected by Phytic Acid Until it Sprouts (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Amada44, 2010)
Bad for Us:We have enzymes to break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, but we do not have an enzyme that allows us to break down phytic acid. So when we eat foods with phytic acid, we are not getting access to the valuable phosphorus inside. Phosphorus isn’t as widely recognized as calcium, but it is just as important. Phosphorus is a mineral found within every single cell in the body. It works with calcium to make our bones strong. Too little phosphorus in the diet can lead to osteoporosis. (*Too much, mainly from soft drinks, can lead to calcium loss as well as cravings for sugar and alcohol.)
In addition, the phosphate arms of the phytic acid molecule attach to valuable minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, and magnesium, making it impossible for us to absorb them during digestion. (It binds with these minerals regardless of when they were consumed, meaning that by eating phytic acid, we could actually be getting negative nutrients from the food we’re eating.) Phytic acid also inhibits the enzymes amylase, pepsin, and trypsin that help us to digest carbohydrates and proteins.
Over Time, Phytic Acid Can Cause Osteoporosis (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons, BruceBlaus, 2013)
When growing children are deprived of these minerals, their growth is stunted and the results can be severe such as poor bone growth, short stature, rickets, narrow jaws, and tooth decay. As adults, we can go for years and years consuming a diet high in phytic acid and not notice any immediate damage until we get something like osteoporosis in our later years when it is too late to do anything about it.
Seeds That Have Phytic Acid
The following list of “seeds” contain phytic acid and are listed from the highest phytic acid content to the lowest. When we eat these foods, some of them easily come to mind as seeds and with others, you’ll be like, oh yeah, I guess those are seeds! (Just know that for the duration of this article, I’ll be referring to the following as seeds.)
Seeds(like sesame and pumpkin)
Nuts(like pecan, walnut, and peanut)
Grains(like wheat, rye, barley, rice, and corn)
Beans(like kidney, soy, and chickpeas)
Tubers(like yams, sweet potatoes, and potatoes)
Phytic Acid is Located in the Hull of the Seed
Phytic Acid is in the Hull (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Laghi.l, 2007)
Phytic acid is mostly found in the bran, hull, or the hard outer layers of the seed. You would think that we would just be able to remove it and problem solved, but when we separate the bran, we are also separate the embryo, and these two places are where all of the nutrients are located.
What Will Neutralize the Phytic Acid?
Phytaseis an enzyme that resides within plants alongside phytic acid that neutralizes it and unlocks the organic form of phosphorus by acting as a catalyst to the hydrolosis of phytic acid. In nature, this occurs during germination.
Where Do We Get Phytase?
Ruminant animals such as deer, cows, and sheep, produce phytase that helps them to unlock the nutrients in the phytic acid. They also have four stomachs, regurgitate their food so they can chew it again, and have longer intestines. They are made to eat food like this.
Ruminant Have Four Stomachs that can Break Down Phytic Acid (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Pearson Scott Foresman, 2008)
We are not. We produce such a small amount of phytase that it’s hardly worth mentioning. Some people do have really good gut flora with probiotic lactobacilli and other good bacteria that actually produce phytase. They are able to handle low to moderate amounts of phytic acid.
But here’s the good news: By soaking, sprouting, and sour leavening, we can mimic the conditions that stimulate germination which will release the phytase and break down the phytic acid thereby releasing the phosphorus mineral and unlocking any other minerals (calcium, zinc, magnesium, and iron) that are bound up as well.
Organic Chemistry
This might be a section that you gloss over, and that’s fine. Just know that I have spent weeks upon weeks and hours upon hours reading hundreds of pages of studies and scientific explanations in order to understand this very complicated, yet beautifully simple, process. Here is what I learned about phytic acid and how it is affected by the three things that seeds need to germinate.
The Right Moisture: The first thing seeds need to germinate is water, or H2O.
The Right Acidity: When the pH reaches the optimal level of 5.1-5.5, which is slightly acidic, the phosphates in the phytic acid (where the phosphorus is being stored) convert to dihydrogen triphosphate ions (H2PO4−). This is when the phytase that is in the seed catalyzes (or starts a reaction with) the hydrolysis of phytic acid. Hydrolysis is a reaction involving the breaking of a bond in a molecule using water. So basically, when the conditions are slightly acidic, the phytic acid is able to be broken apart with the help of the phytase enzyme.
The Right Nutrients: Now that the phosphates have been released from their phytic acid bond, the seed can access the phosphorous which it uses to sprout and grow. When the seedling sprouts, the phytase levels are at their highest and they phytic acid levels are at their lowest.
Kitchen Chemistry: Soaking, Sprouting, and Sour Leavening
Once we understand the organic chemistry behind germination, we can understand the chemistry that needs to take place in our kitchen. In order to break down the phytic acid and unlock the nutrients that are trapped within, we need to mimic the process of germination.
Soaking in an Acidic Medium: Soaking is what prepares the seed for germination. By adding an acidic medium such as whey, buttermilk, yogurt, or clabbered milk, which creates an optimal pH level of about 5-5.5 where the phytic acid will be able to be broken down. Apple cider vinegar has a slightly lower pH of 3 and lemon juice is the most acidic of all with a pH of 2. By adding a few tablespoons of either of these to a large pot or glass container of filtered water (never plastic), it should be diluted enough to create a slightly acidic medium. Soaking works best when it’s warm (about 90 degrees) and when it lasts for at least 24 hours.
Soaking Barley in an Acidic Medium
Sprouting: Seeds that are soaked in filtered water and then sprouted for 4 to 5 days will have the time to neutralize a good amount of the phytic acid. Sprouting also increases the vitamin C content tremendously! I personally find the sprouting process too time consuming, but give it a try if it sounds like fun to you or you can buy some sprouted grain flour here!
Seeds Sprouting (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Alex Ex, 2007)
Sour Leavening: Sourdough creates the perfect pH of 4.5-5.0. This is the BEST way to get rid of ALL the phytic acid. Not only that, but the naturally occurring lactobacilli bacteria that convert lactose and other sugars into the lactic acid that gives it its perfect pH, are also the good bacteria that you want in your gut to crowd out things like candida. When making sourdough, it is important to work with freshly ground grain so that the phytase is readily available. Check out some of my sourdough recipes if you are ready to get started.
Sourdough Starter
Some Seeds Don’t Have Phytase
In order for the phytic acid to be broken down, there MUST be phytase within the seed. If there isn’t, no amount of soaking, sprouting, or fermenting will break down the phytic acid. Rye, wheat, and barely, for example, have high amounts of phytase. Oats, rice, and corn, however, have hardly any phytase at all. Here’s a simple trick you can do for seeds that don’t have enough phytase.
Grind some fresh grain that is high in phytase. (Rye is the best, wheat works too.)
Add one or two tablespoons during the soaking process to seeds that are low in phytase.
*The grain MUST be ground fresh (which is why I would recommend buying a little coffee grinder to keep on your kitchen counter) and cannot be frozen or stored for a long time (the phytase will no longer be active.)
The added phytase will break down the phytic acid and your precious nutrients will be unlocked.
Preparation Tips and Tricks
If you’re ready to start getting rid of phytic acid, here are some tips and tricks to use with seeds that have a lot of phytase (like rye, wheat, and barely), seeds that have very little phytase (like oats, rice, and corn), and seeds that are in kind of a grey area (like tubers, beans, nuts, and seeds).
Seeds with Plenty of Phytase
Rye, wheat, and barley are high in phytase. This means that when properly prepared, they can break down their own phytic acid.
Making Flour: I love grinding my own grain to make bread or any other recipies. Freshly ground flour has all of the active phytase and all of the vitamins and minerals intact. The heat of industrial grinding destroys the phytase along with many of the nutrients. Combine that with a long shelf life and buying whole wheat flour is just an empty gesture. Even grinding grain fresh and keeping it in the freezer destroys the phytase.
The best thing to do is to freshly grind what you are going to use. That is why I like keeping my WonderMill within easy reach in the kitchen. I know the price tag seems like a lot, so if you don’t have one yet, maybe you’ll want to try a hand grinder for a lot less to see if you like it first. For grinding small batches of grain to add to my sourdough and other recipes, I like using this little coffee grinder. *Post update (January 2016): After I grind my wheat, I just leave it in its container and keep it on the countertop to use as needed.
I have found that sourdough is the best way to eliminate pretty much all of the phytic acid. Soaking grains before grinding them to make flour just doesn’t make sense to me, and sprouting is a LOT of work and won’t get rid of all they phytic acid, but it’s an option if you’re interested. You can soak your flour in an acidic medium after it’s freshly ground and it should do a pretty good job of getting rid of the phytic acid as well.
Rye – Rye grains have the most phytase of any seed. They have 14 times more phytase than wheat grains. This is the recommended grain for making bread because of its high phytase content, but I have tried using it to make my sourdough and it didn’t rise very well. It tastes great, but it’s a very dense grain. I prefer keeping some on hand to grind fresh to add to other seeds that don’t have as much phytase.
Wheat – Wheat grains don’t have as much phytase as rye, but they have enough to do the job. I find that the lighter grains like Organic Prairie gold wheat berries are the best for making sourdough bread. You can also use something similar like this Soft Winter Wheat or some ancient Einkorn grains. It may seem like a lot to buy 50 lbs at a time, but it is the most cost effective way to get your grains if you have the place to store them. I just keep them in a cupboard in the bag it comes in and roll it down when I’m not using it, but you can get some 5 gallon buckets from the hardware store that would work great too. If you don’t feel like grinding your own grain, here’s a good alternative. Sifting your freshly ground flour to take out the big chunks of bran can help too.
Wheat Grains: High in Phytase
Barley – Barley is more of a superfood than you think. It has an impressive nutritional profile with 23 g of protein per serving (way more than beans or rice) with more vitamins and minerals than just about any other grain. Barley grains have the same amount of phytase as rye grains, so before I use them in my soups, I soak them for 24 hours in an acidic medium. I also order them in bulk from CLNF, but you can also buy them here. I like to get the hulled kind, but if you don’t want to soak them and you don’t care about the nutrient profile, then you can get the pearl kind.
Barley Grains: High in Phytase
Seeds with Very Little Phytase
Oats, rice, and corn have very little phytase, so they will need a little help to break down the phytic acid. By adding a few scoops of freshly ground phytase rich rye flour (or wheat) to an acidic soaking medium, and soak for a full 24 hours, a good amount of the phytic acid should be broken down.
Oats – Oats have more nutrients than just about any other grain. Organic rolled oats are the best because part of the bran (where the phytic acid is) is removed during the rolling process. Just stay away from instant rolled oats because they have been subjected industrial processing with such high heat that nearly all of the nutrients have been destroyed. I used to like steel cut oats, but they have an extremely high phytic acid content. If you prepare them properly, you might be able to get rid of about half of the phytic acid.
Steel Cut Oats: Very Little Phytase
Rice – Brown rice isn’t as healthy as you would think. It only has 5 g of protein per serving in comparison to barley’s 23 g and more impressive nutrient profile. I much prefer using barley in my soups over rice. In addition, studies have shown there to be concerning amounts of arsenic in rice, especially in brown rice. In our family, we enjoy organic jasmine or basmati rice from time to time as a vehicle for other healthier foods like salmon and stir fry.
White Rice: Very Little Phytase
Corn – Are you surprised to see that corn is a grain instead of a vegetable as it’s often peddled? Well, because corn is such a genetically modified food, we try to stay away from it anyways unless it’s in season and we can buy it fresh from a local farmer. Otherwise, we might enjoy some organic corn chips as a vehicle for other more healthy foods like my homemade tacos on occasion. You can get these sprouted organic corn tortillas in bulk here, and here’s a recipe for some fermented corn bread that sounds pretty good if you’d like to still include corn in your diet in a safe way.
White Popcorn Kernals: Very Little Phytase
Kind of a Grey Area…
All of the seeds in this category are kind of hard to define, but the one thing they have in common is that they should NOT comprise the majority of the calories in your diet. Many people will turn to things like nut flours (including coconut) if they trying to go grain free, but here’s a look into why that’s not such a good idea.
Nuts – Nuts have phytic acid amounts equal to or greater than that of grains, but unfortunately we know very little about how to reduce phytic acid in nuts. If you soak them, you might be able to get rid of some of the phytic acid, but not much. A handful of nuts here and there should really be of no concern, but watch out for things like almond milk, nut flours, and peanut butter. You can buy nut butters that have been soaked, and that is a better option.
Mixed Nuts: Very Little Phytase
Seeds – Seeds are extremely high in phytic acid. Some of the phytic acid may be removed by soaking, sprouting, and/or roasting, but it’s debatable. It is best to keep seeds to a minimum and to avoid snacking on raw seeds. If you want to buy some that are okay for occasionally snacking on, you might want to check out these organic sprouted pumpkin seeds.
Seeds: Extremely High in Phytic Acid (Photocredit: Wikimedia Commons, Jitujetster, 2009)
Cacao Seeds – Oh, and here’s some bad news: cacao is a seed, and it is extremely high in phytic acid. Do you know what that means? That’s right, chocolate is made from cacao seeds and is therefore high in phytic acid. Boo! The best thing to do is look for raw cocoa and cocoa powder that is fermented. Maybe I’ll have to give some of these a try.
Beans – Do you ever get gas after eating beans? That’s probably because they weren’t prepared correctly. If you soak beans for 24-36 hours in an acidic medium with some added phytase from some freshly ground rye flour, change the water at least once, rinse the beans, add fresh water, cook at a low boil for 4-12 hours, and skim the foam that comes to the top (those are the phytates and other anti-nutrients), you can get rid of about 50% of they phytic acid. If you want to get rid of ALL the phytic acid, you’ll have to soak for 12 hours, germinate for 3-4 days, and then ferment them.
Beans: High in Phytic Acid (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons, BetacommandBot, 2007)
Coffee Beans – Ready for some bad news? Coffee beans are BEANS! Therefore, they contain phytic acid too. According to research, espresso is the best way to get your caffeine kick while minimizing the phytic acid content. Here are some good espresso beans to get you started.
These Espresso Beans are the Best Way to Get Caffeine (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Ailura, 2015)
Tubers – The Weston Price article, “Living with Phytic Acid,” explains that white potatoes and yams have phytic acid levels similar to that of white rice and that sweet potatoes have little to no phytic acid at all. Cooking doesn’t really do anything to break down the phytic acid that is present, but since the levels are so low, if you’re eating a nutrient dense diet, I don’t think it’s really a concern. Tubers are really high in potassium, so I think organic potatoes are an excellent addition to any diet (Unless you’re on a keto diet!).
Potatoes: Very Little Phytic Acid
Benefits of Phytic Acid
There are some health benefits to phytic acid that are worth taking a look at. First of all, it can be beneficial for detoxification because even though it is binding with needed minerals such as zinc and iron, it is also binding with unwanted toxic metals such as cadmium and lead and ushering them out of the body. And when phytic acid binds to excess iron (which never comes from animal products by the way, only plants) that can oxidize and form a rusting in the body, it is serving as antioxidants against cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases such Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS. But instead of buying inositol hexaphosphate or IP6 (the scientific names of phytic acid) as a supplement, just know that if you’re looking to detoxify your body because of illness or some other ailment, you can just eat a bowl of plain old brown rice to help flush out your body.
In Conclusion
There is a big misconception in a lot of health circles that if it comes from nature and it’s minimally processed, that it is the best and healthiest option.
Phytic acid is just one the many anti-nutrients out there, and its negative effects such as trapping phosphorus, leaching important minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc, and inhibiting the enzymes amylase, pepsin, and trypsin that help us to digest carbohydrates and proteins, should be enough to make us think twice about the seeds (grains, nuts, beans, seeds, and tubers) that we eat.
It therefore stands to reason that the “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” axiom by Michael Pollan (Omnivore’s Dilemma) isn’t the simple solution we should be looking for. If we are to keep these foods in our diets, however, it is important that we take the steps to prepare them properly in order to degrade these anti-nutrients as much as possible. By learning (or re-learning) the ancient arts of soaking, sprouting, and sour leavening, we can take steps to ensure the best nutrition not only for us, but for our children, and for our future.
Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation(This is the book that changed my life and inspired me to learn as much as I could about feeding my family. It is full of hundreds of nourishing recipes.)
Preparing Grains, Nuts, Seeds and Beans for Maximum Nutrition by Ramiel Nagel via the Weston Price Foundation website (My research on phytic acid originally brought me here, and while Nagel brings up some good points and has really shaken up the health circuits with some of his claims, he’s a little off in some places.)
Why Grains Are Unhealthy by Mark’s Daily Apple (A great look at the other anti-nutrients found in grains and good explanation as to why plants have phytates and phytic acid.)
How much phytic acid should we eat? Americans typically eat 631-746 mg. People who eat a good diet as advocated by the Weston A. Price Foundation can get away with 400-800 mg.
https://embracing-motherhood.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/embracing-motherhood.com-18.png400810Stacey Maaserhttps://embracing-motherhood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EM_Logo.pngStacey Maaser2015-03-16 13:50:482024-06-16 06:59:26The Dangers of Phytic Acid and What to Do About It
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