Sally, I'm sure Grainlady will give you more information on this..
But I found this little "tidbit".

Here is a link that might be useful: Oats

My two cents, for whatever it's worth. I have used Quaker Old Fashioned oatmeal, right out of the box, as a 'munchie' for many years.
I can't tell that it has ever caused me any harm in any way.
Other than I eat it out of my hand, and it makes a mess on the floor, because I always manage to drop some.

Rusty

It comes down to just how much unprocessed grains do you consume; and do you have digestive problems after consuming them?

It's not detrimental to your health in small amounts, it's when you use whole grains as a main dietary choice that processing them by soaking, fermenting, or sprouting that you will benefit.

You'll find new vegans and vegetarians occasionally have severe digestive and malabsorption problems if they consume large quantities of whole grains and nuts without proper preparation to neutralize the phytic acid. The same thing happened to people on the oat bran diets when they consumed large quantities of oat bran each day for a prolonged period of time.

If you eat 1/4-cup of granola on top of your yogurt a couple times a week, you probably won't find phytates a big issue. In fact, it has a cleansing effect.

I also make granola, but I sprout my oats (and any other grain I use), dry them and make my own flakes in my Roller/Flaker Mill. If I use commercial oatmeal, I'd make sure we didn't eat the granola frequently, and make sure the serving size stayed around 1/4 cup.

Because people no longer use traditional methods for preparation of grains (soaking, fermenting or sprouting), they are using more Tums and Prilosec. Traditional methods of soaking, fermenting, or sprouting break down "complex starches, irritating tannins, and difficult-to-digest proteins including gluten". (Note: these traditonal methods are not a cure or method used for gluten intolerance.)

"Virtually all preindustrialized peoples soaked or fermented their grains before making them into porridge, breads, cakes and casseroles."

"In Old-Testiment times, the Hebrews consumed both leavened and unleavened bread. Leavened breads were produced with a long fermentation and naturally-occuring yeast (aka wild yeast or starters) which neutralized the phytates. Unleavened bread was consumed for Passover. The unleavened breads contained phytates and have been thought to be "cleansing" to the body by ridding the body of heavy metals through the action of phytic acid. Today's research has shown that phytates are antinutrients and over-consumption is more likely to contribute to disease than prevent it - (source: "The Whole Soy Story" by Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CNN)."

Another way to overcome phytic acid in things like grains and nuts is to use digestive enzymes after consumption, especially if a person tends to have digestive problems associated with grains and nuts.

There are also sprouted grain cereals you can choose from, or sprouted grain flour (such as sprouted spelt flour from Summers Sprouted Flour Co.) and sprouted grain bread - which may be easier-to-digest options. I've made my own sprouted grain flour, but it's such a HUGE job. I prefer soaked flour methods (sponges), and traditional bread methods using natural leavening (sourdough).

I soak/sprout almonds and pecans (and other nuts) in lightly-salted water overnight to neutralize the phytates, and then dry them in the dehydrator. These are called "Crispy Nuts" in Sally O'Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions". Nuts are more nutritious and easier to digest using this method.

You might enjoy the information provided by Sue Gregg at the link below.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: The Two Stage Process

I'm sorry I'm getting back to my thread so late. I haven't been ignoring your generous responses. My internet, cable and telephone all went out yesterday, and wasn't restored until today after I went to work, (DH generously stayed home to wait for the cable guy) so this is the first time I've been able to get back here since yesterday morning when I posted this.

I do consume more granola than what you recommended, Grainlady, and I do have some digestive response, shall we say, sometimes. When I have a bowl of granola, I'll probably have somewhere around 3/4 cup to a cup, with some fruit. (That's why I work out, cause I eat too much!) When I make granola, I usually use the house brand oatmeal.

Grainlady, you are such a wealth of information. I don't suppose you have a book out, do you? I'm amazed at all you do and how knowledgable you are. If you don't have a book yet, I'll be first in line to buy and read your book once you've written and published it!

Now I'm going to check out the links you and Terry provided.

Rusty, I think I'd be afraid to eat raw oats. I picture it swelling up in my belly.

Sally

Sally- (LOL) I've PURCHASED all the books. Others, with "alphabet soup" lists of degrees behind their names, have blazed this trail before me. I'm just an information freak with an insatiable need-to-know, and I like to study whatever interests me. But as a friend once told me - knowledge isn't knowledge unless you share it.

I've also taught foods and nutrition classes and 3/4 c. of granola is three servings of grain and could be as many as 300 calories (or more - depending on ingredients).

I follow the old "Basic-4" for menu planning, rather than the too high-in-carbs for us Pyramid, and hubby and I only consume 4 grains a day. So 1/4 c. Nutola (recipe below) and kefir/yogurt does it for us.

A friend did a nutritional analysis of my (lower-carb, low-glycemic) recipe "Nutola": 1/4-cup serving

-protein: 3 g
-fat: 10 g
-net carbs (fiber subtracted from total carbs) - 10
-calories per serving: 147

NUTOLA
1/8 c. sesame seeds (I also like to substitute them with kasha - 4 less calories per serving)
1/2 c. walnuts
1/2 c. cashews
1/2 c. pecans
1/2 c. almonds
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1/2 c. unsweetened coconut (large shred)
2 c. oatmeal
Mix all together in a large container.

In a glass 1-cup measuring cup, stir together:
3 T. coconut oil, melted (or 1/4 c. cooking oil)
1/4 c. Agave Nectar
2 T. maple syrup

Add liquid ingredients to the nut mixture and stir to coat evenly.

Place ingredients on a jelly roll pan. Bake in 300F oven for 30-40 minutes, stir with a wooden spoon every 10 minutes, or so.

Cool, keep refrigerated in an airtight container.

-Grainlady

I will try that recipe. It actually looks kinda similar to what I usually make, but with a higher percentage of nuts to oats, and different sweeteners and oil. I'm not sure where to find agave nectar nor coconut oil, but I have a feeling either Central Market or Whole Foods would have them.

Sally

Agave is easily available. I'm sure that WF has it, because Trader Joe's stocks it. Coconut oil? Probably WF, but otherwise a Google search easily revealed where it can be found online.

When I was growing up on the farm I would walk the fields with my Dad when harvest time was approaching.

He would check the 'ripeness' of grain, by picking a head & rubbing it in the palm os his hand.

This would seperate the kernels, and you could blow the chaff away. Then he would eat it, and could tell by the taste if it was ready to combine or not.

This worked for wheat, rye & oats, although oats was a little harder to seperate.

That's how I developed my taste for raw whole grains.
It's kind of like a walk down memory lane.

Didn't like cooked oatmeal then, don't like it now, but I do like it dry and raw, out of the box. And it has never caused a problem of any kind that I know of.

Rusty

Is there something wrong with eating raw oatmeal? We eat a lot of Quaker Old Fashioned raw. We each eat 1/2 to 1 cup a day more or less.
I eat it (raw) for breakfast with yogurt and fruit.
I'm really trying to improve my nutrition. I recently started eating a half cup of raw pumpkin seeds a day to increase my iron.

bumblebeez, thanks for posting that.
I was beginning to think I was the only one that eats it raw.

Rusty

Rusty, I don't understand how anyone can eat that cooked to death oatmeal.
I like it warmed up too: I heat water to a boiling in the microwave, add a scoop of oatmeal then immediately pour off all the water. So it's wet but still raw.

I don't like boiled oatmeal, either, but I do toast it in the oven in my granola as described in my above post. I just that that if raw oatmeal would expand with water, it would expand in the moisture of our bodies. Obviously, I'm not an oatmeal expert.

Sally

Obviously I'm not an oatmeal expert either.

But doesn't it still expand in water after it is toasted?

Guess I will have to experiment today.

Rusty