The SCD™ Knowledge Base

Sprouted Grain Breads

Elaine writes:
The sprouted grain bread is just too risky. Firstly, how long were the grains allowed to sprout? As you must know, starch is stored in the seed and, under the right conditions, temperature and moisture, the starch is broken down so that the circulatory system of the plant can get glucose from the starch (Even plants cannot use starch until it is broken down into monosaccharides). If the sprout is allowed to grow quite high
(differs in each grain seed) and nothing is left but the coat of the seed, theoretically, the sprout would be OK biochemically. However, you still have to be sure that the bread was made ONLY with sprouts and nothing added.

I have made an exception here and there: One of our pregnant SCD™'ers was
going crazy wanting bread and I suggested (it was about her 4-5 month on the diet and she was doing famously well) that she use sprouted bread sparingly. It did the trick and got rid of her cravings. For the rest of us, there is just too many ifs, ands, and buts.
Furthermore, the seed coat is high in lignin and cellulose and might prove to be an overload for some of us. The following is a discussion of Ezekiel and other sprouted grain breads such as Manna bread:

Colleen writes:
Ezekiel is in fact a brand name for a sprouted bread product. It is yeasted, in addition to containing malted (non-sprouted) barley and other illegals. All Ezekiel breads contain these, and I remember at least one of theirs had carob powder or some such thing. There's another brand called Manna that is just the sprouted grain, but it's truly ghastly. Looks like a rock and is so heavy you could practically bowl with it.

Chris writes:
First day on the board, so forgive the newbie question. The above seems to suggest that the Manna bread, which is just sprouted grain without yeast or additives, is permissable on the SCD™. I know that sprouted grains are more readily assimilable in the body, but aren’t all grains prohibited? I happen to love the stuff, and I’d be very happy if I could continue to eat it!

Deborah writes:
These breads are all illegal. Elaine suggested them for a pregnant mother who was symptom free and had been for a while, and who was craving bread. She ate a bit of one of these sprouted grain breads while pregnant to deal with the cravings and is now back on the SCD™ as far as I know, having had a beautiful, healthy girl :-).