Food For Life Baking Company, Inc. has placed a registered trade mark on its Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain bread. Such a trade mark would suggest that the idea is original and belongs to the company. To some extent, that claim is not accurate.
Ezekiel 4:9 Bread is made from freshly sprouted organically grown grains. The bread is naturally flavored and rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and natural fiber with no added fat. The idea of this flourless bread comes from the Hebrew Bible, to be more specific, from Ezekiel chapter four and verse nine: “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a container and make them into bread for yourself…”
In the context of the verse, the prophet Ezekiel was limited to a restricted diet for 390 days in order to communicate the reality of a famine among the Jews during a siege of the city of Jerusalem. The prophet was to eat bread made from a mixture of six different grains. It is based on this restricted diet that Ezekiel 4:9 Bread is produced today.
Food For Life Baking Company has discovered that when Ezekiel’s six grains and legumes are sprouted and combined, a complete protein is created that closely parallels the protein found in milk and eggs. In fact, the protein quality is so high, that it is 84.3% as efficient as the highest recognized source of protein, containing all nine essential amino acids. There are 18 amino acids present in Ezekiel 4:9 Bread, all naturally balanced.
Food For Life Baking Company appears to be best positioned to pioneer this product. The company was the first wholesale bakery in the United States specializing in natural foods. For some 40 years the family-owned and operated company has been serving sprouted grain and all natural bakery products. Today, after more than three generations and more than sixty different bread products, the family maintains the original baking techniques used to make truly authentic flavorful sprouted grain breads.
The flourless bread is made from freshly sprouted grains and contains absolutely no flour. The company believes in sprouting the grains they use in their breads because sprouting is the best way to release all of the vital nutrients stored in whole grains.
In order to unlock this dormant food energy, maximize nutrition and flavor, the company adds just the right amount of water to healthy whole organically grown grains which are already bursting with nutrients. Beneficial enzymes are activated which cause the grains to sprout and become a living food. The sprouting process not only increases vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, vitamin C, B-vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium, but also causes a natural change that allows the protein and carbohydrates to be assimilated by the body more efficiently. The company’s baking process preserves these nutrients and retains the important natural fiber and bran.
Although Ezekiel 4:9 Bread is slow baked, at temperatures much lower than typical commercial bakeries, the product is not considered to be raw. Foods are typically considered to be raw if they are cooked at temperatures below 110 degrees. However, Ezekiel Bread must be baked above 250 degrees Fahrenheit or it would spoil during baking, unless it is dehydrated.
In addition, because the ingredients are “certified organically grown,” one is assured that the grains have been grown and processed without the use of fertilizers, chemicals or pesticides and the lands, where the grains are grown, have not been sprayed for at least three years. Certified organically grown grains are third party verified by certifying agencies to be processed according to the standards and statutes set forth by the Organic Foods Act of 1990.
Among other benefits, Ezekiel Bread can help to lower cholesterol in bread users. When we eat, our bodies secrete bile acids into the gastrointestinal tract to help absorb fats. Cholesterol is a principal component of bile acids. Researchers believe that soluble fibers bind cholesterol rich bile acids and cause them to be excreted from the body when they would otherwise be reabsorbed.
Ezekiel Bread can also facilitate weight loss. Fibrous foods provide bulk to help keep one feeling comfortably full and satisfied longer, decreasing swings in blood sugar that make dieters weak, tired and irritable. Fiber can help one consume less without the desire to continuously snack and stack up needless calories.
Although considered irrelevant by some, it is obvious that dietary guidelines from the Hebrew Bible have returned and provide healthy competition with twenty-first century nutritionally conscious enthusiasts.
Like my wife and I do, you may want to check out this bread in the frozen bread section, the next time you visit your local supermarket.
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