Kentuckienne
Supporting Vendor
- Oct 9, 2016
- 2,747
- 1,648
- Parrots
- Roommates include Gus, Blue and gold macaw rescue and Coco, secondhand amazon
I am sure this will cause some controversy. Parrot people have been advising feeding sprouted seeds to birds, partly to help wean them off an all-seed diet, for a long time. Many folks have come to see sprouts as some sort of healthier version of seeds, beneficial to the eater. I can see how sprouting can help to transition a seed eater to a veggie-eater, but there are risks involved with feeding sprouts to people or birds, and you might at least like to know what they are.
You can google up a lot of words online about the toxicity of beans and sprouts. Short answer, many beans, legumes, contain toxins that are only destroyed by cooking, and should not be eaten raw. The common red kidney bean is one of these. There are arguments that the benefits of sprouting outweigh the risk of a small amount of toxin.
I don't believe there is a significant benefit to eating a sprouted bean. What happens with sprouts is the stored starch and proteins begin to be converted into more easily digestible (for humans) forms. But there are no miraculous new compounds created by sprouting to make any difference in your health. I think it's something about the sprout, being in this mysterious place where it's more than a seed but less than a boring plant, and anything so full of life must then confer that life on the eater. That's called sympathetic magic, like eating a lion's heart to become strong, and has no basis in fact.
The real danger of sprouts is in the bacterial load they inherit from the seed.
Sprouted seeds, I believe it was mung beans, were responsible for an e.coli outbreak in Germany that killed more than 30 people and left others with kidney damage. Sprouts are believed to have caused the worst outbreaks of e.coli infections in the world. How did it happen?
First, think of where seeds come from. They are out in the field, surrounded by nature, and nature is full of bacteria and fungi. Some of these settle on the seeds. Then, the seeds are harvested and stored in big silos or barns or tubs or baskets or whatever unsterilized thing is big enough to hold them. The bacteria begin to go dormant as the seed dries up, but they don't die.
Now, you take those non-sterile beans, soak the in water to distribute the pathogens on one seed to all of them, then keep them warm or at least at room temperature for a day or more. Would you eat a hamburger left on the counter for two days? What happens is exponential growth of any pathogens present.
Then the sprouts get washed, which doesn't remove the pathogens, and stored in the fridge, which doesn't kill the pathogens, then fed to people with warm digestive tracts perfect for more growth.
What kind of bacteria? E.coli, salmonella, listeria, and many more. If you know someone who says they have the "24 hour flu" what they have is probably food poisoning. Sprouts are very common now, and it's difficult to trace back an outbreak to the source, much less a single case.
I argue that the risk of infection from a sprout is far greater than any possible benefit. If you have a bird that will ONLY eat seeds, and they WILL eat sprouts, then maybe do it as a stopgap measure. If the bird will eat steamed sprouts, or otherwise cooked long enough/hot enough to destroy pathogens, that would be better. Then get them off the sprouts as soon as you can.
I can't think of a single benefit, other than modification of diet, that comes from eating sprouts that can't be supplied otherwise. Parrots live a long time, and the longer the exposure to sprouted foods the greater the chance of running into a contaminated batch. They are sensitive to pathogens and it's very hard to diagnose and treat these infections in birds.
Don't feed any sprouts to birds. Don't feed any uncooked beans to birds or eat them yourself. Be careful of where your seeds come from, choosing only human-grade nuts and seeds for food. Store them properly, in the freezer to prevent rancidity if they won't be consumed in a short time, wash the container every time you put new seeds in it, and throw away any seeds with mold, fungus, discoloration, or funny smells. It's a small thing we can do for them.
You can google up a lot of words online about the toxicity of beans and sprouts. Short answer, many beans, legumes, contain toxins that are only destroyed by cooking, and should not be eaten raw. The common red kidney bean is one of these. There are arguments that the benefits of sprouting outweigh the risk of a small amount of toxin.
I don't believe there is a significant benefit to eating a sprouted bean. What happens with sprouts is the stored starch and proteins begin to be converted into more easily digestible (for humans) forms. But there are no miraculous new compounds created by sprouting to make any difference in your health. I think it's something about the sprout, being in this mysterious place where it's more than a seed but less than a boring plant, and anything so full of life must then confer that life on the eater. That's called sympathetic magic, like eating a lion's heart to become strong, and has no basis in fact.
The real danger of sprouts is in the bacterial load they inherit from the seed.
Sprouted seeds, I believe it was mung beans, were responsible for an e.coli outbreak in Germany that killed more than 30 people and left others with kidney damage. Sprouts are believed to have caused the worst outbreaks of e.coli infections in the world. How did it happen?
First, think of where seeds come from. They are out in the field, surrounded by nature, and nature is full of bacteria and fungi. Some of these settle on the seeds. Then, the seeds are harvested and stored in big silos or barns or tubs or baskets or whatever unsterilized thing is big enough to hold them. The bacteria begin to go dormant as the seed dries up, but they don't die.
Now, you take those non-sterile beans, soak the in water to distribute the pathogens on one seed to all of them, then keep them warm or at least at room temperature for a day or more. Would you eat a hamburger left on the counter for two days? What happens is exponential growth of any pathogens present.
Then the sprouts get washed, which doesn't remove the pathogens, and stored in the fridge, which doesn't kill the pathogens, then fed to people with warm digestive tracts perfect for more growth.
What kind of bacteria? E.coli, salmonella, listeria, and many more. If you know someone who says they have the "24 hour flu" what they have is probably food poisoning. Sprouts are very common now, and it's difficult to trace back an outbreak to the source, much less a single case.
I argue that the risk of infection from a sprout is far greater than any possible benefit. If you have a bird that will ONLY eat seeds, and they WILL eat sprouts, then maybe do it as a stopgap measure. If the bird will eat steamed sprouts, or otherwise cooked long enough/hot enough to destroy pathogens, that would be better. Then get them off the sprouts as soon as you can.
I can't think of a single benefit, other than modification of diet, that comes from eating sprouts that can't be supplied otherwise. Parrots live a long time, and the longer the exposure to sprouted foods the greater the chance of running into a contaminated batch. They are sensitive to pathogens and it's very hard to diagnose and treat these infections in birds.
Don't feed any sprouts to birds. Don't feed any uncooked beans to birds or eat them yourself. Be careful of where your seeds come from, choosing only human-grade nuts and seeds for food. Store them properly, in the freezer to prevent rancidity if they won't be consumed in a short time, wash the container every time you put new seeds in it, and throw away any seeds with mold, fungus, discoloration, or funny smells. It's a small thing we can do for them.
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