#68: Doug Evans - The Sprout Wizard
Doug Evans is the Sprout Wizard.
After decades of living, eating, and working to excess and burn-out, Doug Evans had his "come to plants" moment. In 1999, he literally went from eating a greasy, fatty duck in New York's Chinatown, to eating a raw vegan diet almost. overnight.
This personal “galileo moment of truth” came as he considered his devastating family history of western disease that included heart attacks, stroke, and diabetes. Was he destined to this same fate, or could he break the cycle? He chose to break the cycle "cold cucumber," and has since set his sights on exploring and sharing the world's most nutritious superfoods.
In April 2020, Doug Evans released The Sprout Book: Tap into the Power of the World's Most Nutritious Food. Almost instantly, everyone started talking about the simplicity and fun of sprouting your own foods.
I’m sure many of you had the same questions I had. Aren't sprouts the hippy-dippy garnish you throw on a salad or in a wrap? Isn’t sprouting complicated, time-consuming, and expensive? And, really, how nutritious can sprouts be?
Well, as you’ll hear today, this conversation opened my eyes to the possibilities of sprouts. They aren’t just an afterthought to add flavor or crunch. They are powerhouses of nutrition, and the best part is that you can begin sprouting right away on your kitchen countertop with just a few seeds, water, and a mason jar.
Get the whole family involved in this beautiful nature experiment and learn how to sprout a new hobby with life-long benefits for everyone.
Episode and PLANTSTRONG Resources:
The Sprout Book: Tap into the Power of the Planet's Most Nutritious Food
Join our Mystery Valentines Day Dinner with Chef's Garden - All the Ingredients Delivered Directly to Your Door.
PLANTSTRONG Foods - Pizza Crust is Back in Stock
PLANTSTRONG Meal Planner - Save $10 off the annual plan with code: PLANTSTRONG
Sprouting Companies Mentioned By Doug:
Rip and Doug Went Live on Instagram - Talking Sprouts and Answering Your Questions
Doug Evans:
So all of this BS that, "Oh, you vegan, elitist plant-based thing. I can't afford that." Well, BS, anyone can afford sprouts. And then, no one knew, including a present company, that you could grow sprouts without soil, without sunshine for pennies a serving in days, not weeks, months, or years.
Rip Esselstyn:
Season three of the Plant-Strong Podcast explores those Galileo moments where you seek to understand the real truth around your health and dare to see the world through a different lens. This season, we honor those courageous seekers who are paving the way for you and me. So, grab your telescope, point it towards your future. And let's get plant-strong together.
Rip Esselstyn:
Hello, my plant-strong friends. I hope that 2021 is off to an auspicious start for each and every one of you. I know that my team and I are filled with hope and optimism for a great year ahead. As you know, we recently kicked off season three of the Plant-Strong podcast. And we've gotten a lot of great responses from all of you. So, thank you for those responses. And thanks for helping to spread the good word about the Plant-Strong Podcast. We're just getting started.
Rip Esselstyn:
You are going to love the energy and passion of today's guest. His name is Doug Evans. Now, I first started hearing about Doug and his new book, The Sprout Book, last spring. All of a sudden, everywhere I turned, sprouting was everywhere. And believe it or not, my family and I have never sprouted before and really didn't even know where to begin in the world of sprouting. I'm sure that many of you are probably in the exact same boat because on the surface it sounds really complicated, maybe even expensive and time consuming. But as you're going to hear today, not only is sprouting quick, easy, and inexpensive, it is fun and can be a rewarding family experience.
Rip Esselstyn:
This conversation opened my eyes to the possibilities of sprouts. They aren't just a garnish that you throw on top of a sandwich or a salad, which is what I thought. They are wildly nutritious and full of endless possibilities. Doug and I, we talk about broccoli sprouts, lentil sprouts, chickpea sprouts, chia sprouts, mung bean sprouts, you get the picture. Remember those Chia Pets that you bought at the drugstore and gave as gifts to give people joy and make them laugh? You just had to add water and watch it grow. Well, guess what? You were giving the gift of sprouts. I want you to enjoy today's episode as Doug lays out just how simple sprouting can be. All right, Doug, let's blossom.
Doug Evans:
I've been waiting for this for a long time.
Rip Esselstyn:
I can't believe we've never met.
Doug Evans:
Yeah. You know, it's such a small world. But there's a lot of people and it's big.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. Yeah. All right, let's just jump right in, all right?
Doug Evans:
All right. Well, I love your message. I love what you're about. I love your dad. I love that you call him daddy. I think it's terrific, you know?
Rip Esselstyn:
Thanks, Doug. So, here we are. You're on the Plant-Strong Podcast. This is season three of the Plant-Strong Podcast where we're really honoring those trailblazers who have looked through the telescope and they have seen the truth. And they're now paving the way to make kind of a better world for others. And I think you are doing that in spades right now with sprouts, right? The seductive power of sprouts.
Rip Esselstyn:
And before I let you say a peep, I need to say at the onset that I don't know squat about sprouting, about sprouts. I cannot wait to dive into your book, because from everything that I've seen, the reviews from Doctor Oz, to Jesse Itzler, to Joel Fuhrman who wrote the intro, this is the bible when it comes to sprouting. And I feel like I'm missing out on a big swathe of nutrition by not sprouting. And I got to say that at Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law brought all of her little jars and she was sprouting. And then, there's a member of my team who is just going bananas over sprouting. I was visiting this farm this last weekend outside of Cleveland, Ohio called The Chef's Garden. And they were doing all these micro greens and sprouting. And I'm all of a sudden like, "The universe is trying to share a message with me here."
Doug Evans:
Yeah, wake up, Rip. Wake up.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, I know. Bing. So, I need to wake up. I want you to wake me up to the power of sprouts. But before you do, I got to say, where in the world are you? And why can't I have a cool place like that?
Doug Evans:
Well, the thing is, I'm in the middle of the Mojave Desert and land here is very accessible. And you can. I mean, you can be here. Like, this is an amazing ... I'm in a community with 100 square miles with 600 people who live in this community. So, talk about being COVID friendly, right? It's like, you have no choice but to social distance. And anyone can be here. I mean, the whole thing is, at one point, the world was scattered and we were in villages. And then the villages became commerce centers and people wanted more and more. And now they're stacked up on top of each other. And when I worked in New York City, there was one building that had literally 20,000 people per floor in the building.
Rip Esselstyn:
Come on.
Doug Evans:
In one floor. So, you talk about the Empire State Building with a million and a half square feet of square footage. So, look, I made a decision three and a half years ago that I wanted to be in nature. I wanted to see sunrises, sunsets. I wanted to be away from the interstates so that I could see the stars and the galaxy and kind of open up my consciousness so I could hear my own thoughts. And so, I bought some land. It had a house on it. It also had hot springs on it, so that was really cool. And then I put up a yurt from Burning Man. I don't know if you're a burner, but I put up my Burning Man yurt. And this is where I hang out. So, I have a house, so I'm fully equipped. And I love the yurt. Like, the yurt is ... I have no ground in the yurt. Like, the only difference separating me from the earth is a piece of recycled LA billboard.
Rip Esselstyn:
Well, I am trying to think, I think I've spent one night in a yurt at some resort once and it was really amazing. Do you have a round ... Is it a round yurt?
Doug Evans:
Yeah, this is a round yurt. There's my roof. And I insulated it with recycled denim in between the rafters, it's just recycled denim. And then it's just covered with some fabric. And by the way, it's a great recording studio. I recorded my Audible book here, as opposed to going into LA into their studio. So, when I recorded my book, I did it right here in the yurt.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, you sound phenomenal. So, when did you start your journey to optimal nutrition? Has this been a lifelong journey? Or did you start it 10 years ago?
Doug Evans:
So, we're about the same age, right? I'm 54.
Rip Esselstyn:
I'm 57. Okay.
Doug Evans:
I'm 54, you're 57. So, I grew up in New York City on the standard American diet, right? I still remember what I would get in McDonald's, right? Large quarter pounder with cheese, large nine piece chicken McNuggets, large friends, vanilla shake, apple pie. And either a hot fudge sundae or a chocolate sundae. So, that's what I ate. And we grew up with scarcity. So, we didn't have a lot of money. So, it was very fine distribution of food.
Doug Evans:
And then, when I started to make money, I started to reward myself with eating junk food and processed food. And then, I went into the military. So, at age 17, I joined the 82nd Airborne. So, I was eating meals ready to eat, processed food, the worst food possible with like 100 year shelf life of processed food. So, when I got out of the Army, how do you celebrate is you eat. So, I was eating. And then my aunt got diabetes in the mid-90s. They chopped off both of her feet below her ankles. And then, she died from complications with diabetes. And my uncle died of heart disease. And then, my other uncle died of heart disease. My aunt had ulcers and IBS and colitis. And then she ended up dying. I don't even know if they knew what she died from.
Doug Evans:
Then my mother died of stomach cancer, my father died of heart disease. And my brother who's your age, became obese, diabetic, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, and had the first of three strokes and a heart attack. And that was my come to plants moment, right? That's when I thought, A, either I'm genetically cursed, or I'm on a suicide mission. And that's where it all began. And that was 1999.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow, so really for the most part ... I mean, it's been about 21 years, not that long, really, when you think about it.
Doug Evans:
No. No. I mean, the greater portion of my life, I was still eating cooked food, processed food, toxic food. I remember the last meal that I had before I became vegetarian in 1999 was, it was a rainy night and we were in Chinatown at the border of Little Italy. And it was raining and we were waiting outside a Chinese restaurant. And they had the ducks hanging in the window. And we were so hungry, it was so cold and so wet that when we got to the line, we said, "Just give me the duck." And I gave the guy $10 and we sat under a stoop in a canopy in New York City and I devoured the greasy duck, the fat, the skin, the bone marrow. And then-
Rip Esselstyn:
So, it had been cooked. It wasn't a raw duck?
Doug Evans:
Yeah, yeah. No, that was a cooked, greasy duck.
Rip Esselstyn:
Just give me that duck.
Doug Evans:
Just give me the duck. And so, I mean, that's where my mentality ... And then we went to Little Italy and just gorged on pastries. So, that was my last meal before I had the come to plants moment.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, did your body reflect that lifestyle and that way of eating?
Doug Evans:
Yeah, I was sloppy. I was like 35, 36 pounds overweight. I would have my mid-afternoon crash. Like, at 3:00 in the afternoon, I either needed a nap or a liter of Coca Cola and a chocolate bar. I mean, that was my day. And the only thing that kept me awake was just the hunger to make money or to do things. So, I was in this hustle mode. But yeah, I just had no energy. I wasn't exercising. I was just not awake. I mean, I was like a zombie.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. All right. Okay, so you had your come to duck moment. And then, what happened over the next five, 10 years?
Doug Evans:
Well, in the next two week period, I went vegetarian, vegan, raw vegan. So, for the greater portion of these 21 years, I've been raw vegan. Right now I'm 100% raw vegan now. I'm eating sprouts, I'm eating fruit. And I'm eating ferments and seaweeds. And that's like my diet today. And so, what happened was, once I started to get exposed to the information, the work of your father, the work of Colin Campbell, the work of Brian Clement at Hippocrates and Gabriel Cousins. And it just made so much sense to me that everything exists in plants. Everyone either should be an herbivore or is eating herbivores, right? And why couldn't I just go right to the source? And that's where it began for me. And then, in a two-week period, I went cold cucumber and gave up all the processed food. And I never went back. Like, it's just over for me.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, explain to me, because I don't know too many people that have that kind of a trajectory where they go from vegetarian to vegan to raw vegan in two weeks. I mean, is that just your personality? Or is it just you taking in all the information and then processing it and saying, "This is where I want to land."
Doug Evans:
I mean, it's interesting things. Like, once you become aware of a truth and you believe that truth so powerfully in the core, right? And I looked around and I unequivocally saw that my immediate family was dead, they were gone. And when I made the connection to the dairy and the cancer, the meat and the cancer, right? And the processed carbohydrates and the diabetes and the amputations. Like, this was ... Now I do it in this abundance consciousness of Pollyanna having an incredible time. Then, it was really fearful.
Doug Evans:
Like, I became a level where it was almost post traumatic stress that I looked at everything under a microscope. And I said, "Is this ..." I mean, here was my criteria. I developed a set of rules, right? I came out of the military. I'd been an entrepreneur. I set up rules and guidelines of how I was going to live. And I said, "Is this fresh? Is this ripe? Is this organic? Is this a fruit, vegetable, seed, nut, seaweed or living cultured food? Is it one of those?" And if it wasn't one of those, it just wasn't an option. Just not an option. And for the greater portion of my life, I've just been an operator, right? I've just been doing.
Doug Evans:
And then, I'll tell you how I came to write the book. So, this was all just about me and it was almost, we're both friends with Rich Roll, right? In 12 step, just for today, right? I registered a domain still raw. And every day I would journal. And was I still raw? Could I get through this day? And turns out, and I think we could do this for everybody. But was there enough exciting, interesting flavors, texture, nutrients that I could eat, because I'm very intense. I like to eat. I like the things. Was there enough food to fill me up and satisfy my dopamine and serotonin in the brain and trigger those? Could I get enough pleasure and could I get enough calories to feel full and satiated?
Doug Evans:
And turns out fruit is a no brainer. Like, fruit is just delicious. And then, in a pretty short time, if you can get away from processed food, right? Added fats, oils, and sugars. And if you can get really hungry without eating that stuff, then someone offers you even raw kale, which is kind of pungent and bitter and gnarly, if you're hungry, you'll eat that, right? So, I think that was how it became. And now it's like, that other stuff isn't even food. It would be like, "Do you want to eat this iPhone?" Right? Like, I wouldn't eat the iPhone. I'm not going to eat a pack of cigarettes. I'm not going to smoke a pack of cigarettes. That other stuff is not food for me.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. You are just so game on. I absolutely love it. Look at you drinking your water. I love it.
Doug Evans:
Yeah. I mean, I'm not in a feeding window for another 41 minutes, right? So, my feeding window is noon to 6:00 PM.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow, so you haven't eaten yet today?
Doug Evans:
No, not at all.
Rip Esselstyn:
Okay. All right. So, is it fair to say you're doing intermittent fasting then?
Doug Evans:
Yeah.
Rip Esselstyn:
Is that what you call it?
Doug Evans:
Yeah, people challenge these different things. But for me, I would say I love fasting. But intermittent fasting is a good way to call it, right? I have a small feeding window from noon to 6:00 PM.
Rip Esselstyn:
Okay. So, you wrote the book and it's called The Sprout Book.
Doug Evans:
That's right.
Rip Esselstyn:
Right. What is the subtitle, do you know? Can you remember?
Doug Evans:
You know, how to eat-
Rip Esselstyn:
Tap into the power of the plant's most nutritious food, right?
Doug Evans:
That's right. Yes.
Rip Esselstyn:
And subtitles, they just ... Blah, blah, blah. I've got four and I can't remember mine either.
Doug Evans:
It's a good one.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah. But it just came out in April, right?
Doug Evans:
Yes.
Rip Esselstyn:
2020. What a time for it to come out. Why did you decide that another book on sprouting was necessary?
Doug Evans:
Well, I had been sprouting for four years before I became vegetarian, right? I just got tuned into wheat grass and sunflower sprouts and mung bean sprouts and alfalfa sprouts. So, I liked those as a garnish, right? It was just something I was like, "Okay, I'll eat these." And then, for 21 years, sprouts were always a part of my diet in the context of a garnish. Add them to something. And then, when I moved to the Mojave Desert, I had the realtime awakening that I was in a food desert, right? It wasn't like my New York, LA, San Francisco triangle where I had Whole Foods and [Air One 00:21:01] and vegan restaurants galore. There was nothing here that I could eat. Like, we had a 711, a Circle K, a McDonald's, a Taco Bell.
Doug Evans:
There was nothing that I could eat, unless I wanted to drive an hour and 15 minutes each way to go to a Whole Foods. And so, it was really anti climatic. And I was very much into the de-commodification of not wearing brands, not buying processed food. And I really wanted this essence of homesteading. And so, then I was like, "Oh, I'll just eat sprouts." So, I had some mason jars, I ordered some more mason jars. I ordered some sprouting seed. And my sprouting vocabulary was alfalfa sprouts, mung bean sprouts, and sunflower sprouts. Like, that's all I knew.
Rip Esselstyn:
That's three more than I have.
Doug Evans:
Right. Well, it's a low basis. But then, when I went online, I saw broccoli and azuki and arugula. And I learned that you could sprout flax and chia and lentils and radish and hemp, right? And all these things. And the sprouting seeds were cheap. So, I was like, okay, I'm just going to order all of these different seeds. And so, within the first month, I had in one cubic foot, right? Size of a milk crate, I was growing 50% of my calories I was growing in one cubic foot using some mason jars. And that was like, whoa. Like, I spent $20 worth of seeds. I was getting this enormous amount of caloric nutrition, proteins, amino acids, polyphenols, bioflavonoids, antioxidants, soluble insoluble fiber. And I felt really good, right? It was my re-entrée into raw food, because you're in LA, you go to Crossroads and Gracias Madre and these great vegan delicious restaurants.
Doug Evans:
But here, because I was getting used to bland food, every seed that was sprouted had flavor, had texture. And then, we have access to Google and Pub Med and the National Institute of Health. And I had a lot of time on my hands since I was free. So, I'm researching this. And every whitepaper, every study I was reading about sprouts was blowing my mind. It was no joke, blowing my mind. So, that's where it really began, my obsession for sprouts and my transition from sprouts as a garnish to sprouts as a food.
Rip Esselstyn:
And so, that started, just so I can ... What? Four years ago?
Doug Evans:
Three years ago.
Rip Esselstyn:
Three years ago.
Doug Evans:
Yeah.
Rip Esselstyn:
When you moved out there.
Doug Evans:
I moved out.
Rip Esselstyn:
Okay. And so, you got after it. So, this book came out in April of 2020. So, I mean, when did you decide, "Man, you know what? I'm going to write the definitive guide on sprouting."
Doug Evans:
Yeah, so what happened is, after the first month, I was really hooked on sprouts. Like, I was in. And then I made some calls, right? So, as you can tell, I am not shy, right? So, I reached out to Doctor Oz. And I was like, "What do you think about sprouts?" He was like, "Oh, I love sprouts. I grow sprouts. I eat sprouts. Sprouts are great." Boom. I called Joel Fuhrman, "Joel, what do you think of sprouts?" "Sprouts are great. They fit right into the nutrition diet. They're this. They're great, great, great."
Doug Evans:
And then I got an intro from my friend to Doctor Josh Axe. And he was working on The Keto Book, right? And so, I love everybody, like I'll talk to everybody, right? So, I get on the phone with Doctor Axe. And loves sprouts, loves broccoli sprouts, loves sprouts. I was like, great. I then talked to Dean Ornish, right? All over sprouts. And so, each one of these guys, I was like, "Well, why aren't you writing a book on sprouts?" Doctor Mark Hyman, right? Functional medicine guy. Here's these diametrically opposite views on keto functional plant based, Doctor Kahn, plant based. And they all love sprouts.
Doug Evans:
So, I start to interview them for my book before I had a book, right? I'm doing the interviews. And then I reached out to Leda Scheintaub, who developed the recipes for Oprah Winfrey's book and for Laila Ali's book. And I said, "Leda, I want to write the Sprout Book. And one of the things is that not everyone is like me, where they just want to eat sprouts raw, unflavored. So, I've got a challenge for you. I want to create 40 recipes that are all plant based, that are all raw, and that 50% on average contain sprouts." And she's like, "Sounds like a great challenge. Let's do that." We cut a deal. She became my collaborator. And then I went to New York City.
Doug Evans:
I pitched one publisher, one of the largest publishers in the world. I brought raw sprouts, I brought some recipes. And literally, my editor was eating sprouts out of the palm of my hand. And I'm watching her brain going, "Really? Really?" And so, she's like, "This is great. I'll get back to you." And I'm like, "All right." Like, I just had the best meeting ever. Like, this is a done deal. And so, then she went and looked. And I guess all the other books on sprouts were all self-published, were all pretty dated, and they were like, how to grow sprouts, the benefit of sprouts. And I was taking a view that sprouts are food. Sprouts are nutrition. Like, you can grow your own vitamins with it. And I looked at sprouts as medicine. Like, concentrated medicine for both acute and chronic illnesses.
Doug Evans:
And I said, "I'm going to get out there. I've got good support from the medical community. And we need to get this information out there because sprouts are low cost, right? Pennies a serving." Like, if you go to buy sprouts in your local health food store, you will spend $3, $4 for a pack of sprouts, about $1 to $1.25 an ounce, which is still affordable, right? But if you grow them on your own, it's like 20 or 30 cents. So, all of this BS that, "Oh, you vegan, elitist, plant-based thing. I can't afford that." Well, BS. Anyone can afford sprouts. And then, no one knew, including a present company, that you could grow sprouts without soil, without sunshine, for pennies a serving, in days, not weeks, months, or years.
Rip Esselstyn:
There's no shortage of new learnings for me this season. And it feels appropriate that today's episode on sprouting with Doug comes on the heels of my visit to the Chef's Garden with Bob and Lee a few weeks ago. Ever since I left, I have been devouring by the fistfuls a whole new assortment of leafy greens, including watercress, pea tendrils, baby charred, baby kale, all to my heart's content.
Rip Esselstyn:
Now, speaking of my heart's content, we at Plantstrong have an extra special Valentine's Day event planned just for you. Register today to join us for a four course culinary adventure extravaganza with a box of premium hand picked produce from the chef's garden to be delivered straight to your door, along with a beautiful library of videos from Chef Jamie and myself, showing you how to prepare this plant fantastic meal every step of the way.
Rip Esselstyn:
And as a special perk for our podcast listeners, today I'm going to reveal our first course. Now, if you want to be surprised and keep it a mystery, skip ahead right now. I'll wait. Okay, are you ready? Our first course is, drum roll, a caramelized parsnip soup. Now, let me tell you, I can count on my hand the number of times that I've ever eaten a parsnip. Well, this dish blew my socks off. With just a few ingredients, these fresh picked root vegetables that, to me, look like a neglected pale carrot, were transformed into a creamy mind-blowing first course. Now, every dish in this box brings the vegetables and their rich flavor profile to the center of the plate. Treat someone that you love to a special dinner or treat yourself. We only have a few dozen boxes remaining. Visit plantstrong.com/garden today.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, all right. For people like me that have never sprouted, if I want to start, what's the best way for me to start? Do I start with getting ... Is there a kit that I buy? Do I start with five different sprouts? A mung, a broccoli, a bean? I mean, I don't even know the terminology.
Doug Evans:
Yeah. I mean, the easiest thing, let's just back up one second real quick.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, please.
Doug Evans:
So, all a sprout is, is just part of the evolution of a plant, right?
Rip Esselstyn:
Baby plant, so it's a baby plant.
Doug Evans:
Yeah, well, it's actually everything begins with a seed, right? So, the biggest trees in the world start with seeds. And seeds, fruit, vegetables, everything starts with a seed. And a seed which, and I'm sure you know this, so pardon me for being pedestrian here. But a seed is a complete living organism in a dormant state. And seeds want to germinate and reproduce themselves. So, if you think about a sunflower seed, right? Very common, very familiar, little black seed, sometimes with a white line on it, that's a sunflower seed. If you were to plant that sunflower seed or soak it or put it on an unbleached paper towel or a cheese cloth and just spray it with water, that baby will sprout, right? It'll just sprout. Like, it wants to sprout. That's what it's designed in nature and the universe and evolution to do.
Doug Evans:
That sunflower seed, if it goes into the ground will grow into a six foot, seven foot sunflower that's so strong, so tuned in to nature, to the sun, that it will turn from sunrise to sunset following the sun. And that one seed will produce 600 more seeds, all of which could be sprouted. So, the abundance of plants, and the intelligence of plants are incredible. So, turns out that every seed will sprout. And for the greater portion of nature, right? Of our lives on the planet, there wasn't a shortage of land or water or resources, right? So, people, if they had land and they had water, they would plant that one broccoli seed. And in 100 days, they'd get a whole head of broccoli that would weigh three or four pounds, right?
Doug Evans:
And if you let that broccoli go further, it will then flower and create more seeds. So, that's where in nature, there was never a rush, right? So, there was always abundance and people were used to eating mature vegetables. I don't have time and I don't have the soil to wait weeks or months or years to grow food that I needed to do it in days. So, that was my beginning to it. And then, for you, right? You look like you're real fit. Plants have ... You know? So, this is widely known, right? Vegetables are good for you, right? So, sprouts are vegetables, just get that in your head. Sprouts equals vegetables, right? And vegetables equal food, right? So, that was an easy-
Rip Esselstyn:
But are all sprouts vegetables? Because don't you have bean sprouts and I mean-
Doug Evans:
Bean sprouts are vegetables. When the legume sprouts and grows and it has a flower on it, right? Or a leaf, and the endosperm and the little leaves, I would call that a vegetable.
Rip Esselstyn:
Okay, so it's not part of the bean, it's a vegetable. Okay.
Doug Evans:
Yeah, there's a biological transformation between things at these different stages, right? So, one of the advantages ... Let's just take lentils for a second. Raw lentils, if you were to try to put them in your mouth raw and dry, you could break your teeth, right? If you soak them overnight for 12 hours, eight to 12 hours and then you rinse them, magic happens. The lentils wake up. You double the antioxidant levels. You triple the Vitamin C. And the lentil itself will take the water, take the oxygen and start to grow fiber and release leaves and sprouts and all of a sudden start to form chlorophyll. And it's this biological transformation of a lentil into a plant.
Rip Esselstyn:
And it can do all that without light?
Doug Evans:
Without light, yeah. See, that's the magic of sprouts, that the seed has the intelligence to do this, because a lot of seeds are germinated. Part of the thing, if you eat an apple, right? In developed Western countries, we eat the apple and it goes into landfill, right? We throw out the core. In nature, the apple gets eaten, the whole thing gets eaten. Like, an elephant doesn't just bite part of it. And then, as it walks around, an elephant can walk 20, 30 miles in the day. It will then poop out the fiber and the cellulose and the seed.
Doug Evans:
Well, as the seed goes through the stomach and the small intestine and the large intestine, the acids and the water and the moisture are telling the seed, start to sprout, start to germinate. So, then when it goes into the ground, it's fertile. And then, that's how the propagation of the plants happen. So, depending on what you want to believe, what woo-woo stuff, the reason why the fruits have color and how they have flavor is so that animals, human animals, and other non-human animals will eat them and spread the seeds so that the plants will reproduce.
Rip Esselstyn:
Fascinating, truly. Truly fascinating. All right, so how do I get started? What do I do?
Doug Evans:
So, the simplest thing, this is the no-brainer, right? That I would say for Rip. You get a couple of Mason jars, right? I like to get the big ones, this is a 64 ounce mason jar. You're a big guy. I look at this, so you can get mason jars from any size. There's a chapter in my book which you'll love. It's called Junk Yard Sprouting, where I take basically anything that I have in the kitchen that would normally go into the landfill or into the recycle bin, and somehow convert that into a sprouting implement.
Doug Evans:
But you look like you're clear and you're serious, I'd get a few mason jars. And I can send you the links, but basically 64 ounce mason jars. And then, they sell these special lids that screw on that are designed for sprouting, stainless steel screens that go on. They now make a rack that you could hold. But I use a stainless steel dish rack. And if you've seen my posts, I use a stainless steel dish rack, so I can have many sprouting jars in one place dripping over the sink. And then ... Go ahead, Rip.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, I'm surprised. So, you haven't partnered with a company that does everything, like sends out a kit of mason jars and seeds?
Doug Evans:
I mean, at this stage, my mission is, I want everybody to be clued into sprouts. And I want them to think about sprouts, there's probably 12 occasions to eat sprouts in the day, from breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning snack, add to soup, salads, cereals, entrees, juice them, blend them. So, I'm not partnering with anybody. I'm here in the desert every day I'm sharing the information and I'm running my little sprout lab running tests to see what I can learn. But I recommend different people. But not as an affiliate, I just recommend them because I've bought their seeds and they seem to have high integrity.
Doug Evans:
So, whether it's Sprout Man out of Massachusets, or it's True Leaf Market out of Utah, the main thing that you want to do ... And by the way, I would not stand on ceremony with this. But if you had a choice, I would choose to buy organic sprouting seeds that have been tested for pathogens and tested for a high germination rate, right? That's what I recommend. But if you live in some suburb in some food desert and they don't have that, I would get any seeds that you could get and I would rinse them in hydrogen peroxide to remove any bacteria or stuff that may be left on them. And I cover this in my book pretty comprehensively.
Doug Evans:
But I'd rinse the seeds, and I'd just start to sprout. And the way you sprout is you soak them overnight. And then you rinse out the extra water. And then, once or twice a day, you add more water and then you pour out the water. And you're going to see sprouts just sprouting in front of your eyes. And unlike other projects, like growing a garden where it might takes weeks or months and you have no idea what's going on there, here, you're going to get feedback. Every 12 hours you're going to look at these and they're going to grow bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger.
Rip Esselstyn:
Like the Chia Pets.
Doug Evans:
Like the Chia Pets. And by the way, Chia Pets are edible. I would just buy an organic chia seed. But yeah, Chia Pets are amazing. And you talk about chia, chia is an extraordinary source of omega threes, right? And when you sprout the chia seed, you get omega threes, and you get chlorophyll, right? And you get fiber. And they will multiply in size and volume 10 to 20 times in days.
Rip Esselstyn:
Let me ask you this, so I got my mason jars. Let's say I'm going to start with five of them. What are the five different seeds you recommend that I get to start with? Do you have Doug Evans favorite five?
Doug Evans:
Yeah, it's a good question. I recommend, I think from the sprouts as food, the legumes are incredible. So, you could get mung beans, you could get lentils, you could get peas. And peas are very versatile because if you let them grow into like a micro green, right? They shoot up. They're very sweet, tender leaves. But if they're in the pea form and you eat them in two to three days, they're a great source of protein. So, a lot of people that we know are using protein powders, right? Either hemp, whey, pea. And an alternative in addition is, you could just soak a handful of lentils or peas or garbanzo beans. Add them to water in two or three days. And one cup of garbanzo beans, depending on where you track the nutrition, is 24 to 36 grams of protein. You're getting a wholefood, plant-based part. And you get all the benefits of the amino acids.
Doug Evans:
And one of the things that also happens when you soak a seed, you're removing the enzyme inhibitors. The enzyme inhibitors are designed to keep that seed intact until it deliberately wants to sprout. So, when you soak the seed, you remove the enzyme inhibitors, you reduce the level of phytic acid, and you're unleashing and activating the life force that's within that seed.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, I've got my mung, my lentil, my peas. What else?
Doug Evans:
The must is broccoli seeds.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, broccoli sprouts.
Doug Evans:
Broccoli sprouts.
Rip Esselstyn:
Now, I have heard just in the last probably three weeks about the Sulforaphane that is in broccoli sprouts. And how it is like 10X what you can get from broccoli. And it sounds like Sulforaphane is just insane when it comes to being antimicrobial and viral and just everything. So, broccoli sprouts, I'm with you there. I like that.
Doug Evans:
Yeah, well if you think about that, just digressing onto the broccoli sprouts. So, cruciferous vegetables are known for their anti-cancerous qualities, right? Their chemo protective properties. And Doctor Jedd Fahey at Johns Hopkins University was doing research on which type of broccoli ... Which cruciferous vegetables had the most anti cancer properties, right? And then they came to broccoli. And then, which type of broccoli? And then he realized the broccoli seeds, which form the broccoli sprouts, had the most of this Glucoraphanin. And Glucoraphanin, when you chew it or freeze it or blend it, it mixes with the enzyme, Myrosinase, and that becomes the powerhouse to form Sulforaphane. And it's 20 to 100 times the amount of Sulforaphane in mature broccoli.
Doug Evans:
And what it turns out is that, as the broccoli gets bigger, there's no more Sulforaphane being made. So, every seed has within it a finite amount of the compound, the Glucoraphanin, the precursor to Sulforaphane. So, that's why, when you're eating things in this young and tender state, they're very bioavailable and they're concentrated nutrition. So, when I thought when I started to sprout, was I missing anything? I turns out I was getting an exponent of what I would get on the mature vegetables. And I was getting them faster and fresher, right? Because what's fresher than being able to eat off of your own countertop on demand?
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, nothing.
Doug Evans:
Right. Right, nothing. And then, any of the other kind of green, flower, garden variety, and this is if you like something bitter, you could have radish. If you like something neutral, you could have alfalfa. Alfalfa sprouts have been very popular for years amongst the hippy dippy trippies, like my people like alfalfa because they're super nutritious, they're high in fiber, and they're very easy to grow.
Doug Evans:
So, if you were to take alfalfa, broccoli, lentils, garbanzo beans, peas, that's just a great way to start. There's other things if you want spices, like fenugreek is extremely sproutable and has these other antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral medicinal qualities. Mustard seeds sprout really well. So, there's flax and chia are incredible, right? For the omega threes. So, there's a lot of options. But the easiest thing to sprout, like no joke easiest thing to sprout is probably lentils. Organic French lentils, they grow, you can eat them in two days. And they're just a no-brainer.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, what time is it where you are right now?
Doug Evans:
It's 11 and a half minutes to feeding time, 11:48.
Rip Esselstyn:
Okay. I love the way you call it feeding time. So, do you know what you're going to be eating in 12 minutes?
Doug Evans:
Yeah. Yeah. I've got-
Rip Esselstyn:
Lay it on me.
Doug Evans:
I have these ultra ripe persimmons that I'm the first guy to the farmer's market in Saturday. And I buy maybe 30 of these. And I will eat ... My lunch will be three or four persimmons. And these ... Like, to a normal person, these would look rotten. Like, overripe to rotten. But they are heavenly.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, how do you do your persimmons? Do you cut it up? Do you take the skin off? Do you just eat the whole thing?
Doug Evans:
I just eat the whole thing.
Rip Esselstyn:
Eat the whole thing. Okay.
Doug Evans:
Yeah, I just mash it into my mouth.
Rip Esselstyn:
Really? Really?
Doug Evans:
Oh yeah. I forget that I don't shave anymore, so it gets all over my face and I get a little snack for later in the day.
Rip Esselstyn:
Perfect. Perfect.
Doug Evans:
Sun dried fruit from the beard.
Rip Esselstyn:
You know, I'm embarrassed to say this, Doug. But you know that I've ... Anyway, I'm laying it all out there with you here because I've never sprouted. I had my first persimmon that I think I know of maybe three weeks ago. How embarrassing is that?
Doug Evans:
You know what? You've done so much in your career. The only time I've ridden a bike is at Burning Man, you know? You're like a triathlete. I can barely ride a bike 100 feet for one week a year.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, but I feel like I've tried a lot of different foods. But you're just making me realize here that there's a whole new universe out there, especially with sprouting, that I would love to tackle and get a better grasp on. And then, persimmons, how would you describe persimmons? Are they like a combination between what and what? Because they look to me like almost a funky tomato, but they're not.
Doug Evans:
Yeah, nothing like a tomato. I would say to me, it's like candy. It is like if you liquefy cotton candy into a jelly form. And the color, the bright orange, right? So, we know yellow makes you happy, right? Red is filled with antioxidants, the anthocyanins. So, it's just like this amazing. And because it's in this liquid jelly part, I know that it's easily digestible. And so, it's very sweet. It's a wildly unique flavor. The closest thing I could think of is maybe a super ripe plum, you know? Something like that. But the flavor is much like higher level, where it's so beyond what a normal fruit would taste like that it almost tastes like processed.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, what are you going to have? Anything else besides the three or four persimmons?
Doug Evans:
That's what I'll have in my 12:00 to 2:00 window. Then at around 2:00 or 3:00, if I can get a break, I'll go and I'll eat a pomelo or two, right?
Rip Esselstyn:
That's like a melon, right?
Doug Evans:
No, a pomelo is-
Rip Esselstyn:
They're big.
Doug Evans:
A pomelo is like an oversized ancient grapefruit.
Rip Esselstyn:
Yeah, okay. Yes, yes, yes. Okay.
Doug Evans:
So, I'll eat a pomelo. And then-
Rip Esselstyn:
You're all about the Ps.
Doug Evans:
Yeah, I like the Ps. Well, the next one is another P. The next one is, I have pomegranates. I have beautiful, lush, local organic pomegranates. And I'm growing pomegranates here. But my pomegranates are nowhere near like this other organic farmer, so I support him. But I'll eat a whole pomegranate.
Rip Esselstyn:
Those are exciting to eat, aren't they?
Doug Evans:
Oh yeah.
Rip Esselstyn:
I find pomegranates, taking it apart, the little different sections, getting the seeds out. Do you just go like this again? Manhandle.
Doug Evans:
I've got two techniques for eating a pomegranate, okay? So, one technique is I cut off the top and then I follow the membrane lines. I open it up and I eat all the seeds. If I'm in meetings during the day, I'll take the pomegranate and I will slowly work on breaking down every aril inside. And I'll just continue to mash it. So, I'm working out my forearms by just mashing it, until the point that this thing is like a deflated beanbag, right? It's just mush. And then, I'll bite off a section with a little bit of my canine. And then I'll just squeeze all the pomegranate juice out of it.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow. Wow.
Doug Evans:
But it will take like at least an hour or two of kneading it and mushing it to get it to that level.
Rip Esselstyn:
I'm going to do that when I get home. I have three pomegranates at home. And my six year old daughter, that's one of the things we love doing is peeling the pomegranate together. But I'm going to start doing that. I'll let her know we're squishing this thing into a beanbag.
Doug Evans:
Yeah, see about that. And then it's just incredible, you know? So, you could do that. And then, around 5:00, I start eating copious amounts of sprouts.
Rip Esselstyn:
What's copious mean?
Doug Evans:
Probably anywhere between a pound and two pounds of sprouts.
Rip Esselstyn:
And you're going to do how many different varieties of sprouts?
Doug Evans:
It depends what I have growing. So, I used to be more methodical. But now I have a protein mix. So, I have garbanzo beans, peas, lentils, and azuki, so it's a protein mix. And it's in the jar. And we can do a live and I'll take you into the kitchen where I'm running the lab and you'll see the various things. So, I'll eat a pound of those. And then I have either broccoli sprouts or French lentils or the mung beans. And probably the best way of consuming soy, and I left this out, are organic soy sprouts. They're just unbelievable. They grow super fast. They look like mung beans, but they're incredible nutrition. Easy, easy peasy to grow is the soy sprouts.
Rip Esselstyn:
So, is your lab there in the yurt?
Doug Evans:
No, no, the yurt, I have no food allowed in the yurt. If you have food in the yurt, then you're getting nature. So, we've got different structures across the hot springs that I use for different purposes. So, this is for sleeping and for my office.
Rip Esselstyn:
Wow. All right. What are you most excited about right now?
Doug Evans:
I really want to be healthy, right? And I want to be more patient. And part of the thing that helped get me where I am is kind of my sense of urgency, do it now, do it now, do it now. And what I want to do is see if I can still have that level of intensity and focus, but also have a little bit more balance. Now I'm excited to go to sleep, right? So, most people set their alarm clock for what time they want to wake up in the morning. I set my alarm clock what time I want to go to sleep at night.
Rip Esselstyn:
Nice, nice. And you never need an alarm clock to wake up in the morning, right?
Doug Evans:
No, no. I mean, it gets bright here. The sun pours in. It's one of my favorite joys is seeing the sunrise. So, yeah. I think if you go to sleep early, you get up early, you know? It's just no question. And the screen, just being aware of how addictive the screen is and how just being aware. So, really putting the phone in another room, you know? You will extend your phone life by a third by just turning it off at night, right? Get a normal, simple alarm clock, turn off the phone.
Doug Evans:
So, I'm really patting myself on the back, super proud that I no longer look at my phone when I get up in the middle of the night. Like, I don't look at the phone. I will sleep through the night and if I get up, I'm like, "Oh, I'm awake, time to go back in." And I like using my aura ring. And I like the breathing. And so, I'm using a combination of different things. But I like just sleeping and then being able to be fresh, right? And I was so looking forward to this podcast and supporting you and your work. And I feel great. So, thank you for having me.
Rip Esselstyn:
Oh, man, thank you for letting me have you. And where can people find you if they want to follow you, all things Doug Evans and all things sprouting?
Doug Evans:
Yeah, so just @Doug Evans on Instagram is probably the platform that I produce the most content on. And also, you can sign up for my soon to be released newsletter at thesproutbook.com. And the book is in print form. It's on Kindle. And it's now on Audible.
Rip Esselstyn:
I checked it out on Amazon yesterday. And you've got so many wonderful reviews, so many great endorsements. The great foreword by Joel Fuhrman. And yeah, you've done a wonderful job with it. And again, I can't wait to sink my teeth into it as well as I learn all about sprouting, because it's something that we with COVID, our family, we literally started our first garden in our lives just because of COVID and all that, and the kids. And we just had a real hell of a time with the soil here and everything. So, I love the idea of sprouting and getting my kids into it, and the nutritional integrity of it, there's no reason not to like it. It's very seductive, isn't it?
Doug Evans:
It's unbelievable. And by the way, specifically, and I know your background and I want to thank you for your services as a firefighter. There's proven research that broccoli sprouts and Sulforaphane detoxify benzine from the lungs. So, for anyone who's had exposure to smoke, smoking, firsthand smoke, secondhand smoke, or even pollution in the city, that broccoli sprouts and Sulforaphane detoxify the benzine from the lungs. Proven NIH double blind, peer reviewed studies. So, that might be something when you get back to the firehouse, talk to those guys about detoxifying and making sure that broccoli sprouts are part of the diet.
Doug Evans:
And look, my mission really has been, since I opened up my first lemonade stand in New York City called Organic Avenue, I wanted to share this message, that produce and fruits and vegetables are good for you, they're accessible. And that even the very conservative US dietary guidelines recommend seven to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. The average American is consuming less than one, right? So, if you can add sprouts to the diet, then your world can change.
Rip Esselstyn:
I hope that today's episode with Doug planted a seed of interest for you to take on a new project to explore, experiment, have fun, and sprout a new hobby. To learn more about Doug and his book, visit our episode page at plantstrongpodcast.com. Next week, we go from sprouting to mushroom farming, and the beautiful transformation story of the Barrett Family Farms, with my friends, Rodney and Jennifer Barrett. Their truth seeking has led them down a brand new path. And we can't wait to share it with you. Thanks for listening.
Rip Esselstyn:
Thank you for listening to the PLANTSTRONG Podcast. You can support the show by taking a quick minute to subscribe, rate, and review at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Sharing the show with your network is another great way to help us reach as many people as possible with the great news about plants. Thank you in advance for your support. It means everything to me.
Rip Esselstyn:
Have you had your own Galileo moment that you'd like to share? What happened when you stepped into the arena and shed the beliefs that you thought to be true? I'd love to hear about it. Visit plantstrongpodcast.com to submit your story and to learn more about today's guests and sponsors. The Plant-Strong Podcast team includes Carrie Barrett, Laurie Kortowich, Ami Mackey, Patrick Gavin, and Wade Clark. This season is dedicated to all of those courageous truth seekers who weren't afraid to look through the lens with clear vision and hold firm to a higher truth. Most notably, my parents, Doctor Caldwell B. Esselstyn Junior and Ann Crile Esselstyn. Thanks for listening.
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