How about pampering your intestinal bacteria?
Respecting the environment, what we call, an essential!
Encouraging the local economy, more than ever
Consuming quality food in quantity, what a good idea!
Can’t wait to know what we’re talking about?
Well, I’m telling you, this is one of my favorite products of the year!
Spent grains are the barley and oat residue that accumulates in the tank after the beer is cooked and the wort is removed. At first glance, you might think of it as food waste. Food waste that contains almost as much fiber and protein as the well-known ground nuts and seeds and the most popular fiber supplements. I no longer call it waste, but rather a valuable material to recover and integrate into our habits, for our health, and which will contribute to reducing food waste.
Are you the type “Not another deal?” or rather “Oh wow, I can’t wait to taste it!” or even “Very interesting, what are the virtues of this?”
First of all, you should know that the grains processed by Still Good are mainly made up of barley, a cereal that we would benefit from reintegrating into our variety of whole grains. Barley is what we call a prebiotic. It is a very special food, since it serves as food for several good bacteria found in the intestines. By fermenting prebiotics, these microbes will produce molecules that have the positive consequences of reducing inflammation, providing energy to the cells of the intestine, better managing hormonal signals, particularly those of hunger and satiety, and allowing the cells of the intestine to produce more mucus, thus ensuring a better barrier against invaders. And the list of benefits would go on. Barley is loved by what we call the 2nd brain, the intestinal microbiota, these billions of microorganisms that inhabit our intestines. A cereal product better known as “barley”, it can be eaten in soup, as an accompaniment in the same way as rice and quinoa and now, we can add a few tablespoons to some of our favorite recipes, via this derivative called spent grain.
Taking a closer look at the nutritional value table of this microbrewery residue, we see that two important components stand out: fiber and protein.
For a 30 g portion (4 tbsp):
- Fiber: 11g
- Protein: 5g
It should be remembered that our daily fiber needs are on average 28 g for women and 38 g for men. Soon, this standard will be revised upwards considering all the benefits associated with the consumption of dietary fiber. We are talking about an increase leading to 45 g to 55 g of fiber per day. And to get there, we will need to make room for plants and increase different fibrous foods such as nuts and seeds, fibrous food powders and this is where ground spent grain flour represents a food of choice.
Many bakers have started to integrate this highly nutritious residue into their bread, cake and breading recipes, and some microbreweries have made crackers from it. They cook it in their pizza dough, etc. This gives us a very interesting addition of fiber. And what’s more, a quantity of protein as a bonus.
Among the questions I am regularly asked are those about protein supplements and additions to meals such as smoothies, breakfasts and salads. For a meal to be complete, it must include at least 15 to 30 g of protein. Not always easy to achieve when you drink your meal in a smoothie or when you are a little hungry at lunchtime. What if with a simple addition of spent grain, you suddenly got 5 g of additional protein! Not bad, right? Remember that proteins are literally the structure of the human body. They are part of the composition of each cell, are essential for the production of new cells (muscles, red blood cells, skin, hair, antibodies, etc.), and our DNA is made up of them. The brain needs amino acids, constituents of proteins, to produce neurotransmitters, this information that travels throughout the nervous system. Depending on the quality of the proteins consumed, the impacts will be different for several elements of our system. Plant-based proteins help limit inflammation (responsible for several pathologies) while animal proteins exacerbate inflammatory processes. They also have the function of allowing better satiety and stabilizing energy over a longer period, hence the importance of consuming them at all meals and snacks (if necessary). Ground spent grain flour can therefore be part of your pantry, in particular to optimize the protein content of certain meals, snacks and even desserts.
We tend to associate a caloric side with beer. The so-called “beer belly” refers to it. Very fibrous and protein-rich, free of alcohol, spent grain is not associated with the effects of this drink that is sometimes high in sugar. Of course, it contains carbohydrates, but its fiber content allows us to obtain 30 g of net sugars for 100 g of the product (the equivalent of about 1 cup). In comparison, for the same quantity of whole grain flour, we obtain 54 g of net sugars. Fiber gives the necessary boost to limit a massive arrival of sugar in the blood, which is often criticized for foods with a high glycemic load.
In short, under this lot of good news, now convinced, what are you waiting for to add a little spent grain to your weekly diet?
1) Ground spent grain flour itself? That would indeed be a good start! You will find it in many bulk stores.
Enjoy your discovery!
Par Andréanne Martin, Nutritionniste & Diététiste
