Crazy about Nut Butters
When Jessica Smith noticed she was struggling to maintain her energy at a guitar lesson 10 years ago and looked for answers, she had no idea that discovering a solution to her energy depletion would lead her to planting roots in the Stuart community through the establishment of her Sprouted Nut Company. WHITNEY JOSEPH PHOTOS
Local entrepreneur says healthy eating is all about the sprouting
BY WHITNEY JOSEPH
Smith’s sprouted cashews have a crunch to them, as they are dehydrated before they are ground.
Roughly 10 years ago, Jessica Smith just wasn’t feeling as energetic as she thought she should. She would typically sleep well, eat well, exercise and do all of the things one is supposed to do to feel their best. Yet, there she was one afternoon at her weekly guitar lesson: well-rested yet yawning incessantly.
“I thought, ‘What the heck is wrong with me?’ and apologized to my teacher. I was so embarrassed,” said Smith, who was living in Woodstock, Georgia, at the time. “Afterward, I went home and told my sister the story of what happened. I had had a great night’s sleep, I had coffee and a great breakfast of apples with almond butter. But I was just yawning and yawning and yawning.
“She said it might have been the almond butter because it wasn’t sprouted. So, I went online and learned all about the sprouting process and how important it is.”
It’s worth mentioning that Smith’s older sister, Dana Smith, is a registered dietitian in Georgia who had already begun her own cultured foods and probiotics business. Called Ancient Awakenings, her line of vegan kefir, kombucha and other cultured foods is available at Whole Foods markets in the Peach State, as well as online and at other specialty stores in the South.
In fact, Smith’s entire family is extremely health oriented. So, she also called on the expertise of her older brother, A.J. Smith, a personal trainer who had spent years on the competitive cycling circuit. He was actually gearing up to replace Lance Armstrong in the Olympics until his plans took a detour — meeting his then wife and having a family. Smith also leaned on her younger sister, Sara Smith, who is currently getting her master’s degree in nursing. Lastly, she sought advice from her mother, Kathy Smith, whose baking prowess came in handy.
Her family helped formulate a business plan for Smith’s Sprouted Nut Company, as well as its countless recipes that are both nutritious and delicious. She even received feedback from Sara’s long-time boyfriend, Tim Losdon, who takes credit for being both “the company’s manual labor and the chief taste tester.”
Fortunately for the growing number of customers who are quickly becoming addicted to Smith’s tasty and wholesome treats, the ideas for the various mouth-watering flavors seem to be as endless as her energy these days.
Sprouted Nut Company’s gift boxes and Sprouted Nut Company’s nut butters line the shelves at Ooo La La Catering in Stuart.
HOMECOMING
Smith returned to the Treasure Coast five years ago. It feels like home, she said. A native of Fort Lauderdale, she has lived all over the state with brief stints in Georgia. Her parents bought a house in Port St. Lucie about 14 years ago.
She’s glad to have settled back in Stuart. “I fell in love with the area because of the vibe, the people, the breeze, the ocean,” she said. “It’s our little gem.”
Smith may be recognizable to some locals as a master stylist with the Christopher Andrews Salon on Ocean Boulevard in Stuart, where she has been working for nearly two years. Though she’s been doing hair for almost 15 years, she has always been something of a health nut.
After taking a brief hiatus from producing her sprouted nut butters in Georgia, she is now making them again with vigor. She says that the secret to the success of her new business is in the science.
“We get rid of the anti-nutrients. That’s what the nuts and seeds are protected by,” explained Smith “They’re surrounded by this protective barrier — phytic acid — also known as anti-nutrients, meaning your body fights it to get rid of it and it’s toxic to your body. Typical regular old almond butter has it, and it would have been the same of any butter or seed butter — though peanuts are a little different because they’re legumes.”
According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, phytic acid, also known as phytates, is the “stored form of phosphorus found in seeds, nuts, legumes and unprocessed whole grains [concentrated in the outer bran layers].” Smith’s website claims that “sprouting nuts and seeds removes the toxic barrier and increases its nutrient content by 15 times.”
The production process requires dehydrating the sprouted nuts before they can be ground, to capture the maximum health benefits and to halt the sprouting process. After being dehydrated, the raw nuts have a crunch to them, unlike typical raw nuts that are tenderer.
“Nuts are naturally in the dormant state, meaning they’re not live and not dead,” Smith said. “They’re dormant — basically in a protective cocoon — like a butterfly. That protective area is what’s keeping it protected, until it hits water. And when it hits water, it’s triggered to sprout and it’s time to release the phytic acid and sprout a live tree.”
It is all hands on deck, and very much a family affair, as Sprouted Nut Company founder Smith works with, from left, her brother, A.J. Smith; her sister, Sara Smith; and Sara’s boyfriend, Tim Losdon, on the production of Sprouted Nut Company products in the kitchen of Ooo La La Catering in Stuart.
CHOICE INGREDIENTS
Sprouted Nut Company is not a one-person operation, according to its owner, who relies on help from family and loved ones to produce the items for sale on-line and at Ooo La La Catering in Stuart.
Smith’s sprouted nuts — raw and sourced either organically or wild-harvested — are then dehydrated, ground and blended into butters. Some flavors have berries from Smith family fruit trees and bushes in Woodstock added; others have fruit from other local and/or organic sources added. Sometimes there are more decadent additions, such as dark chocolate and Arabica coffee.
Sara, who acknowledged that “growing up, our dad was a health nut,” and that the Smith family is “super health conscious,” said she’s very excited to see her sister’s business take root in the area and is looking forward to it growing. “I love it,” said Sara. “Growing up, Jessica was always making concoctions and they always came out really well.”
A.J. is also incredibly happy for Jessica. “We all have this entrepreneurial streak, and this is naturally where she belongs,” he said. “These aren’t just nut butters but sprouted nut butters. And I’m very, very proud of her.”
Currently the Sprouted Nut Company has a vendor table at the weekly Stuart farmers market, known as Market on Main, held at Flagler Park overlooking the St. Lucie River. For details on the market, go to www.stuartmainstreet.org. Smith also sells her top-of-the-line sprouted nut butters at Sailfish Point, an oceanfront community with a marina, fitness and wellness center, spa and other luxury amenities located on Hutchinson Island.
Online shoppers can find Smith’s wares at www.sproutednutcompany.com or by emailing sproutednutcompany@gmail.com.
An 8.2-ounce jar costs $22. And after watching Smith whip up a couple of batches, one can appreciate not only the quality of her ingredients but the care with which she makes her flavorsome foodstuffs. It’s a labor-intensive process. On top of it all, Smith works to ensure her products and her processing remain sustainable.
Some of the scrumptious-sounding choices include Pineapple Coconut Organic Sprouted Cashew Butter, Dark Chocolate Espresso Organic Sprouted Nut Butter, Strawberry Fields Organic Sprouted Nut Butter, Pecan Butter Organic Sprouted Nut Butter, Vanilla Cashew Organic Sprouted Nut Butter, Honey-Maple Almost Butter Organic Sprouted Nut Butter and Blueberry Yum Yum Organic Sprouted Nut Butter.
Rest assured, Smith will have more flavors sprouting up all the time.
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