If you think back to elementary school, you might vaguely remember a fun experiment during science class in which you and your classmates watched little tails grow out of beans. It turns out that this technique, referred to as sprouting, can also be an easy way to boost the nutritional content of already powerful foods. And it’s not just beans, either. Sprouting works with seeds, grains and even nuts! Who knew that there was a way to make certain ‘superfoods’ even more super? Keep reading to learn about five amazing health benefits of sprouts, as well as information on how to grow your own.
What are Sprouts?
Even if you’re learning about the health benefits of sprouts for the first time, it’s still highly likely that you’ve eaten them before. They’re often included in salads and sandwiches, and even in noodles.
But what are they, exactly, and why would you want to go out of your way to buy them or even grow your own? To put it simply, sprouts are formed when a plant is in the process of germinating, and they’re the first shoots that appear.
To avoid confusion, it should be cleared up that when we talk about sprouts, we’re not referring to a particular species of vegetable or herb. Just about anything can be sprouted. Whether it’s your favorite beans, legumes, herbs or seeds, pretty much any type of plant can be grown as a sprout.
First off, we’ll be going into the health benefits of eating plants in their sprouted form as opposed to their regular form. Then we’ll go over how to grow your own sprouts at home, which is both super cheap and easy!
The Top Five Health Benefits of Sprouts
1. Sprouts are a Powerful Source of Enzymes
One of the best reasons to eat sprouts is because they give your body a big boost of enzymes. Enzymes help speed up chemical reactions that occur in the body, such as metabolism, digestion and hormone regulation. To put it simply, enzymes are the things your body needs to extract nutrients from the food you eat. (2)
While enzymes can be produced naturally in the body, energy is required to do so. That’s why it’s best to absorb enzymes through food. By absorbing enzymes through things like sprouts, your body will be freed up from having to produce its own, allowing it more time and energy to focus on healing and fighting off disease.
But why do sprouts have more enzymes than other types of food? According to Dr. Mercola, “Sprouts as young as three days old contain 10 to 100 times the glucoraphanin, the main enzyme inducer, of the mature vegetable, which helps protect against chemical cancer-causing agents.” (3)
It should also be mentioned that enzymes typically get lost during the cooking process. While sprouts can be consumed cooked or raw, eating them raw is the best idea to make sure you absorb their highly beneficial enzyme content.
2. Sprouts Contain Boosted Nutritional Content
Sprouts are believed to be especially healthy due to a higher availability of vitamins, minerals and protein. They are known, for example, to be especially rich in various B vitamins
One of the reasons is directly related to the point above. The additional enzyme content of sprouts means that the body has a much easier time absorbing their nutrients.
Additionally, while certain foods are technically full of all sorts of good stuff, they may actually contain ‘anti-nutrients’ which inhibit the absorption of some of their best properties. One of these ‘anti-nutrients’ is phytic acid, which can make it harder for people to absorb minerals like calcium, iron and zinc.
As healthy as seeds, nuts and certain grains are, they’re known to contain phytic acid which they need to store phosphorus. It’s hard to generalize about amounts, though, as even different types of the same nut or seed may contain highly varying percentages.
But what we do know is this: when seeds begin to sprout, the phosphorus gets release and the amount of phytic acid diminishes. That’s why, in many cases, it’s easier for the body to absorb nutrients from sprouts compared to seeds in their dry form. (4)
In regards to grain sprouts, they’ve been shown to contain less starch, and therefore a lower glycemic index than regular grains. This means that sprouted grains have an even higher proportion of things like fiber or protein. (5)
3. Eating More Sprouts Benefits Weight Loss Efforts
Just last week, I wrote about how chia seeds can be a great weight loss aid. This is because they’re packed with so many nutritional benefits while also containing relatively few calories and carbohydrates.
Well, guess, what? The same principle applies to sprouts. This is even true when comparing plants in their sprouted form to those same foods in their dry, mature form.
As mentioned above, sprouting can increase the bioavailability of a food’s vitamin, mineral and protein content. What’s more, though, is that sprouts also typically contain fewer calories than their mature counterparts.
When looking at sprouted mung beans, for example, the sprouts have been shown to contain up to 15% fewer calories and carbohydrates than dried mung beans. Meanwhile, protein and calcium content could increase by around 30%, while the availability of various B vitamins increases hundreds of times over. (6)
Therefore, for those of you strictly counting calories in order to maintain a long-term calorie deficit for weight loss, consider eating some of your favorite beans and vegetables in their sprouted form instead. This is especially beneficial if you run or lift weights and want to make sure you’re giving your body what it needs to build muscle and repair itself, while also trying to burn fat at the same time.
4. Eating Sprouts Can Aid Digestion
One reason why eating sprouts is so good for digestion is because of the first point in this list: enzymes. To put it simply, a high amount of enzymes makes a food easier to digest. But that’s not the only reason why sprouts are good for digestion.
Another reason is high fiber content, which certain sprout varieties are known to contain a lot of. Fiber is necessary for proper digestion because fiber itself cannot be broken down by the digestive system. Therefore, getting enough fiber ensures frequent and regular bowel movements and can also help the body eliminate certain toxins that tend to get stuck in the digestive tract. (7)
Getting enough fiber is also crucial for those looking to lose weight, as it helps eliminate certain fats before they can be absorbed into the body.
In point number 2, we went over how the sprouting process can diminish the amount of ‘anti-nutrients’ like phytic acid. Another anti-nutrient diminished by sprouts is called raffinose, which is known to cause gas and bloating. Want to get the health benefits of beans, without the unpleasant (not to mention potentially embarrassing!) side effects? Try sprouting them instead! (5)
5. Sprouts are Cheap to Buy and Easy to Grow
As sprouts continue to gain popularity, it’s becoming more and more common to find them on supermarket shelves. And despite being packed with so many health benefits, buying sprouted broccoli or alfalfa is very affordable. You can even buy prepackaged sprouted seeds online if you don’t feel like doing it yourself.
Doing it yourself, however, should not be intimidating. All you need is the right seed, bean or grain (depending on what you want to sprout, obviously), a sprouting container and some water!
You can make a sprouting container yourself, but you may also want to consider buying one to ensure that the holes are the right size for when you need to drain out the water.
This one by Sprout-Ease comes with three different lids and goes for as little as $10 on Amazon.
On the higher end, this “Deluxe Sprouting System” by Lotus & Sky comes with special stainless steel lids as well as stands. While $60 is not cheap, it’s not too terribly expensive when you think about being able to grow a lifetime of homemade ‘superfoods.’
But, how, exactly, should one go about sprouting at home? Just read below to find out!
Growing Sprouts at Home
- I briefly covered sprouting in my book Diabetes: The Raw Food Diet for Diabetes Reversal. The following is an excerpt from that book. This is useful information for anyone interested in sprouting, whether or not you’re strictly following a raw food diet or are suffering from diabetes.
The best legume and seed sprouts are made with the following:
• Adzuki
• Garbanzo/Chickpeas
• Lentils
• Mung beans
• Peas
• Sunflower
The best grains for sprouting are:
• Amaranth
• Barley (unhulled)
• Buckwheat groats (hulled)
• Millet (hulled)
• Oats (unhulled)
• Quinoa
• Spelt
What You’ll Need
To sprout your legumes, seeds and grains, you need a container with a drainable lid. You can create this with a 16oz mason jar, either by puncturing small holes in the lid with a drill or nail, or with a breathable fabric like cheese cloth secured over the top with a rubber band. There are also sprouting kits available for sale in health food stores and online.
You will also need the legumes, seeds and grains to be raw and dried. These may be purchased at most stores, and as with most things, organic is best.
1) Prepare Your Sprouts: Begin by rinsing your future sprouts in a sieve under cool water for 1 minute. Remove any broken or discolored ones from the batch.
2) Soak Overnight: Measure out ½ a cup of legumes/seeds/grains and put them into a container to soak. Fill the container with 2 cups of room temperature water and set them aside.
For legumes and seeds, soaking overnight is fine. For grains, let them soak for a full 24 hours. Don’t be surprised if they grow two or three times in size! Note: Sprouting should be done at room temperature for best results.
3) Drain, Rinse and Repeat: Drain out all excess fluid from the sprouting container so that there is no standing water in the container and your seeds or beans are just moist. Excess water can lead to molding, so this part is important.
If your sprouting jar isn’t eliminating enough water on its own, dump the contents into a sieve and shake dry, then place back in the sprouting container.
After waiting another 12 hours or so, rinse the contents of the container again and then drain the water. Repeat this step 2 or 3 times a day until your legumes/seeds/grains have little sprouted tails.
You can play with the flavor and how long you let them grow, but once they sprout they are ready to eat. This can take between 2 to 4 days for easy sprouting items like those listed above.
4) Eat or Refrigerate: Your sprouts are now ready to eat! Put them on a salad, eat them as a quick snack or make a delicious hummus. Your sprouts can be refrigerated for several days, but be sure to watch for mold content. Fresh is best.
What to Watch Out For
Before you start growing your own sprouts at home, you should also be aware of some potential risks. There is a possibility that harmful bacteria such as E. coli could also grow along with the sprouts in the humid container.
While I don’t doubt that this can potentially happen, I really don’t know how common the problem actually is. Could this really be something to constantly be on the lookout for, or is it simply another media scare tactic commonly used against the health food industry?
In any case, it’s important to be sure you’re changing the water at least a couple times a day when growing your own sprouts. According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, sprout growers should test the drained water for bacteria, although this advice seems more intended for large-scale growers. (8)
Basically, growing and eating raw sprouts comes with risks similar to eating anything raw. While there may be a higher risk of certain bacteria or other contaminants making their way into the food, uncooked food still retains many vital nutrients and enzymes that cooked food lacks.
If this is a major concern for you, then it’s still possible to cook your sprouts if you prefer.
Conclusion
Sprouting is a fantastic way to extract even more nutrition out of already healthy foods. There are a couple of other amazing health benefits of sprouts that weren’t mentioned above, such as sprouts’ ability to alkalize the body and even improve hair and skin.
It’s difficult to talk about sprouts in such a general sense, though, as sprouting certain beans, nuts or seeds can come with particular advantages or disadvantages. I hope, at least, that this has opened your eyes to a new and easy way to ‘supercharge’ some of your favorite foods!
Sources
(1) https://mavcure.com/different-types-of-sprouts/#What_Are_Sprouts
(2) https://www.livescience.com/45145-how-do-enzymes-work.html
(3) https://foodfacts.mercola.com/sprouts.html
(4) https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/phytic-acid-101#section2
(5) https://dailyburn.com/life/health/sprouted-benefits-how-to-make-sprouts/
(6) https://ezinearticles.com/?Benefits-of-Sprouted-Foods&id=114242
(7) https://draxe.com/sprout/
(8) https://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-could-sprouts-be-so-damn-healthy-but-so-damn-dangerous-as-well.html
