Secret 25: Sprout Your Own Superfoods

Let's try something different! If you do not already add sprouts to meals, how about going to your favorite grocery store and buying some? If you already add sprouts to your sandwiches, salads or pasta dishes, how about looking for sprouts you have never tried before? Onion sprouts, anyone? Better yet, grow your own! If you already eat and grow your own sprouts, just skip this secret and go on to another secret....

Let's take this one step at a time. Apart from enjoying bean sprouts once in a while, which I like to cook with green onions and a dab of soy sauce and sesame oil, I have never been a fan of (raw) sprouts. 

Bean sprouts: enjoy them cooked or raw

However, sprouts, just like eggs, are a powerhouse of nutrients since sprouts (and eggs) are the first important steps in the successful creation of a new plant or animal. When you eat sprouts (or eggs), you too get to benefit from this accumulation of nutrients. Since cooking can denature nutrients, you will gain more from sprouts if you eat them raw. However, eating an entire dish of sprouts straight-up may not sound appealing. So how about just adding a few sprouts to your favorite sandwich or salad to spice up the flavor and pack in the nutrients? They make a great substitute for iceberg lettuce in a sandwich.

Broccoli and clover sprouts.  Does this make your mouth water?  Maybe for a cow or goat.

If you already add sprouts to your sandwiches, how about choosing sprouts at the store that you have never tried before? Have you ever eaten pea sprouts, or onion sprouts? Don't limit yourself to alfa alfa sprouts, try sunflower sprouts for a change. Less common sprouts are available at Whole Foods or your favorite health food store. And since sprouts have a short shelf life (before they turn into plants or wither away), you get the added benefit of knowing that this food is very fresh.

Green pea sprouts

Sprouts are replete with vitamins, minerals, trace elements, fiber, antioxidants, anti-carcinogens and other vital building blocks. According to Sally Beare, during the sprouting process, vitamins such as B2 multiply 2000x fold.  You can swallow a vitamin pill, or flavor your dishes with raw sprouts. Your choice.  Doesn't adding a few sprouts to your salad sound more appetizing than sprinkling ground-up vitamin pills on your salad...? Sprouts are nature's answer to bottled synthetic multivitamins - or are synthetic multi-vitamins a poor substitute for freshly harvested sprouts? 

Get ready for your next hike by loading your lunch with sprouts:

Sprouts on an open-faced sandwich with mustard.  Just add your favorite 'filler'
These sprouts taste great with cheddar cheese.

Just like with any food, moderation is the key. According to Beare, should you be one of those rare humans who likes to consume sprouts by the bowl, do try to limit yourself to a cup or so per day. The reason for this is the presence of L-canavanine, which is an amino acid that can suppress your immune system. Especially alfa alfa sprouts are high in L-canavanine, and cancer patients may wish to avoid them. Alfa alfa sprouts may also play a role in joint pain and arthritis.  Allow your body to let you know what it craves or prefers to avoid.  Mine avoids alfa alfa sprouts....

Even if you do not have a green thumb, you might enjoy sprouting your own seeds: simply soak your chosen seeds in either mineral water or distilled water overnight, place them in a well-lit spot at room temperature and rinse them twice daily. After a few days your sprouts should be ready for consumption.

Bon appetit!