For anyone who knows me or has worked with me you’ll know how much I love sprouts, I always recommend everyone to grow them. Come to my kitchen and no doubt you’ll see them growing on my windowsill or sitting draining in the drying rack.
My favourite ones are alfalfa, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, fenugreek, and sunflower.
Some of the benefits of sprouting:
- Sprouts are some of the most nutrient rich foods we could eat. The seeds have the highest nutritional value when they are seedlings about 3-10 days old. The sprouts contain a greater concentration of nutrients like Vitamin E, potassium, iron, antioxidants and protein. They also contain other nutrients like folic acid, zinc and magnesium.
- They are living foods. They feed your cells (or batteries) the energy required to maintain all your bodily functions.
- They are quick growing and require little attention, so if grown frequently you always have a healthy food to add to your salads, smoothies, juices, sandwiches and to pop on top of your soups or other main meals.
- Sprouts are a very cost effective way to eat extremely nutrient rich foods.
- If you are looking to lose weight, sprouts are perfect to consume on a regular basis as they have fewer calories and are so nutrient rich which helps to keep your weight under control because your body is getting the nutrients it needs.
- Sprouts are also an amazing detox food. They are rich in water and fibre, so it’s the ideal food to add to a healthy clean eating detox diet.
- Sprouts are the perfect home-grown food. When you grow them yourself you are helping the environment and ensuring that you are not getting unwanted pesticides, food additives, and other harmful chemicals.
- They have high levels of proteins. Sprouts such as sunflowers are a complete protein. The quality of the protein in the sprouted seed, nut, bean or grain improves when it is sprouted so our bodies can better utilize the protein.
- They are loaded with enzymes. Some people battle to eat the bean, nut or seed raw but once sprouted they contain loads of enzymes and are easy to digest and therefore the intake of nutrients increases.
How to grow sprouts:
- Choose your seed or bean and place in a glass jar.
- Cover the seeds with filtered or spring water. Some seeds soak up a lot of water so make sure to add enough for this to happen. I often add a couple grains of sea salt for more minerals in the germinating process too.
- Place cheesecloth or a sprouting gauze over the top of the jar.
- Soak the seeds overnight or for about 8-12 hours
- After soaking rinse thoroughly and leave to drain so all the water comes off. Rinse 2-3 times a day
- Once sprouting begins and you can see the shoots, place the jar in in-direct sunlight for about 1/2 an hour so chlorophyll can be produced.
- Allow the sprouts to grow for about 2-5 days in warmer climates and about 4-8 days in cooler climates or depending on your preference.
- Refrigerate once ready and add to your salads etc.
* Make sure to keep the sprouts in shaded cooler parts of the kitchen, rinse thoroughly and pop them in the fridge as soon as they are ready as bacteria can grow on them if it is too warm and humid. If you are purchasing them from a store make sure you have checked the source and that they are fresh sprouts and have been properly refrigerated.
Thrive And Shine 