You've probably heard about health-conscious people eating germs or maybe you've eaten them yourself at a healthy vegan restaurant. Maybe you liked them or left them on the side of your plate because you just thought they were a nice garnish.
In this post, I hope to encourage you to give sprouting a try. I do this by listing their benefits and showing you how easy it is to grow them yourself at home.
There are countless health benefits of eating sprouts, so I'll focus on the main ones here:
1. Including germs in your daily meals is an easy way to provide an important nutritional boost for your immune system. Those little green "powerhouses" contain a higher dose of core vitamins and minerals such as iron, copper, manganese and potassium, compared to the same large portion of mature plants.
2.I mentioned in my other blog post how important fiber is to our microbiome and overall health. Sprouts are a great way to get a variety of fiber into your diet. Just mix 3-5 different kinds of germs into your salad or smoothie, or top your sandwich with them, and you'll make your microbiome bacteria happy. It will contribute to improved digestion and a healthier gut in general.
3. Eating germs will help you a lot healthy weightt achieve or maintain. Sprouts are low in calories, but thanks to their high fiber content, they cause satiety and keep you feeling full longer.
4. Sprouts contain high levels of glucoraphanin, a core enzyme that your body protects against several types of cancer. Broccoli sprouts, in particular, have an amazing anti-cancer ability and have been proven to kill cancer cells and slow the growth of tumors.
5. Germs have great health benefits for cardiovascular health. They help lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation and slow down atherosclerosis.
6.Several research projects prove that eating germs has benefits for improving brain function and preventing brain-related diseases, such as autism or Alzheimer's disease. Cruciferous sprouts, such as broccoli and radish, are particularly effective because of their high sulforaphane content.
7.Sprout your own seeds, helps you connect with your food and is very budget friendly. You can eat a healthy variety of organic vegetables and legumes in a sprouted form for much less than it would cost you buying mature produce.
If that's not convincing to you, I'd just advise you to do your own empirical research and commit to eating a variety of germs daily for 21 days. I am sure the health improvement will be noticeable enough to become one of the biggest fan of germs.
If you want to give it a try, here is a simple sprouting method you can follow with any of the sprouting seeds.
What you need:
- variety of organic seeds, which are specially produced for germination
- 1-2 glass mason jars with a large opening and a special stainless steel sieve lid (see my photos)
- optionally you can buy a set of 2 preserving jars with special uprights at an angle of 70 degrees and a bowl for the draining water
- fresh filtered water
Below is my method of sprouting, which I adapted from Doug Evans' book "The Sprout Book". I use it all the time and it has never let me down. It's simple and can be easily incorporated into a daily schedule. I like to set an alarm on my mobile to remind me of three daily flush times.
Below are the steps I follow:
- put 2 tablespoons of seeds in a clean, disinfected preserving jar (I do this by pouring cooking water into a jar and over a lid) and cover with a sieve lid
- fill half of a pot with freshly filtered cold water and let it soak for two minutes
- drain water and refill the pot with fresh cold water
- soak the seeds overnight at room temperature for 8 hours
- drain water in the morning and rinse the germs again with fresh cold water; then place the jar upside down, at a 70-degree angle. You can use a special sprouting pot stand or place the pot in a higher bowl and against the side to create the right angle. It is important that the remaining water can drain easily. I leave my sprouting jars on the counter, with plenty of daylight, but not in direct sunlight.
- repeat the above step 2-3 times a day
- after 3-4 days the sprouts fill the jar and have 1.5 cm long white tails. You can place them in the light (never direct sunlight) for half a day longer so that they develop more green colored leaves.
- when the sprouts are ready, carefully transfer them to a large glass or stainless steel bowl, fill it with fresh cold water and rinse the sprouts. You will notice that the empty seed pods will flow at the top and the ones that have not germinated will fall to the bottom. I remove the floating seed pods with a spoon, leaving the heavy ones at the bottom of the bowl. Drain the sprouts well in a tight colander and transfer to an airtight container.
You can store them in the fridge for up to a week.
I wish you good luck germinating it and have fun eating it! If you have questions about the germination method or need inspiration to incorporate it into your menu, the best way to contact me is on Instagram @monika_deboer.