Microgreen Kitchen Gardens
An indoor grower's guide to superfoods
By Rachel Klein
To put it simply, sprouts are dormant seeds that have been ‘woken’ up through a
process of soaking and rinsing and allowed to start their journey towards becoming a
full grown plant. By harvesting them within the first 3 – 7 days of their growth cycle, you
can easily and inexpensively reap even more of the nutritional benefits these super seeds
have to offer.
1
Experts estimate that there can be up to 100 times more enzymes in sprouts than in
uncooked fruits and vegetables. Enzymes are special types of proteins that act as catalysts
for all your body’s functions. Extracting more vitamins, minerals, amino acids and
essential fatty acids from the foods you eat ensures that your body has the nutritional
building blocks of life to ensure every process works more effectively.
2
The quality of the protein in the beans, nuts, seeds, or grains improves when it is
sprouted. Proteins change during the soaking and sprouting process, improving its
nutritional value.
3
The fiber content of beans, nuts, seeds or grains increases substantially. Fiber is
critical to weight loss. It not only binds to fats and toxins in our body to escort them out,
it ensures that any fat our body breaks down is moved quickly out of the body before it
can resorb through the walls of the intestines.
4
Vitamin content increases dramatically. This is especially true of vitamins A, B-complex, C, and E. The vitamin content of some seeds, grains, beans or nuts increases by up
to 20 times the original value within only a few days of sprouting.
5
6
Essential fatty acid content increases during the sprouting process. Most of us are
deficient in these fat-burning essential fats because they are not common in our diet.
During sprouting, minerals bind to protein in the seed, grain, nut, or bean, making
them more useable in the body. This is true of alkaline minerals like calcium, magnesium
and others that help us to balance our body chemistry for better health and weight loss.
7
Sprouts are alkalizing to your body. Many illnesses including cancer have been
linked to excess acidity in the body.