Surely, you have heard of them on occasion, but do you know what sprouted foods are and the value they can bring to your dishes? We explain what they are and how to prepare them at home.
Sprouts are live foods of great nutritional value and rich in trace elements, amino acids, minerals, enzymes and vitamins. They come from cereals and legumes and value the nutritional value of the seed, plant or fruit itself. Being predigests they help the digestion itself, being suitable for delicate and sensitive stomachs.
Being able to grow at home are extremely economical, you can have them at any time of the year and with nutrients of high biological quality. It is recommended to consume them raw although they can also be part of cooked and sauteed dishes.
What kind of nutrients does it provide? In the first place, amino acids, something especially prominent in sprouts from legumes and that provide complete proteins, improving aspects such as the prevention of aging or the strengthening of the immune system. Wheat sprouts, soybeans, lentils or chickpeas provide a lot of vitamin C: as revealed by Conciencia Eco, sprouted soybeans increase their vitamin C content by up to 100% and wheat sprouts by 600% in just 5 days.
The sprouts provide numerous vitamins of the type B spectrum: thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2) and niacin (B3), present in sesame, alfalfa, sunflower or wheat sprouts. The latter also triples the content of vitamin E, a great antioxidant, while that of alfalfa is rich in beta-carotene – it has more than tomato or pepper – and vitamin K.
There are significant amounts of iron in fenugreek, lentil, red soybean and green soybean and alfada sprouts, as well as potassium in bean, soybean, sunflower and almond sprouts. Calcium is very common in chickpea, sunflower or alfalfa. All of them are characterized by their low caloric content, the presence of digestive enzymes, abundant trace elements such as chromium, colbalt, silicon, zinc or iodine and their high concentration of nutrients.
Why eat sprouts? They help prevent disease, purify waste, fight free radicals, tone the nervous and immune systems, reduce cholesterol, are vital for the glands and the circulatory system, delay aging, fight constipation, strengthen intestinal flora and stimulate pancreatic secretions.
How to sprout at home
Although you can buy them purchased, it is much more economical and versatile to prepare the sprouts in your own home. You will only need seeds to germinate and filtered water, in addition to a germination kit, easy to get both in physical stores and online.
- Place them in a glass container and add between two and three cups of filtered water, soaking them for 8 to 12 hours at room temperature.
- Drain the water through the germinator cap and add fresh water, repeating this procedure twice.
- Place the germination kit upside down in a deep container and remove all the water
- Leave it at room temperature avoiding direct contact with the sun, although worrying that it receives natural light
- Repeat the process twice a day until the buds start to hatch. You will notice it when green tails appear, and it is normal for the process to be completed in two to four days.
- Rinse them when ready by removing the water and allowing them to dry in a strainer. You can store them in the fridge in airtight glass jars.
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