Assessment of Vitamin and Carotenoid Concentrations of Emerging Food Products: Edible Microgreens

[pubs.acs.org]

Also, an article done about it:

[www.npr.org]

Mindy





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2013 06:56PM by mindy66.

Good find!

According to various independent lab analysis's, a tray of pea shoots (makes a measly 8 oz of juice) has more vitamin c than 4 oranges! That's why sproutarianism is the best diet possible, it is the highest in EVERY nutrient.

Thanks, Mindy, for this information - it's renewed my interest in sprouts. I already have sprouts in my daily green smoothie, but now I want to try others besides my regular clover and alfalfa. I tried broccoli sprouts, but they made my stomach feel sore or something.

Living Food, I went to the sprouting forum and saw all the great information you posted on sprouting, nuts in particular. The only caution is that I've read not to eat too many of the sunflower greens, and that makes me wonder if there are other sprouts we shouldn't be eating too much of in general. Thanks for all that info.

I'm also going to check out The Sproutarian's posts for more inspiration.

LF - Ya, I've wondered about how it would be to get into sprouting or now microgreening heavily. I imagine every room in my house overtaken. ha!

Interesting, that there is, in fact, a differentiation made between sprouts and microgreens.

Writer says, "Davison and Lester say microgreens could easily be confused with sprouts, but they're not the same thing. Sprouts are seeds germinated in water just long enough (usually 48 hours) to grow roots, a stem and pale, underdeveloped leaves. Microgreens, on the other hand, need soil and sunlight and at least 7 days to grow before you can harvest them."

I hope to get to a place at some point where I'll have the energy and ability to do my own growing of microgreens.

Mindy

Quote

The only caution is that I've read not to eat too many of the sunflower greens

There's no problem with sunflower greens, I'm sure your source meant buckwheat greens, which contain small amounts of the toxin 'fagopyrin'. Buckwheat greens are still perfectly safe in moderation and a wonderful liver cleanser, but if you juice excessive mounts everyday for a period of weeks they can turn your skin phototoxic (extremely sensitive to sunlight). But within days of stopping the buckwheat greens that will go away.

Grains have quite a few problems associated with them, even when sprouted, so I'd try to minimize grain consumption. But I do know people who have regained their health even while acting Los of grain sprouts, so it's more of a "perfectionist" thing then anything else - unless you're allergic. Many people are.

And that's pretty much it. Some sprouts, just like any food, have an imbalances nutrient concentration (usually excessive phosphorous vs calcium or excessive copper s zinc) so you'd want to not go overboard, but there's nothin wrong with eating them in moderation.

As for sunflower greens - eat them up and drink them down. Sunflower greens are one of the best foods you can possibly eat, they're only second to wheatgrass. Lots of amazing nutrients in sunflower greens, they're loaded with carotenoids, b vitamins, vitamin c, vitamin e, and lots of minerals like calcium, zinc, copper, magnesium, potassium, selenium, iron, phosphorous, etc, and also lots of enzymes, hormones, oxygen and other rare phytonutrients.

Quote:
“Not only are these tiny seeds packed with vitamins and minerals, they are also one of the top foods to fight depression. Sunflowers represent the sun and have the unique ability to twist on their stems so their faces can bask in sunlight throughout the day. Photons from the sun are bundles of electromagnetic energy and are stored in the DNA of the sunflower. These photons are transferred to human cells, making sunflowers a natural mood enhancer.

Sunflower seeds are rich in the amino acid tryptophan which activates serotonin production in the body. Serotonin is one of the body’s most important neurotransmitter. When released it allows the body to relax and gives the feeling of well being. Prozac, Paxil and other antidepressants are so popular today because they artificially increase serotonin levels”.
[liveliving.org]

I juice a big tray of sunflower greens almost everyday. Here's my babies:

mindy66 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Writer says, "Davison and Lester say microgreens
> could easily be confused with sprouts, but they're
> not the same thing. Sprouts are seeds germinated
> in water just long enough (usually 48 hours) to
> grow roots, a stem and pale, underdeveloped
> leaves. Microgreens, on the other hand, need soil
> and sunlight and at least 7 days to grow before
> you can harvest them."

Wow, thanks for clarifying that for me, Mindy. I wonder if it's possible to buy them ready-made - I'm lazy. I don't even make my own sprouts.

Living Food, yes, I'm wrong again. I did mean buckwheat sprouts - I better go back to school



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2013 05:23PM by KidRaw.

Yes, microgreens and green sprouts are different, and the microgreens tend to be considerably more nutritious. The cereal grasses (wheat, rye, barley, oats, etc) are the king of the microgreens and the most powerful land food there is.

Quote

I wonder if it's possible to buy them ready-made - I'm lazy. I don't even make my own sprouts.

It might be, depending on where you are, but keep in mind that commercial sprouts + microgreens are nowhere near as nutritious as those that you can grow yourself, + they're grown with toxic tap water full of fluoride and tons of other contaminants. Take commercial mung beans for example; they're grown with various toxic chemicals and gases to give them artificially large roots and make them very plump, but at the cost of sacrificed nutrition and increased toxins. Much better, and cheaper, to grow your own.

Yes, I agree about the water thing. I'm very particular about what water is used in the sprouts I buy. Mine are from NC - Sunny Creek Farms - and they use spring water.

[www.sunnycreekfarm.com]

What do you think of broccoli sprouts, Living Food? I used some in my green smoothie last week and then my stomach felt kind of bad because of the spiciness.

I love broccoli sprouts. They're one of the most powerful, if not THE most powerful, anti-cancer food ever discovered! So powerful that they were actually patented for a while!

The "spiciness" comes from the sulfur content, which is actually a good thing because it makes broccoli sprouts powerful detoxifiers. Most people are deficient in sulfur, which is vital for the production of various powerful detoxifying enzymes and vital amino acids. Sulfur also plays many other important roles in the body; this link discusses some of them: [www.thebodyhealer.com]

I love the sulfur-containing sprouts because of their detoxifying powers and other benefits, but I can see how they would be an acquired taste.

Edit: the link I gave said that sulfur deficiency is very rare, but that's unfortunately not true because of how depleted our soils are today.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2013 08:43PM by Living Food.

Wow, LF. Your babies are gorgeous!
Nice job!

Mindy

Quote

Wow, LF. Your babies are gorgeous!

Sorry, that was misleading of me. That isn't actually a picture of my sunflower greens, just a picture of sunflower greens (I don't have a camera so none of the pictures I post are actually mine). But mine are very similar looking. But just because you said that...



THE LIVING FOOD SUNFLOWER GREEN CHALLENGE

I challenge you and everyone else reading this thread to grow at least one batch of sunflower greens and post a picture of them here. Then we can all vote on the best one. [my ulterior motive is that hopefully people will learn how easy + fun it is to grow microgreens]

You should definitely start your own Post for the challenge. Good idea.

You might consider including a link to somewhere online where one can learn how to do this if they've never grown sprouts before.



Mindy