Super organic Sprouts

Amazing!!!

A few comparisons (and there are many)* of the  nutritional value of mature vegetables and the sprouts of these vegetables.  Data  taken from http://www.nal.usda.gov.  All of the samples are 100 grams, and all of the nutritional values are in milligrams (mg)

Mung beans  

Lentils 

Radish

Wheat – one cup

 So how is this possible and why do sprouts have nutritional value so much higher than that of mature vegetables?

A plant is alive, but how has it reached such a point from being a seed that seems almost dead?

Inside the seed is hidden the entire biological program of the plant and what it needs to get there. A seed is really a magic capsule. When the seed identifies conditions suitable for growth, a variety of enzymes are secreted to begin the process. Enzymes are also necessary for us to carry out all of our bodily processes.

These enzymes enable the seed to begin the process of breaking down the nutrients found in the endosperm. The embryonic plant needs vitamins and minerals to enable its cells to multiply in the germination process. It also need high quality proteins to build these cells.

In the initial germination process, the seed requires appropriate conditions: moisture, light, and temperature. But it does not need the nutrients that it will need when it is a mature plant. Remember how we grew beans on moist cotton during kindergarten?

Amazing.  A dry bean that can be cooked for hours so it can be eaten, that can be used for artwork with glue or hang as a necklace around your neck, will not change its shape. However, give this bean the right conditions and it will come to life! It will germinate and the embryonic plant within will emerge and begin to grow.

In order to make the seed undergo such a dramatic change, a variety of enzymes are secreted to break down and make available all of the nutrients that are stored in the seed. These enzymes are needed so that the embryo can use the nutrients in order to grow into a large and healthy plant.

This wealth is also available to us in both the quantity and in the form for our bodies to use. These enzymes help us break down, digest, and absorb the nutrients that we need to grow new tissue and be healthy.

Enzymes are what makes every cellular process in your body happen, including building new cells and disposing  of waste. When we eat enzymes that help us digest our food we make it easier for the body to carry out cell reproduction, which allows the body to grow and to renew its organic structure. (aging is actually a state in which cells die faster than the rate in which they are renewed). Protein is the nutritional component which allows the building of cells. Proteins are constituted of different amino acids.  The correct combination of these amino acids are what constitutes “usable” protein, the protein that our bodies can use.

Organic sprouts contain the “essential” amino acids that provide us with usable protein. Our body needs high quality usable protein just as a newly sprouted seed does. However, while our body produces some amino acids, it does not produce all that we need. Usable protein is composed of a combination of amino acids – those that we produce and those that we ingest. Those that we must ingest through the food we eat are called the essential amino acids. Sprouts are a very abundant source of such essential amino acids. Just like in our body, protein is needed for the plant to grow and that is the reason that the quantity is so dramatic.

Organic sprouts have many other nutritional benefits: they have more vitamins – in the process of seed germination the amount of vitamins is significantly increased; they contain simple sugars – available energy; they are rich in chlorophyll  – which contains iron which acts to purify the blood  and strengthen the immune system;  and they have much nutritional fiber.

Have I mentioned that the calorific value of organic legume sprouts is usually only about a third of the value of legumes not sprouted? Moreover, the enzymes in sprouts also act as an anti-inflammatory and a shortage of them undermines the body's ability to cope against disease.

And add to that, that it is really easy to consume them!

In any bean recipe, simply replace the dry legume with sprouted legumes to substantially increase the nutritional value with little effect on the taste . Another advantage in cooking with sprouted beans is that you can skip the soaking step and the cooking time will decrease significantly.

In salads, sandwiches and cooked dishes, you can skip the washing step. It was washed plenty of times J and of course they do not need to be cut up.

They come in a variety of flavors: spicy, bitter, sweet… each sprout according to its vegetable, and therefore they are suitable for any dish!!

"May your foods be your medicines and your medicines your foods" (Hippocrates, the "father of medicine")

Lvrioot!

Maggie and The garden staff

 We can expect in our organic vegetable baskets (draft only) :
Lettuce
Coriander
Cucumbers
Tatsoi
Potatoes
Kohlrabi
Grapefruit 🙂
Avocados
Pumpkin
Butternut Squash

And in the larger organic vegetable baskets also:
Dill
Spinach
Sweet Potato

Organic fruit baskets ;
Oranges
Sweeties
Annonas

And in the large ones also:
More Oranges
Red grapefruit
Plus avocados