I first learned about Broccoli Sprouts and their power on a Joe Rogan podcast with guest Dr. Rhonda Patrick. I was blown away by the health benefits of this tiny little sprout and how easy it seemed to be to sprout my own at home! They are available for purchase at most grocery stores, but as Dr. Patrick explains, they are easily contaminated with E Coli and their potency will depend on their freshness. Always best to sprout your own - most natural grocery stores will have the seeds and kit to do so.
First - why should we include broccoli sprouts into our diet (salads, sandwiches or my personal fav - freezing them and adding to my smoothies, as I note in my "Superfood Everyday Smoothie) in Namastay Nourished.)
These little sprouts are powerful - they have been shown to decrease your chance of cancer, detox harmful chemicals from your body (literally draws benzene out of your body via urine), improves your gut health, enhances brain function & works miracles on a cellular level.
Sulforaphane – found in cruciferous vegetables, are a powerful natural activator of NRF2 pathway which affects expression of over 200 genes including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory genes and genes that inactivate harmful compounds - has been shown to prevent growth of many cancers & reduce many common diseases like diabetes, heart disease, neurodegenerative disease, etc.
Broccoli Sprouts are a much better delivery system of sulforaphane that most veggies because they are - young (mature veggies lose their potency) and fresh (heat damages or degrades sulforaphane). Each mason jar of sprouts contains 90-120 mg of sulforaphane - a good serving is about a tablespoon of frozen sprouts in your daily shake (did I mention that they are the most potent when frozen!!)
So - these little sprouts are AMAZING & SO easy to incorporate into your daily diet. They are really easy to sprout yourself at home!
DIY BROCCOLI SPROUTS:
Sterilize your mason jar with boiling water to ensure to cross contamination - I usually just boil my kettle and fill to the brim and let cool to drain.
After draining, add 2 tbsps. of seeds to the jar & fill jar with water letting them soak 8-12 hours.
Drain water from jar, refill with water and rinse until empty. Store lid side down in a bowl for excess drainage. Try to get the seeds to cling to the sides of the jar and not bunch up all together.
Every 12 hours (morning and evening) rinse the seeds and empty immediately for 5-6 days until the seeds sprout and turn green. Make sure not to over-rinse on day 4-6 - sometimes I reduce watering to once per day depending on how much moisture is in the jar.
Once jar is full of sprouts and green - empty into a large bowl and fill with water. Remove the dark seed casings with a spoon by skimming off the top.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the sprouts from the bowl and lay on a toweled cutting board to dry. You can pat them dry or let them airdry before storing in an airtight container in the fridge (if using for salads/sandwiches) or put in a ziplock bag and store in freezer to add to smoothies!
If you try it out - let me know!!
-tay