Amazingly easy super sprouts
By Sari Huhtala
If you own a bowl, and have access to water, for just pennies a day, you can create nutrient-dense, antioxidant-rich sprouts that have been found to improve heart health, diabetes, immunity, reduce age spots, protect the liver and protect from cancer.
Mung beans, a staple food in India and Pakistan, provide a rich source of essential amino acids, protein building blocks necessary for good health, according to a 2019 review – Mung Bean (Vigna radiata L.): Bioactive Polyphenols, Polysaccharides, Peptides, and Health Benefits – published in the journal Nutrients. Combine easy-to-digest mung beans with rice, or another grain, to create a complete protein, which has all the essential amino acids, researchers say. A ratio of 3:4 of mung bean protein with rice protein provides the best essential amino acid profile.
Mung beans are high in protein, iron, fibre, calcium, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and potassium, as well as vitamin B6, K and folate.
Plus, they provide a rich source of antioxidants, which are “significantly increased” after germination – in other words, sprouting.
Germinated mung beans have been shown to protect the liver, and improve liver health, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the “silent epidemic,” which affects about 20 per cent of Canadians, often without symptoms until it becomes a severe health threat.
By sprouting, you can set aside concerns of consuming too much phytic acid, which occurs naturally in all plant foods, including nuts and seeds, and can block the absorption of minerals in the body. Germinating mung beans decreased phytic acid by 76 per cent, researchers found, and increased the bioavailability of zinc and iron three-fold.
Although simply cooking mung beans helps decrease phytic acid, soaking them overnight before cooking will further decrease the phytic acid content.
Although I have been sprouting mung beans for about a decade, I never delved deep into the scientific studies that prove their health benefits until recently.
The good news is, you don’t have to invest in any fancy sprouting equipment. While I use a dome-like mini greenhouse to sprout my beans, I experimented sprouting with a simple bowl, and it works just as well. Or, use a mason jar.
Mung beans can often be found in the grocery store aisle alongside other dry beans, or in the international section of grocery stores.
Simple way to sprout mung beans
Pour about 1/3 cup of dry mung beans into a strainer and rinse under water. Place the rinsed mung beans into a glass bowl. Add just enough water to cover the bottoms of the beans. Set aside in or out of sunlight. At the end of the day, pour into a strainer and rinse the beans again, rinse the bowl, and place the rinsed mung beans back into the bowl, covering them slightly with water once again. Keep repeating the process in the morning and evening until the mung beans are sprouted to your desire. It takes less than two days for them to sprout. If you sprout them for a week, you’ll notice they begin to look like the popular bean sprout dish served in Chinese food restaurants. That’s because that’s what it is.
Be sure to rinse your sprouts well under cold water before eating. Toss sprouts if they smell funky. I never have an issue with mung bean or lentil sprouts, but you do want to make sure you are rinsing the sprouts, and adding fresh water twice a day while sprouting. Sprouts last longer in the fridge if excess water is removed. I drain mine into a large sieve, and leave it draining over a bowl for a couple of hours, then I line a bowl with a clean dish cloth or cloth napkin and place the sprouts in the bowl to remove excess water while they are stored covered in the fridge.
Delicious and nutritious. Happy sprouting!
(This information is not intended to replace medical advice and treatment from a health care practitioner).
Sari Huhtala is the creator, publisher and editor of Alive and Fit Magazine, which was created in 2007. She has over 25 years of experience in journalism and over 15 years of experience as a certified personal trainer and fitness instructor, and is a holistic chef, offering holistic cooking and edible wilds workshops. She is an organic farmer, wild-crafter and grandmother, who has spent over 20 years navigating a holistic, healthy path for her family. Reach her at friends@thelaughingforest.ca
