What makes microgreens so nutritious? Can microgreens give my body immunity? Can microgreens be the superfood that can help reverse my chronic ailments?
Here is why, along with research-backed information to help you integrate super microgreens into your everyday nutrition.
Are microgreens a superfood? So-called superfoods are nutritionally dense foods that are a part of a balanced diet that may deliver superior health benefits. They are mostly plant-based, including greens, beans, and legumes. And, their microgreens have 5 to 40 times more nutrients.
Why are microgreens so nutritious?
Eating microgreens as part of a balanced, healthy diet will help prevent, delay, and manage chronic diseases at any age.
Why should you care about superfoods?
Riddle: What do you get if you cross the woman of steel with a hot vegetable broth?
Answer: Souper Woman!
I promise that when you finish reading, you will know what the microgreens superfoods are.
You will how to make healthy microgreens soups.
And you will learn other ways to integrate microgreens into your nutrition to prevent, manage, and fight chronic diseases.
What Is A Superfood?
If you ask a scientist or nutritionist, “what is a superfood?” some may humor you. Others will ridicule you.
In scientific circles, the term “superfood” is considered a marketing tool with zero supporting academic research.
But suppose you ask food executives and manufacturers the same question.
In that case, they’ll point to a growing list of these so-called superfoods.
Is this idea of superfoods a marketing ploy?
Are food lobbyists running around government cities trying to shape public opinion about their superfood produce?
Did you know that the word “superfood” has no medical or nutritional definition?
But the word is an established part of our vocabulary.
Kava to kudzu, seaweed to kombucha, chia seeds to goji berries, açaí, miso, and turmeric, it seems like someone finds some new superfood every day.
Do you have time to keep up with this list? I don’t.
So, what makes them so unique?
If food has many vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants, flavonoids, etc., it is usually labeled a superfood.
Why? Because those nutrients can affect your health positively, and there is evidence to support it.
However, no single food by itself can prevent disease.
Eating a handful of goji berries every day will give you the needed nutrients.
But it is not that superfoods that will turn you or me into super-healthy humans.
Microgreens Healthy: Forty Times More
Superfoods are mostly plant-based, including greens, beans, and legumes.
They include arugula, radish, golden peas, amaranth, spinach, kale, chickpeas, beans, and lentils.
We harvest microgreens before all the food in the seed is used to fuel a mature plant’s growth.
The cotyledons condense the nutrients.
In the most widely cited study on microgreens, scientists from the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland, and the Food Quality Laboratory of the US Department of Agriculture reviewed 25 commercially available microgreens for essential vitamins and carotenoid concentrations.
The researchers found large variations among the 25 varieties they tested.
They showed that the microgreens contain significantly more amounts of vitamins and carotenoids than the mature plants.
Microgreens Nutrition Data
For example, according to the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR), phylloquinone (vitamin K1) in mature amaranth, basil, and red cabbage were 26 times less than the values for their corresponding microgreens.
Red cabbage microgreens had six times more vitamin C than mature red cabbage.
And the study further showed that “red cabbage microgreens contained over 40 times the vitamin E content of its mature counterpart.”
Microgreens are super superfoods!
Why Are Superfoods Important?
Based on the latest research, the model human diet is mostly plant-based.
It will include a wide selection of greens, beans, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and healthy animal products such as fish.
According to the Mayo Clinic, healthy food must meet at least three of the following criteria:
- It must be readily available.
- It must be a good or excellent source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.
- It must be high in phytonutrients and antioxidant compounds (vitamins A, E, and beta carotene).
- There must be evidence that it can help reduce some chronic diseases.
Microgreens meet those criteria.
Microgreens are good for health.
Microgreens To Protect Your Eyes
ARMD is the leading cause of blindness and impaired vision worldwide.
Several studies demonstrate that lutein improves eye health.
Lutein is a powerful antioxidant.
It can improve or even prevent age-related macular disease (ARMD).
Lutein can be found in spinach, dandelion, and cress microgreens.
Lutein and beta-carotene exist in large amounts in broccoli microgreens. Read more in my post, Broccoli Microgreens Nutrition: Everything You Need To Know.
Microgreens For Diabetes
Dark green leafy vegetables are an excellent source of nutrients, including folate, zinc, calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamin C, and fiber.
But their microgreens are superfoods that have the potential to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. In a recent report, “Sulforaphane Emerging as a Type 2 Diabetes Treatment,” scientists found that dark green leafy vegetables like kale had high sulforaphane concentrations.
You can read more about microgreens and diabetes and learn about Doug Penick. Doug reversed his diabetes.
Microgreens For Weight Loss
Obesity is a growing and primary chronic disease in many parts of the world.
Scientists, doctors, and nutrition experts believe it is a high-calorie, high-fat, and low fruits and vegetable diet.
Scientists have demonstrated that red cabbage microgreens can lower blood and liver cholesterol and inflammatory cytokines in mice fed a high-fat diet.
There is growing evidence that phytochemicals in microgreens may reduce the formation of fat cells.
These phytochemicals include beta-carotene, retinoic acid (RA), polyphenols, and flavonoids like the quercetin in microgreens.
This ability of microgreens suggests that they may protect against obesity.
Microgreens Are Souper Foods!
There are many ways to incorporate microgreens nutrition into your daily life.
Add microgreens that are rich in color: dark green kale, red beets, and purple radishes.
One of the best ways is to add shredded microgreens to soups.
Belize Callaloo and Mustard Microgreens Soup
Callaloo (amaranth) is a popular and indigenous Caribbean vegetable and is another nutrient-packed food.
When paired with mustard microgreens, you get an array of vitamins, including E, thiamin, B6, riboflavin, niacin, and minerals, including manganese and selenium.
|
Microgreen |
Taste |
Aroma |
Flavor |
Intensity |
|
Mustard |
Sweet |
Spicy |
High |
|
|
Amaranth |
Sweet |
|
Earthy |
Mild |
With a salad and whole wheat bread, this soup becomes a meal.
Equipment: 14 oz Soup Pan
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 Cups 1x
- Category: Lunch, Dinner
- Method: Soup
- Cuisine: Caribbean
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 4 oz mustard microgreens
- 1 lb (450 g) callaloo leaves
- 1 aubergine (eggplant)
- 2 green bananas
- 1 large onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 11/2 pts (850 ml) water
- 4 pimento berries
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 hot pepper
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 lb (225 g) young okra
- 1/4 pt (150 ml) coconut milk
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash the callaloo leaves and remove most of the stem.
- Drain and coarsely chop.
- Peel the eggplant and chop into 2 cm dice.
- Keeping the skin on, cut the green bananas into thick slices.
- Place these vegetables together with chopped onion and garlic in a large soup pan.
- Add the water, pimento, cloves, thyme, hot pepper, and freshly ground black pepper.
- Bring the soup to a boil and simmer, covered until the vegetables are tender (about 30 min).
- Take out the slices of green banana, remove the skin, and return to the pan.
- Remove the hot pepper, which should still be whole, and the thyme.
- Rub the soup through a sieve or liquidize briefly.
- Slice the okra into rounds.
- Return the soup to the pan.
- Add the okra, coconut milk, and microgreens.
- Cook for a further 10 minutes.
- Adjust the seasoning and serve.
Notes
Note: If it is more readily available, use spinach as a substitute for callaloo.
Keywords: mustard microgreens, amaranth microgreens, micorgreens nutrition, microgreens superfoods
Related questions
How do I cook microgreens?
Cooking microgreens for 15 minutes at 140-180°F will yield at least 75% of their nutrients.
Making soups with microgreens is one of the best ways to cook microgreens.
Get your copy of my soup recipe book, Eat Now! Microgreen Soups: 15 Savory Pocket Recipes.
Available on Amazon for only $0.99:
How do I start incorporating the health benefits of microgreens into my nutrition?
I’ve learned a lot about microgreens, how good they are for you, and what you can do with them. Check out my guide, “The Beginner’s Nutritional Guide to Incredible Microgreens.”
