Why bean sprouts

Bean sprouts are best known as a topping for dishes like pad Thai and pho, but they have plenty to offer on their own, including bloat-busting fibre. Julie Daniluk, R. Updated March 21, Mung beans are small, bright green beans, and bean sprouts are the sprouts that grow from those beans. You may recognize the sprouts from your take-out spring rolls, but they really shine when served raw.

The crunchy and delicately sweet bean sprouts are a good source of protein, vitamin C and folic acid. Five fantastic reasons to embrace mung beans and bean sprouts 1. They support heart health: Bean sprouts are a great source of potassium, a mineral important for heart muscle contraction and blood pressure regulation. Remember to boost your potassium intake if you are exercising or cleansing to ensure optimal cardiovascular strength.

They have vitamin K: The most important role of vitamin K in the body is its ability to assist in blood clotting. This is necessary to prevent excess blood loss, and it is especially important for women of childbearing age in order to avoid anemia. Fibre has been shown in many studies to lower LDL cholesterol levels, even when no other changes are made to the diet!

Some of the other notable health benefits of sprouts include anxiety reduction due to the bioflavonoids present , maintenance of healthy eye sight due to folate, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12 , immune support due to Vitamin C TeamNeverGetSick , reduced risk of coronary heart disease due to Vitamin K , and increased bone density due to manganese which is beneficial is building strong bones. Just one small cup of bean sprouts grams only has 31 calories, but, as you can see, a multitude of incredible, health promoting benefits!

You can pick up sprouts at your local, health food store, but sprouting your own beans will make sure that you get the most benefit from this amazing legume. You can use any kind of bean, but we suggest the greenish-capped mung beans. Poke a few holes in the lid.

Keep them in a dark area of your home such as inside a cabinet. Once soaked, turned the jar upside down, draining off the excess water. Then, lay the jar on its side and return it to the dark spot. The next day, rinse the beans and sprouts. Continue this process for 5 days or until the sprouts have reached the desired level of maturity.

You can find mung bean sprouts used in many different dishes , from Chinese to Brazilian cuisines. They're a popular food choice because of their antioxidant content and potential medicinal uses. About grams 3. Although mung bean sprouts are popular, there are many different types of bean sprouts that are commonly consumed. This means that a number of aspects of bean sprouts may vary, including their age and nutritional content.

Commonly consumed bean sprouts are :. Bean sprouts are generally recognized as nutrient-rich foods as the sprouting process increases their protein content. In grams 3. However, mung bean sprouts have only a fraction of that protein content, with just 3 grams or 6 percent of the DV.

While they're not the richest in protein, mung beans are known for containing very low amounts of carbohydrates: just 5. However, kidney bean sprouts are also low in carbohydrates, with just 4. Most bean sprouts are considered to be low in fat. Lentil sprouts, mung bean sprouts and kidney bean sprouts all have between 0. This isn't true for all sprouts, however. For example, soybean sprouts have 6.

The differences in nutrition between types of sprouts aren't limited to their macronutrient content. There's substantial variation in their vitamin and mineral content too. Antioxidants in bean sprouts also vary quite a bit, though soybean sprouts are generally considered to have the most of these healthy bioactive compounds.

Read more: List of Sprouts to Eat. Many sprouts are considered to be nutrient-rich, low-carbohydrate functional foods.