You know that legumes and grains are highly nutritious, but you can actually make them more wonderful in providing nutrition for your body if you let them to germinate into sprouts. The most interesting about sprout is as it grows itself it also adds its nutritional value, making it more beneficial than when it is still a bean.
So if you want to get the maximum benefit from a bean plant, then you might need to wait for awhile until it turns into sprouts. Sprout salad is one of the best sprout recipes to try because it is healthy and tasty. Eating sprout salad is more nutritious since you will combine it with other healthy ingredients without sacrificing the taste.
Sprout Salad Nutrition Value
Depending on the type of the dressing you are using, your sprout salad can be high in calories. Oil and vinegar can be a good option of salad dressing because there are some health benefits of oil and vinegar salad dressing. Here is the nutrition value of sprout salad dressed with plain yogurt and olive oil, combined with cucumber, onions and tomatoes per serving.
- Carbohydrates 9.2 g
- Cholesterol 3.7 mg
- Potassium 294.2 mg
- Sodium 51.7 mg
- Protein 4.9 g
Health Benefits of Sprout Salad
- Aiding in Lose Weight
Altough sprouts are high in calorie, they won’t make you fatty because the calorie is negligible. Eating sprout can make you full longer as it is also high in fiber.
Moreover, sprouts can stop you from overeating because it prevents the hormone that makes your brain thinking you are hungry to be released called ghrelin. Probably you can try eating fruit salad since one of the benefits of fruit salad for lunch is to shape your body perfectly.
2. Building Bones
To prevent your bones from osteophorosis, you need more than just calcium, but also manganese. You can find it a lot in bean sprouts and you can combine them with some other ingredients in your salad so that you provide perfect nutrition for your healthy bones.
3. Strengthening Immune System
Sprouts are full of nutrition especially when made into salad. The combination of sprouts and other healthy ingredients can effectively boost your immune system.
The content of vitamin A and vitamin C act as a powerful antioxidant for your body. When your immune system is built well, your body is easier fighting off infections.
4. Improving Blood Circulation
Still talking about the iron contained in raw mung bean sprouts, it will more than just become an immune system booster, but also a blood circulation booster at the same time. Iron along with copper can maintain the amount of red blood cells in your body, thus improving the blood circulation and supplying it with enough oxygen required.
When the blood is well supplied with oxygen, the organs of your body can work better as they get what they need the most. The bonus for proper blood circulation is thicker, healthier hair because your scalp will be supplied with the right amount of blood for the hair growth.
5. Helping Better Digestion
The effectiveness of sprouts for your digestive system is not only because it is rich in dietary fiber, but also it is high in living enzymes, which aiding in breaking down the foods within your digestive tract while absorbing the nutrients.
Eating salad for dinner can be a great idea as it can make you full without making you fatty. Moreover, there are many benefits of eating only salad for dinner to reap.
Recommendation Intake
Although sprouts are very nutritious especially when they are made into salad when you can eating them raw and combining them with the other healthy vegetables, raw sprouts prone to be poisonous.
You need to pay attention to the intake amount to ensure that you don’t overeat the sprouts. One serving of sprout salad could be enough and you shouldn’t eat it daily.
Caution of Consuming Sprout Salad
The humid condition needed to let the sprouts grow is actually an ideal place for bacteria to grow. It makes you should be very aware of the raw sprouts consumed due to the risk of any foodborne illness. This is why some people including children, elderly and pregnant women shouldn’t eat sprout salad. Those who are having weak immune system must avoid eating raw salad either.
As the solution you can cook the sprouts to create other dishes. Some poisoning symptoms could happen after eating raw sprouts are vomiting and diarrhea. Growing sprouts at home doesn’t mean that you can ensure the sprouts are hygienic. A better option is to buy frozen fresh sprouts and keep it refrigerated if you want to use it later. Avoid buying slimmy or smelly sprouts. Always wash your hands before handling the sprouts to prevent any bacteria contamination.
The best solution for keeping you and your family safe is actually by cooking the sprouts well and avoid eating them raw in salad. You can substitute sprouts with other vegetables that are safer to eat raw. Sprouts must be cooked properly to kill the harmful bacteria.
However if you still want to enjoy the benefits of raw sprouts in salad, you should ensure that you have strong immune system. Make your own salad dressing to maintain the health of your sprout salad. The health benefits of making your own salad dressing are numerous and you should get them fast. As another healthy option, choose chicken salad sandwich, which is not only nutritious, but also a good low fat food to eat. Learn the health benefits of chicken salad sandwich to let you know more about this amazing food.