Health Benefits

Health Benefits of Sprouts

The International Sprout Grower's Association has compiled a helpful Sprouts Nutrition Facts document with basic nutritional info on some of the more popular sprouts.

The International Sprout Grower's Association has compiled a fascinating document highlighting some of the most significant research surrounding the health benefits of sprouts. Learn about how sprouts may improve cardiovascular health, prevent heart disease and stroke, improve bone mineral density, protect DNA against free radicals, and potentially help to treat diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and arthritis. This document also details the research on the extremely high anti-cancer potential of many sprouts.

According to a study from the International Journal of Applied Science, sprouts have the highest concentration of phytonutrients per calorie of any food. Phytonutrients play an active role in the amelioration of disease.

100 grams a day of sprouts may help to prevent cancer. "Eating just over 100 grams of tasty sprouted vegetables every day for a fortnight has been shown to have clear protective effects against DNA damage in human blood cells, according to the researchers.

“DNA damage is associated with cancer risk. Sources of DNA damage include diet-related carcinogens, and bodily processes like oxidative stress – and the raw sprouts protect against this kind of damage.

“And just a portion – 113 grammes - per day of a mix of broccoli, radish, alfalfa and clover sprouts was enough in our tests to show the protective effect,” said Professor Rowland."" See the research from the University of Ulster.

The curative ability of sprouts- an article in the Times of India discusses a the preventative and disease-fighting properties of sprouts.

Germination increases the antioxidant contents of grain- see this article from the Department of Agriculture at the University of Alberta.

There is basic information (on some sprouts) in a searchable scientific format available from the USDA. Hint: search using "sprout".

Health Benefits

Aging

"Sprouts also contain an abundance of highly active antioxidants that prevent DNA destruction and protect us from the ongoing effects of aging. It ...

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Alfalfa Sprouts

“Studies on canavanine, an amino acid analog in alfalfa, has demonstrated benefit for pancreatic, colon and leukemia cancers. Plant estrogens are a...

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Allergies

“People with nasal allergies or asthma maywant to add broccoli sprouts to their diets, if early research findings pan out. In a study of 65 healthy...

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Antioxidants

“Wheat grains were first steeped in water for 24 or 48 h, followed by incubation in the dark for 9 d at 98% RH and 16.5 degrees C. The changes in t...

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Arteriosclerosis

“Alfalfa sprouts are one of our finest food sources of another compound, saponins. Saponins lower the bad cholesterol and fat but not the good HDL ...

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Arthritis

“OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate derived from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, regulates synoviocyt...

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Asthma

“People with nasal allergies or asthma may want to add broccoli sprouts to their diets, if early research findings pan out. In a study of 65 health...

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Beet Sprouts

Crude dietary fiber samples were prepared from [sprouts of] beet, cabbage, Japanese radish, onion, and mung bean sprouts (BF, CF, RF, OF, and MF, r...

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Broccoli Sprouts

“OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate derived from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, regulates synoviocyt...

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Buckwheat Sprouts

“Nutritional values of buckwheat reach maximum on day 8 sprouting by solid-phase cultivation (BSSC). The precious nutrients surveyed included linol...

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Cabbage Sprouts & Microgreens

According to the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry red cabbage microgreens had 40 times more vitamin E and six times more vitamin C than m...

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Cancer

“Eating a daily portion of broccoli sprouts could help tame the H. pylori bacteria, linked to stomach ulcers and even cancer, research suggests. Th...

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Cancer - Bladder

“Isothiocyanates are a well-known class of cancer chemopreventative agents, and broccoli sprouts are a rich source of several isothiocyanates. We r...

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Cancer - Breast

“Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring plant-derived phytochemicals, whose common biological roles are to protect plants from stress or to act as ...

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Cancer - Colon

"Sprouts like alfalfa, radish, broccoli, clover and soybean contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals (plant compounds) that can protect us ag...

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Cancer - Leukemia

“Sprouts like alfalfa, radish, broccoli, clover and soybean contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals (plant compounds) that can protect us ag...

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Cancer - Pancreatic

“Sprouts like alfalfa, radish, broccoli, clover and soybean contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals (plant compounds) that can protect us ag...

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Cancer - Prostate

“Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring plant-derived phytochemicals, whose common biological roles are to protect plants from stress or to act as ...

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Cardiovascular Disease

“The study findings show that sulforaphane, a chemical in broccoli, switches on a set of antioxidant genes and enzymes in specific immune cells, wh...

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Cholesterol

“Nutritional values of buckwheat reach maximum on day 8 sprouting by solid-phase cultivation (BSSC). The precious nutrients surveyed included linol...

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Clover Sprouts

“Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring plant-derived phytochemicals, whose common biological roles are to protect plants from stress or to act as ...

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Cress Sprouts

“Cress sprouts were used as the source material for the development of a cosmetic ingredient rich in isothiocyanates. The scientifically well estab...

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Daikon Radish Sprouts

“Daikon and radish were analyzed at the seed and sprouted-seed stage to identify cultivars high in the anti-cancer glucosinolate, glucoraphenin. Of...

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Degenerative Joint Disease

“The study findings show that sulforaphane, a chemical in broccoli, switches on a set of antioxidant genes and enzymes in specific immune cells, wh...

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Diabetes

“The health-relevant functionality of Mucuna pruriens (Fava Bean) was improved by priming the seeds with elicitors of the pentose phosphate pathway...

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Fava Bean Sprouts

“The health-relevant functionality of Mucuna pruriens (Fava Bean) was improved by priming the seeds with elicitors of the pentose phosphate pathway...

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Fetal Health

An imbalance between production and scavenging of oxidants is a commonality found in factors that result in fetal determinants that negatively affe...

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Flax Sprouts

“Studies in humans, animals and cell culture systems suggest that dietary phytoestrogens play an important role in prevention of menopausal symptom...

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Hypertension

“ We hypothesized that intake of dietary phase 2 protein inducers would ameliorate both hypertension and atherosclerotic changes in the spontaneous...

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Immune System

Eat your broccoli! That's the advice from UCLA researchers who have found that a chemical in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables may hold a k...

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Menopause

“Sprouts like alfalfa, radish, broccoli, clover and soybean contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals (plant compounds) that can protect us ag...

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Mung Bean Sprouts

“The anti-diabetic effects of Mung bean sprout (MBS) extracts and Mung bean seed coat (MBSC) extracts were investigated in type 2 diabetic mice. Ma...

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Onion Sprouts

Crude dietary fiber samples were prepared from [sprouts of] beet, cabbage, Japanese radish, onion, and mung bean sprouts (BF, CF, RF, OF, and MF, r...

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Osteoporosis

“Sprouts like alfalfa, radish, broccoli, clover and soybean contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals (plant compounds) that can protect us ag...

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Parkinson’s Disease

“The health-relevant functionality of Mucuna pruriens (Fava Bean) was improved by priming the seeds with elicitors of the pentose phosphate pathway...

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Peanut Sprouts

“Sixty female Sprague-Dawley rats (8 weeks old) were fed with peanut sprouts as a dietary supplement for 18 weeks. The rats were divided into five ...

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Retinal Damage

“Thioredoxin (Trx) is a multifunctional endogenous redox regulator that protects cells against various types of cellular or tissue stresses. This s...

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Stroke

“Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring plant-derived phytochemicals, whose common biological roles are to protect plants from stress or to act as ...

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Wheat Sprouts

“Wheat grains were first steeped in water for 24 or 48 h, followed by incubation in the dark for 9 d at 98% RH and 16.5 degrees C. The changes in t...

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