Microgreens in a Vegan Diet

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Microgreens in a vegan diet: Do you need them?

New superfoods are appearing on store shelves, and we can make them easily at home: Microgreens, or sprouts and sprouting seeds. Just a few years or decades ago, the process of sprouting and pulling sprouts was reserved for followers of a wholefood diet and nature advocates. However, the small, nutrient-rich power packs are now being showcased more and more, and consumers are almost being told that they are essential to a nutritious diet. Microgreens brings a handful of benefits for a vegan diet. In this article, you will get information about microgreens, sprouts and sprouted grains, and you will learn if they must be part of your (vegan) diet.

Microgreens and Sprouts – Terminology

Most people, especially vegans, are now familiar with microgreens, sprouts and seedlings or already regularly integrate the nutrient-rich little plants into their diet. For general comprehensibility, we will now first discuss the botanical development of the little plants.

A germ is located in the seed and contains the complete equipment for a resulting plant. It could therefore also be called the embryo of the plant. In addition to the germ, a seed also contains the endosperm, which supplies the germ with nutrients. A seedling is the young plantlet that hatches from the seed and, after later maturation, comprises the complete plant. Sprouts, in turn, are only those parts of the seedling that are above the soil surface. These include stems and the resulting leaves, but not the roots. However, shoots are often colloquially equated with the entire seedling or the term is used synonymously.

An extension of the plantlet is the microgreen, in which the stems of the plants grow vertically and very orderly upwards, with green leaflets already visible. The roots have also formed at this stage of growth, but are not usually consumed along with it. A well-known representative of the microgreen is, for example, the garden cress.

Grow Your Own Micro Greens – the Easy Way

In principle, no special or expensive equipment is required to produce sprouts or microgreens at home. A simple kitchen sieve or a glass bowl are already enough. But of course, if you sprout regularly, you can also buy a sprouting jar or sprouting device designed for this purpose.

Grains such as wheat, rye and spelt, as well as pseudo grains such as quinoa and buckwheat, are easy to germinate. It is very important to pay attention to hygiene because fresh food is very sensitive to spoilage.

You start by soaking the grain, whereby the individual varieties also require different soaking times. It is best to leave grains in the water overnight, pseudo grains only for half an hour to a whole hour. Then pour out the water, rinse the grains and let them stand for one to three days, rinsing every 12 hours. The results, now called seedlings, are great in salads, can be used in cereal, with savory dips or as a soup topping. Germinated legumes are more recommended for warm dishes, as they should still be heated briefly before consumption due to their harmful substances. The germination process already breaks down these substances to a significant extent, but heating should still be carried out for safety reasons. To reduce health risks due to bacteria and molds, especially persons with immune deficiency, pregnant women, and children should always briefly heat sprouts and sprouts of any kind before consumption, for example by blanching.

There are also a number of vegetables and herbs whose sprouts can be eaten. Among other things, you can use fenugreek seeds, broccoli seeds, cress seeds, mustard seeds or radish seeds.

Nutritional Importance

Sprouts can optimally supplement your diet and bring variety into your daily diet. Especially in the winter months, when the local vegetable supply is limited to root and cabbage varieties, the fresh little plants can expand your menu. Because the dry seeds do not spoil quickly, they are suitable for long-term storage and can be grown into valuable sprouts and seedlings as needed.

Value-Adding Nutrients

In terms of nutrients, sprouts are quite nutrient dense. Since they are usually consumed in small quantities, they contribute overall rather little to the nutrient intake. However, those who follow a restricted vegan diet, for example because soy or certain legumes are not tolerated or because they (predominantly) eat a raw vegan diet, can somewhat increase their nutrient intake with sprouts. Vitamins of the B group, including riboflavin, are concentrated in the young plants, which can benefit the nervous and muscular system. Furthermore, a variety of minerals such as iron and zinc can be found in sprouts and sprouting seeds.

In addition, of course, like the parent substance, they contain protein and essential amino acids. Alfalfa sprouts contain 4 g of protein per 100 g, germinated chickpeas contain 5.1 g/100 g (BLS). Equally profitable for health are the phytochemicals from the young plantlets, including carotenoids, flavonoids and polyphenols. This group of substances, found exclusively in plants, exhibits a variety of health-promoting effects, such as potentially anti-cancer or anti-inflammatory properties (DGE, 2015). All these substances are present in the young plant in a highly condensed form, which is why they are also called “superfood”.

In addition, the germination process leads to the breakdown of complex carbohydrates, which can increase the digestibility of cereals and pulses. Starch, which is difficult to digest in its raw form, is broken down into shorter-chain carbohydrates (Fromme, 2004).

Potentially Unfavorable Substances

However, some plants, especially in their raw state, also contain phytochemicals that can have rather unfavorable effects on health and digestion if consumed in large amounts. These include phytic acid as well as protease inhibitors from grains and legumes, or alkaloids from lupine and soybean. These anti-nutritive substances can inhibit nutrient absorption in the intestine, sometimes causing severe digestive problems or even damaging the intestinal mucosa. This can be especially important on a vegan diet because the inhibited absorption often affects the potentially critical nutrients like zinc and iron. However, to a lesser extent, some of these substances can also have a health-promoting effect, for example by unfolding their anticarcinogenic (cancer-inhibiting) potential (von Koerber et al., 2012). During the germination process, these undesirable substances are significantly degraded, but certain legumes or vegetables should still be heated briefly before consumption as microgreens. For example, soybean sprouts or sprouts of nightshade plants such as tomato, bell pepper or eggplant.

Microgreens And the Vegan Diet

Sprouts and microgreens are currently a hyped superfood that you can even make yourself quite easily at home. From a nutritional point of view, the little power packs have a range of valuable nutrients that can complement your diet. Especially in the vegan raw food diet microgreens and sprouts are a good source of nutrients. On the other hand, it is not a must to equip yourself with sprouting equipment, since a balanced, vegan diet can provide an adequate supply of nutrients, with the exception of vitamin B12, also without sprouts and microgreens.

Pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, children, elderly persons, and those with a weakened immune system should rather avoid the consumption of raw sprouts to not risk an infection.