Good for You: Nutritious & Health benefits

Which Microgreens are good for your health? In the research key findings above, you'll have read that red cabbage, cilantro, and radish, Broccoli deliver significant benefits – but make sure to have a varied diet, so don't start growing only those 4 Microgreens!

Not a single Microgreen variety will be better than others: they all bring varied nutrients and you should use them all! One however has been singled out by several studies: Broccoli seedlings possess various biological properties, including antioxidant, anticancer, anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity and antidiabetic activities

It depends! Assuming you've grown the Microgreens in a safe way as I describe here, and are clean – then it will be some of the purest Vegs you could possibly eat.

There is no danger of you over-eating Microgreens to consume too much of a particular nutrient as long as Microgreens are part of a balanced diet (you should still eat other Vegs too!)

Yes, we've demonstrated above why: “Researchers found microgreens like red cabbage, cilantro, and radish contain up to 40 times higher levels of vital nutrients than their mature counterparts”

As long as you grow Microgreens as recommended here, take care on the sanitation guidance in particular, ventilation, lighting, then the Microgreens grow environment will be very pure; and certainly much much safer than growing Sprouts. I also recommend if you see any mold to simply throw away that tray – it's not worth the risk to try addressing the problem with chemicals either.

Even better! They will bring all the fiber and nutrients you both need, with strong flavours which research has proven benefit your baby to be exposed to different tastes. And older kids just love Microgreens even when they “hate” Vegs!

You should avoid Sprout however.

There is currently little scientific research to be definitive on this point. But it's clear Microgreens contribute to a healthy gut microbiome and some research is in progress.

From a practical point of view, I haven't noticed any particular problems! 🙂

Certain types of stress can prevent your body from properly metabolizing sugars. The antioxidants found in Microgreens may reduce stress hormones helping to regulate cellular sugar uptake: Research backs this up in mice!

Choe, Yu, and Wang (2018) reviewed the use of microgreens as functional foods in diet‐based disease prevention, that is, obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cancer. Huang et al. (2016) found that red cabbage microgreen supplementation had health‐promoting effects in mice fed a high fat diet. Supplementation with microgreens attenuated body weight gain, lowered low‐density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol levels, reduced hepatic cholesterol ester and triglyceride levels, and inflammatory cytokines. Supplementation of high fat diet with mature red cabbage also had beneficial effects but did not reduce triglyceride levels. Interestingly, supplementation of low‐fat diet with red cabbage microgreens raised both low‐density lipoprotein and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (Huang et al., 2016).

As we've learnt above, Microgreens pack nutrients, antioxidants and vitamins and minerals, in particular Omega-3, zinc and magnesium which helps boost immunity.

Try in particular Arugula, Broccoli, Kale, Lettuce, Red Cabbage, Sunnflower Microgreen

If your goal is to lose weight, Microgreens should be part of a balanced diet to help you lose weight: Researchers found that red cabbage Microgreens can lower cholesterol and assist in weight loss when consuming an otherwise fatty diet, see more information in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

In a very recent study, The role of vitamin D in the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 infection and mortality researchers Petre Cristian Ilie, Simina Stefanescu, and Lee Smith looked at the mean level of vitamin D, cases of COVID-19, and deaths caused by COVID-19 (April 8, 2020) per one million residents, among 20 European countries.

“The highest average levels of vitamin D are found in northern Europe, due to the consumption of cod liver oil and vitamin D supplements, and possibly less sun avoidance. Scandinavian nations [Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland] are among the countries with the lowest number of COVID-19 cases and mortality rates per head of population in Europe”, said chief researcher, Mr. Petre Cristian Ilie, lead urologist of Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust.

So you might want to consider getting more Vitamin D from Microgreens!

Microgreens grown hydroponically may help with a restriction of high potassium foods which would help patients with chronic kidney disease as shown in the research here:

“Hydroponic systems have been evaluated as a means of tailoring the optimal nutrients for the cultivar and functional benefits for intended consumers. For example, for patients with impaired kidney function requiring a low potassium diet, the nutrient solution used can be prepared with low or no potassium (Renna, Castellino, Leoni, Paradiso, & Santamaria, 2018). Puccinelli, Malorgio, Rosellini, and Pezzarossa (2019) found that selenium supplementation of the hydroponic nutrient solution for basil microgreens produced selenium‐enriched leaves and increased antioxidant capacity. Since rocket microgreens accumulate nitrogen excessively, the ability to meet E.U. vegetable nitrate limitations in rocket greens can be a challenge (Bulgari et al., 2017). Growing rocket microgreens hydroponically, Bulgari et al. (2017) controlled nitrogen content in the microgreens by limiting the nitrogen in the nutrient solution.”

Regular consumption of antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables can improve lipids and lower blood pressure. This means an overall reduction in cardiovascular risk factors, along with a healthy lifestyle of course!

“High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, and the good news is that plant-based foods like microgreens have positive effects on blood pressure. “Any plant-based food with fiber and vitamin K has the potential to lower blood pressure,” —Auslander Moreno

Research from the journal Future of Oncology found that sulforaphane, a compound found in broccoli Microgreens, has the potential to target cancer stem cells. This has been validated in several studies too – read more in the research gathered.

“While microgreens might have a slightly higher fiber content than sprouts, there is still only a small amount of fiber. Adding microgreens to your salad gives it an extra punch of flavor and nutrition but, the larger, mature greens will provide you with the right amount of fiber and water for proper digestion.”

So yes it helps, but only if part of a balanced diet with fully grown Vegs too.

Researchers found that red cabbage Microgreens can lower cholesterol and assist in weight loss when consuming an otherwise fatty diet, see more information in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

oods rich in polyphenols have been positively correlated to a reduced risk of several noncommunicable diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, and found a positive correlation with reduced cognitive decline.

Foods rich in polyphenols include cloves and spices, cocoa powder, berries, beans, nuts, Vegs, so given the research on how nutrients rich Microgreens are compared to fully grown Vegs;

So you should include Microgreens as part of your balanced diet, in particular chicory, red onions, spinach which have higher polyphenols.