Benefits & Risks Of Raw Sprouts: They Aid Digestion But Can Be Carriers Of Germs

The most important meal of the day is breakfast, and raw sprouts are one of the ways to add nutrition and protein to your meal. These are just young green seeds that germinate and begin to develop stems and leaves.

Sprouts are easy to find and can be used to make tasty dishes without much effort. From salads to a sandwich mixture, there are multiple ways in which you can use raw sprouts in your dishes.

Different Types Of Sprouts

Before we understand the benefits of raw sprouts, we need to understand the different varieties that we can consume.

Vegetable Sprouts: Mustard green, broccoli, red clover and alfalfa sprouts fall under the variety of vegetable sprouts.

Bean & Pea Sprouts: Kidney beans, lentils, mung beans, snow peas and black bean sprouts fall into this category.

Sprouted Grains: This category includes quinoa and wheatgrass sprouts.

Nut And Seed Sprouts: Sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seed sprouts are part of this family.

Benefits Of Raw Sprouts

Could Improve Digestion

According to Healthline, raw sprouts can help to aid digestive issues. When the stem grows longer than 5mm, the total count of fibre intake also increases. This in turn helps a person pass the stool and find relief from constipation.

Sprouted beans, vegetables, seeds, grains and nuts have a lower number of anti-nutrients that make it efficient for the body to absorb minerals during digestion.

Might Regulate Blood Sugar Levels

The germination of stems and leaves reduces the number of carbs in sprouts. Thus, it elevates the process of the amylase enzyme breaking down the sugar and its digestion.

Healthline quoted a study that studied patients with Type 2 diabetes experiencing lower levels of blood insulin after eating powdered broccoli sprouts for eight weeks.

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Could Improve Heart Health

Adding sprouts to your everyday meals can reduce the risks of heart disease. It has been found to bring cholesterol levels down by increasing the good HDL. Lentil sprouts are particularly helpful in ensuring good health of the heart.

Broccoli sprouts have also been found to significantly increase good cholesterol and reduce bad cholesterol in the body.

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Risks Of Eating Raw Sprouts

According to a report published in the Cleveland Clinic, raw sprouts possess the risk of causing food-borne illness. Since the seeds germinate and sprout in humid conditions, there are high chances of raw sprouts becoming the breeding ground for different kinds of bacteria and germs.

In many cases, they also stand at the risk of coming in contact with animal waste, allowing the illness to pass quickly among humans. Therefore, instead of consuming raw sprouts, it is better to cook (sprouts recipe) and boil a handful each time you want to eat. You might lose the crunch but at least be safe from falling ill.

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