To Your Health: Grow Your Own Sulforaphane! (OT)

Most Americans are malnourished. We suffer both from excesses (of calories, fats, sugars, cholesterol, oil, and sodium, sure—but too much protein is bad for you too, and most Americans, males at least, eat way too much) as well as deficiencies, which are in some cases severe. Only 3% of us get the minimum of dietary fiber, contributing to all sorts of pernicious health maladies, and on average we don't get a minimum of the minerals potassium, magnesium, and calcium, or of vitamins A, C, D, E, and K in whole foods.

One of the things we should get more of is sulforaphane (spelt with another "ph" in Britain). Sulforaphane is one of the superstar nutrients that helps with all kinds of things, including brain health (it's actually an intervention for autism, for one thing). If you're following a "best practices" diet, it's something you want to make sure you get enough of.

So what does sulforaphane help with? It has significant anti-cancer properties. It's an antioxidant and contains detoxification enzymes. It's good for your heart and your arteries; it helps fight inflammation (many if not most Americans suffer from systemic, chronic low-level inflammation); it helps reduce blood pressure; it has antidiabetic effects; it's used to treat certain symptoms of autism, helps protect the skin against sun damage, and improves recovery from brain injuries. Wow. And it helps with constipation.

It's in cruciferous veggies (family Brassicaceae) such as broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, and brussels sprouts—and my fave, watercress. Population studies show that people who eat the most cruciferous vegetables have an all-cause mortality (excluding accidents) that is significantly lower than average. Cruciferous vegetables provide sulforaphane in the form of inactive glucoraphanin, which is activated by myrosinase enzymes, which are released hours after the plant is damaged—as it is by cutting, chopping, or chewing. It can also be activated with ground mustard seed, which is why I sprinkle a little mustard powder on my steamed broccoli, of which I eat a lot.

One of the most concentrated and easiest-to-eat ways to get sulforaphane is by eating broccoli sprouts. You can buy these at the store, of course, but they're expensive and unusually not very fresh. If they're fresh when you buy them, they may not be before you've consumed them all. Not to mention that storebought sprouts can be contaminated with bacteria and make you sick.

An easy, fresh, safe alternative is to grow your own. I think it's cheaper, too, although I haven't costed it out. Here's how:

Start with one of these simple, inexpensive lid kits, which consist of two stands and four stainless steel lids that fit on any Mason jar or Ball jar or other standard canning jar. Then you'll need the jars if you don't have them already. They're available at most supermarkets. The purpose of the sprouting jar is to keep the wet seeds drained but keep air circulating. These lids, and of course the jars, go through the dishwasher just fine.

Then get some broccoli seeds, like these. (One caution from Dr. Greger: don't sprout alfalfa seeds. He says the seeds are difficult to digest and can get caught in your colon, potentially causing infection.)

Then you need a window.

It's pretty simple:

1. Put a spoonful of seeds in the jar.
2. Fill the jar with water. Place a towel over the water-filled jar to keep it dark, and put leave it out of the way for 12–24 hours.
3. Drain and place the jar by the window on the stand, with the screened end down, as shown in the picture above.
4. Water 2–3 times per day by filling and emptying the jar twice, swishing the seeds around.
5. A day or two after most of the seeds have sprouted, you might want to empty into a mixing bowl filled with water and separate the sprouts from the un-germinated seeds. There's no need to be particularly thorough, as broccoli seeds can be digested. I use the lid to scoop up the floating sprouts.
6. Add to salads and eat!
7. Continue the above until gone.
8. Repeat.

That's it!

If you want to know more about sulforaphane, it's a deep dive, so I'll leave that up to you. I've been growing my own broccoli sprouts since last Fall, and eating them most days in my salad. I always have two jars going. It's easy and doesn't take much time. I don't even notice it any more.

Just one of those things you should get a little of each day. Oh, and by the way, another benefit: no negative side effects.

So what else are you doing, all cooped up in the house all day? Give it a try!

À votre santé,

Mike

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Graeme Scott: "Are you sure about the alfalfa seeds? [no. It's what Dr. Greger recommends. I updated the post to reflect that. —Mike] We've been sprouting and eating them for years. We also sprout green and brown lentils, dried peas, and, believe it or not, chickpeas/garbanzos. The chickpeas are supposed to be much more digestible when sprouted. We gave up on mung beans as there was always one rock-hard unsprouted seed lurking among the beansprouts, and dentists are expensive.

"We add these sprouted seeds to salads or on top of toast spread with tahini and a splash of soy sauce. An old jar, elastic band and piece of netting (net curtain is OK) make a perfectly good sprouting setup.

"Re COVID lockdown: We've noticed that most of the people we know who might loosely be described as self-employed creatives are coping perfectly well. I've furloughed myself from our business but my partner is still working. I'm using the time to fix up our house, which is what I actually feel like doing at the moment. (I have little or no work ethic anyway). Stay Safe."

Mike replies: I'm going to try sprouting chickpeas. Do you have any specific tips or tactics?

Comments

[Dan]

I have been using this:

https://amzn.to/3cwo0Er

Pretty easy to use.

[Sara Piazza]

I had some fun today recording this song and learning how to make a split screen video, which involved hours of focus. These empty days with no set schedule are certainly conducive to getting lost in projects that on any normal day would seem like a total indulgence. Something tells me that even though our lives have been totally disrupted - socially, financially, and in many other ways - on some level we should be savoring this time: days of total quiet, sleeping late, freedom to wander hither and yon; working parents who craved more time at home with their children
suddenly have their wish come true. In some ways, we've been thrust back to the 1950s, when families spent time together. I'm not sure how anybody is going to want to get up in the morning and leave home after this thing all plays out.

Anyway, Akiwowo was fun, and just like that, it's 5:00.

http://edgartownnews.blogspot.com/2020/04/learning-curves-and-empty-days.html

[Daniel]

We need all the healthy brain cells we can get. That is why I stay away from ladders and two story buildings - Altitude kills brain cells.

I also eat vegetarian - and am what is known as a Top Vegetarian. I only eat animals that eat plants, or eat other animals that eat plants.

Better safe than sorry, right? ;-)

[Trevor Johnson]

Interesting experiment, but I don't like the idea of you accidentally growing something else and poisoning yourself.

I would stick with the cabbage family plants you mentioned.

[Peter Wright]

Could the general malnourishment (and ill health) of Americans that you point to at the start of this post, be in part responsible for the disproportionate number of fatalities being suffered by Americans in the current pandemic? That and the chronic lack of consistent leadership of course.

[Eli Burakian]

Appreciate you're still posting about nutrition. Not photography related? Pshaw! You can't take photos if you're not healthy enough (or alive) to shoot!

[Graeme Scott]

Chick Pea sprouting Instructions from our household sprouting expert. ( I just eat the things ):

1. Make sure everything is clean.

2. Place chick peas in jar, fill with cold water & soak 6-8 hours / overnight.

3. Place muslin or net over the top of the jar & secure with elastic band around neck of jar.

4. Empty out soaking water then rinse 3 or 4 times.

5. Drain off rinsing water.

6. Rinse & drain twice daily.

7. Chick peas are ready to eat when they have roots.

8. They can be used in recipes where you'd normally use cooked chick peas ( hummus, felafel, curry ) or added to salads.

I googled 'Dr Greger alfalfa' & think I'll carry on eating our home sprouted alfalfa. The links I checked referred to food poisoning risk. Our sprouted seeds go in the fridge once they're ready & get used within a couple of days.

[Al C.]

Hate to be a wet blanket. Looking at your pic gives me the willies. Looks like a near perfect DIY incubator/petri-dish. Raw sprouts are some of the riskiest food you can eat.

A quick google found this:

https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/safety-and-health/why-raw-sprouts-may-be-riskiest-food-world

[Jim K]

I just polished off a pound of roasted Brussels sprouts... seasoned with smoked paprika, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar and a touch of olive oil... I’m happy now!

[Robert Fogt]

"So what does sulforaphane help with? It has significant anti-cancer properties. It's an antioxidant and contains detoxification enzymes. It's good for your heart and your arteries; it helps fight inflammation (many if not most Americans suffer from systemic, chronic low-level inflammation); it helps reduce blood pressure; it has antidiabetic effects; it's used to treat certain symptoms of autism, helps protect the skin against sun damage, and improves recovery from brain injuries. Wow. And it helps with constipation."

"Wow" is right! Mike, it seems the older I get, the more I am given to skepticism as a first response. So I must ask, is there actual, peer reviewed evidence to support all these marvelous claims? If there is, that's great! But I am not a person to rely on faith or opinion in the absence of evidence.

In the midst of this horrible pandemic, I have begun to re-read the books of Lewis Thomas, the late medical researcher/observer/writer on science and medicine, who was also president of Sloan-Kettering. Taken from his essay "On Magic In Medicine" found in his 1979 book The Medusa and the Snail: "Magic is back again, and in full force. Laetrile cures cancer, acupuncture is useful for deafness and low-back pain, vitamins are good for anything, and meditation, yoga, dancing, biofeedback, and shouting one another down in crowded rooms over weekends are specifics for the human condition. Running, a good thing to be doing for its own sake, has acquired the medicinal value formerly attributed to rare herbs from Indonesia."

(And I do love my salad sprouts!)