When a seed, nut, bean or grain is germinated with water and it begins to grow, it becomes a sprout. The germination starts a growing process, which aids in the digestibility of the bean, seed or grain and brings a flood of enzymes into each individual sprout.
When sprouting a dry bean or seed, it will transform from a dry, hard ball into a wonderful array of vitamins, minerals, and proteins that are much easier for the body to digest and use.
The great news is they are really easy to sprout at home for relatively little cost. Once ready, they are a great addition to salads, can be used as a garnish on any meal, or can add a lovely crunch to soup. More on that below.
What’s so amazing about sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts?
Sulforaphane makes broccoli sprouts special among all the sprouts. Sulforaphane is a chemical compound found in all cruciferous vegetables including adult broccoli but its concentration is much higher in broccoli sprouts.
Sulforaphane is a potent antioxidant that helps with estrogen metabolism. This is huge because oestrogen dominance is not just the function of too much estrogen—but poorly metabolised estrogen (what I often refer to as “dirty” estrogen.)
This is where sulforaphane can help skew estrogen metabolism from “dirty” to “clean” oestrogens.
Symptoms of oestrogen dominance include:
- PMS
- Hot flashes
- Fibrocystic and lumpy breasts
- ER+ breast cancer
- Thyroid nodules
- Infertility
- Miscarriages
- Hip fat and cellulite
- Fibroids
- Endometriosis
Sulforaphane is also rich in glucosinolate, a sulfur-rich compound that supports liver detoxification and reduces menopause symptoms.
Why not just eat broccoli?
You can and should eat broccoli as well – it just does not contain as much sulforaphane per gram as broccoli sprouts do. Depending on the source, where it’s grown etc, broccoli sprouts can contain as much as 17 to 30 times more sulforaphane.
How much broccoli sprouts to eat?
We can view the therapeutic dose of broccoli sprouts as a maintenance dose and a treatment dose. In functional oncology, women with active ER+ breast cancer are recommended to eat 1 cup of broccoli sprouts a day. The maintenance dose is ½ cup a day.
It’s interesting to know that sulforaphane is not present in an intact vegetable and only gets activated when broccoli tissue is crushed or chewed. See our suggestions below how to make broccoli sprouts a bigger part of your diet.
How to grow your own broccoli sprouts
Sprouting is easy and can be done at home for very little cost. Always use filtered water with no chlorine or fluoride for sprouting. The most common reasons sprouts develop mould are poor ventilation and not being rinsed enough.
Makes: 2 cups sprouts
Prep time: 10 minutes
Growing time: 4 to 5 days
Equipment
1-quart mason jar, fine-mesh strainer, cheesecloth (100 percent cotton) or coffee filter, rubber band, large bowl
Ingredients
2 tablespoons sprouting broccoli seeds
Filtered water (be sure it contains no fluoride)
Instructions
- Wash the mason jar with regular soap (do not use antibacterial soap), and sterilise it with boiling water.
- Add the seeds to the jar and fill it with a few inches of water. Soak the seeds for 6 to 12 hours.
- Drain the seeds in the strainer, rinse well, and drain again.
- Return the seeds to the mason jar. Cover the jar with cheesecloth and secure with an elastic band.
- Place the jar at a 45-degree angle in a well-ventilated place at room temperature
- Drain and rinse the sprouts every 12 hours. Strain well each time so little to no water is left in the jar.
- When sprouts reach 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length, place them in a large bowl of water. Gently swirl them so the seed shells separate and float to the top. Scoop up and discard the shells.
- Place a paper towel in an airtight container, transfer the well-rinsed sprouts to the container, seal, and keep in the refrigerator.
Sprouts keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week.
How to triple sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts
A published by the Journal of Food, Science and Technology showed that heating the sprouts to 70? increases the formation of sulforaphane by 3.5 times.
When and how to take a sulforaphane supplement
Consistency is key when it comes to seeing results and the same applies to regularly taking sulforaphane to see the results.
I personally eat sprouts 2 to 3 times/week unless I am travelling and won’t have the time or place to heat up the sprouts. This is when taking sulforaphane in a supplement form can help you to stay consistent.
If you want a complementary approach to my food-centric protocols, I recommend also taking a sulforaphane supplement. Our product is standardized to contain 8% sulforaphane glucosinolate using supercritical CO2 extraction of broccoli seeds and no chemical solvents are used in the extraction. The potency of sulforaphane available in one capsule is equivalent to consuming 500 grams (17.5 ounces) of fresh broccoli or 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of sprouts! Furthermore, we add myrosinase to improve the conversion of glucoraphanin (which is what is found in the sprouts) to sulforaphane. We also added vitamin C for best absorption.
