I can hear you now. Ewww! Yuck! Greens? Microgreens? I am not eating anything green unless it is lettuce. Or maybe you think of fine dining and that if you eat something called microgreens, you most certainly will not be full after your meal. After all, if it has “micro” in the name, it must be small.
We have all seen microgreens. They sit in a stylish manner on top of your meal as a garnish or in a salad. But really, what are microgreens? What started me down the path of incorporating microgreens into my diet? Health! So with that let’s talk about microgreens.
What are microgreens?
Microgreens are nothing new, but they are picking up recognition as a healthy addition to your diet and your meals. Simply stated, “microgreens are baby plants somewhere between the sprout and baby green phases that are more flavorful and nutrient-rich than their fully grown counterparts”. (1)
One thing you need to remember is that microgreens are not sprouts. I am sure a lot of people get this confused. I did when I first heard of them. So let me go down a few of the differences between the two. First, sprouts are germinated seeds. They happen to be the first stage of the plant’s growing phase after planting. Sprouts are also harvested from the root.
Now let’s talk about microgreens. They have leaves and need light and nutrition to grow. I will get growing them in a later post. Unlike sprouts, microgreens are harvested at the stem. They are usually ready to harvest after about 10 to 14 days. This is the stage when leaves begin to appear on the plant. It also happens to be when the plants are most flavorful and full of nutrition. If you want to get scientific, this is known as the cotyledon stage.
Something I have noticed is that microgreens are much more flavorful than sprouts, baby greens, and mature vegetables. After doing some research, I found that this enhanced flavor is due to their high concentration of nutrients. Wow! What a bonus! Flavor and extra nutrients!
Why should I care?
There are many reasons why you should care about microgreens. I will go over some of the top three.
Reason 1
Although it may be difficult or pricey to get microgreens, it is well worth it. I mentioned before that they are nutritious. Let’s dig a little deeper into that. Like most any food, nutrient contents can vary slightly among varieties. But they all tend to be rich in potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium and copper (2, 3). These are great nutrients to have in your diet.
In addition to the vitamins and minerals, they are also a great source of “beneficial plant compounds like antioxidants” (4). Another interesting thing I found is that their nutrient content is concentrated. What a great health benefit since that means they often contain higher vitamins, minerals and antioxidant levels than some of the same quantity of fully grown greens (5). Do you want to know what is amazing? There has been some research that reports the “nutrient levels in them can be up to nine times higher than those found in mature greens” (6).
One study measured vitamin and antioxidant concentrations in 25 commercially available microgreens. These levels were then compared to levels recorded in the USDA National Nutrient Database for mature leaves. So, in addition to supplements that you may be taking, adding these to your diet may be a good benefit for your health.
Reason 2
You can grow your own microgreens. In fact, they can be grown from many different types of seeds. I found that some are more popular than others.
“The most popular varieties are produced using seeds from the following plant families (7):
- Brassicaceae family: Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, watercress, radish and arugula
- Asteraceae family: Lettuce, endive, chicory and radicchio
- Apiaceae family: Dill, carrot, fennel and celery
- Amaryllidaceae family: Garlic, onion, leek
- Amaranthaceae family: Amaranth, quinoa swiss chard, beet and spinach
- Cucurbitaceae family: Melon, cucumber and squash”
You may be wondering which one is my favorite. Well, I really like spicy flavors. I tend to like the garlic and onion microgreens as well as radish microgreens since they have a spicy flavor and they’re tender and crisp. They add that hint of heat that I like. Some are more bitter – like kale- than others and I tend to stay away from those.
Reason 3
Since they are packed with nutrients, it only stands to reason that there are health benefits. Right now, it is extremely important to keep ourselves healthy. Having had a health scare earlier in the summer, I have made even more changes to my diet.
As I did my research on what the health benefits are, I found some interesting information. Heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and certain cancers are among the diseases that it benefits. To me, I thought that was great news! Just a quick note – there has not been a lot of studies on these just yet.
Here is what I found in a nutshell found on healthline:
- Heart disease: Microgreens are a rich source of polyphenols, a class of antioxidants linked to a lower risk of heart disease. Animal studies show that microgreens may lower triglyceride and “bad” LDL cholesterol levels (8).
- Alzheimer’s disease: Antioxidant-rich foods, including those containing high amounts of polyphenols,may be linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease (9).
- Diabetes: Antioxidants may help reduce the type of stress that can prevent sugar from properly entering cells. In lab studies, fenugreek microgreens appeared to enhance cellular sugar uptake by 25–44% (10).
- Certain cancers: Antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, especially those rich in polyphenols, may lower the risk of various types of cancer. Polyphenol-rich microgreens may be expected to have similar effects (11)
Final Thoughts
I have really enjoyed the flavors of the microgreens that I have tried. I first found them in Sprouts Farmer’s Market. But I have grown some of my own. As I said earlier, I will discuss that in another post. The bottom line is that I enjoy the flavor and the health benefits that they provide.
