I got my initial ideas about the nutrient value of microgreens while walking through a cover-cropped field with my first farmer boss.
“You can eat these,” she said, as she plucked a pea shoot. “In the early spring my body practically tells me I need these.”
And, for two years, I related to pea shoots and other microgreens on that ethereal connection, a literal gut feeling. For me, the instant nutritional knowledge conveyed from mouth to brain at the first tender crunch, was more powerful than any facts about vitamins or minerals.
However, once I started growing microgreens on my own, I decided I should probably beef up on some more concrete nutritional knowledge.
It started because the farmers who own the land I rent produce organic buckwheat seed, and since I like the idea of getting my inputs from close to home, I wanted to grow buckwheat. The question was, why would anyone want to eat buckwheat microgreens?
- They contain all 8 essential amino acids, making for an amazing source of protein
- They contain lecithin, which makes up 28% of your brain
- They contain rutin which strengthens cell walls
- They are high in Iron, Magnesium and Manganese
- They have all of the B-vitamins, Boron, and Calcium
- That is not even all it has! Read more about Buckwheat sprouts if you are not convinced.
This led me on to overwhelm myself with nutrition data regarding micro-kale, micro-mustard, and even to scientifically quantify my two year love affair with pea shoots.
The lists of nutrients and the quantities of those nutrients in each of the microgreens is a bit staggering, and the ‘hard to get’ nutrients like magnesium, iron, and vitamin K, appear again and again.
According to WebMD, microgreens have up to 40 times the nutrients of their mature counterparts!
It was almost enough for me to stop trusting my mind-body connection and to go to science to figure out what I should be eating…
Nah, a fresh salad of sunflower shoots and spicy mustard greens in the dead of winter doesn’t need any explaining. I’m just going to eat that all day long!
Thanks for reading!
Greg