For both vegetarians and meat-eaters, bean sprouts can be a good food source. These sprouting or germinating plants have different varieties (the mung bean being one of the most popular), and have been known to offer a lot of potential health benefits since they are rich in proteins, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Today, we are going to put emphasis on the benefits of bean sprouts and the wonders it can bring to our body.
Benefits of Consuming Bean Sprouts
Contain Rich Source of B Vitamins and Folate
Surprisingly, these greens are rich in a variety of B vitamins and folate, which are helpful in the prevention of anemia and birth defects. They help your body produce DNA, amino acids and red blood cells, so eating bean sprouts will definitely be good for you.
Treat Hair and Nail Fragility
Due to a deficiency in proteins, vitamins and minerals (such as zinc), you may lose more than a few strands of hair or chip your nails very easily. Bean sprouts, especially mung bean sprouts, contain large quantities of these nutrients in easily digestible forms. You will see the changes of your hair and nails if you incorporate this super food into your diet.
Improve Cardiovascular Health
A low-fat diet (saturated fats to be specific, which are found in red meat, poultry and dairy products) coupled with a regular consumption of bean sprouts can help reduce LDLs (low density lipoprotein) or bad cholesterol levels, because they are high in fiber and lecithin. This effect can also lower the risk of atherosclerosis which is a common cause of cardiovascular disease.
Bring Benefit to Liver Health
Mung bean sprouts are high in lecithin, and aside from keeping your LDL levels in check, they also do wonders in reducing the development of fatty liver. This would prevent dysfunction of this organ.
Metabolism Booster
Bean sprouts contain lots of enzymes that provide a kick start for your metabolism. Beyond that, significant protein content allows your body to perform most of its chemical functions such as cells maintenance, skin regeneration, organ repair and muscle development. So if you’re one of the vegans who are looking for an optimal protein source, then look no further - bean sprouts are the way to go!
Help Lose Weight
This may be one of the best benefits of bean sprouts that you want to know. Though sprouts contain a lot of nutrients, they are very low in calories. You can consume bean sprouts without worrying about weight gain. What’s more, the fiber in sprouts makes you feel full easily and curbs the release of ghrelin, a kind of hunger hormone. Therefore, this can prevent you from overeating or eating snacks.
Skin Anti-Aging Effect and Menopause
Mung bean sprouts contain phytoestrogens that can work on certain estrogen-receptors in the skin. These naturally-occurring chemicals stimulate the synthesis of hyaluronic acid, collagen and elastin which help your skin cope with changes brought about by aging, such as, elasticity and moisture loss.
Vision and Eye Health
Improvement of eye health is one of the benefits of bean sprouts. Vitamin A included in bean sprouts can be an effective antioxidant agent to protect our eyes’ cells from free radicals. It can prevent the development of degenerative eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration. Indeed, your vision can even improve if you keep consuming sprouts.
Boost Immune System
Beans sprouts can also do your immune system a favor, since it contains disease-fighting vitamin C which can stimulate your white blood cells to readily fight infection, allergens and diseases, so you don’t have to worry about your body getting beat. Besides, as we have mentioned before, vitamin A can multiply many times its original content with the development of sprouts. The antioxidant agent in vitamin A can be powerful booster of your immune system.
Cancer Prevention
Sprouts are a good anti-cancer diet for you due to the antioxidant activity of the organic compounds included in it. Besides, the vitamin C, vitamin A, amino acids as well as proteins and enzymes in bean sprouts are known to prevent your body from free radical. Free-radicals are dangerous byproducts of cellular metabolism (wastes, in other words) that have the power to convert healthy cells into cancerous ones. They are also the ones to blame when it comes to some types of heart disease and other age-related ailments. So include sprouts in your diet to reduce the risk of cancers.
Inhibit the Growth of Cold Sores
Cold sores may seem like a fairly minor problem, but it provides so many inconveniences. They are unsightly, painful, and make it hard for anyone to speak or eat. Bean sprouts provide an enzyme called lysine which inhibits the growth of cold sores, so you don’t have to worry at all!
Caution
We’ve already been enlightened with the countless benefits of bean sprouts, but before including it in your diet, just a word of caution - only purchase sprouts from reputable sources (best to get them fresh and organic) and make sure to wash them thoroughly before you serve it in a salad or in other dishes. Otherwise, sprouts may cause the outbreaks of bacterial foodborne illnesses like E. coli and other potentially serious infections.
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