In #87: Sulforaphane - Spread The Word #4 I wrote that I’m growing my own broccoli sprouts, because they’re so rich of Sulforaphane. In this post here I will write down my experience of growing them.
What you need:
- Broccoli Seeds
- Wide Mouth Mason Jars (I use 8 of them right now)
- Mason Jar Sprouting Lids for Wide Mouth Mason Jars (I use also 8 of them for the Mason Jars)
- Salad Spinner (Optional: I just use this to dry more effeciently the sprouts before storing them)
- Food Storage Containers (Optional: I just use them for storing the sprouts in the fridge if I want to consume them on another day)
- Kitchen and Food Scale (Optional: I just use this for weighing the sprouts easily)
- Cooking Thermometer (Optional: I use this to increase Sulforaphane in the Broccoli Sprouts by ~3.5-fold, more on further below)
What you need to do:
- Place two tablespoons of broccoli seeds in a wide-mouth mason jar, put the sprouting lids on it, rinse it once with fresh water and then cover them with water.
- Place the jar in a slightly warm and dark place for 8-12 hours so that they can begin to sprout. You can do this in the evening for example.
- On the next morning (at least 8 hours later), drain off the water and rinse the with fresh water.
- Put the mason jar upside down inside a bowl for example so that any remaining water can drain. Put the mason jar back to the dark place of step 2.
- The next step is just to wait ~12 hours (the next evening) to rinse them again with fresh water and put them back to the dark place of step 2. Do this for around 4 days (morning rinse and evening rinse). You will see the seeds break open and grow.
- When the sprouts are about an inch long, they can tolerate sunlight or light exposure. So put the jars to a place where the sprouts get some light.
- You can eat the seeds once you see some dark green leaves. In total the process takes around one week. I also start each mason jar on another day, so that I have a constant supply.
- Optional (if too many sprouts are left over). I just dry them with the Salad Spinner and store them in the fridge with the Food Storage Containers
If you want to watch a video, I can recommend this one here
How much to eat:
To get the benefits of many studies, in the video of Rhonda Patrick she estimates that we need to eat anywhere from 100-140g (I get at least 100g for every day from the 8 Mason Jars I use). See also her slide showing this:
Also to increase the Sulforaphane by ~3.5 fold I heat up water (I use the Cooking Thermometer for this) until 158 degrees Fahrenheit (70 degrees Celsius) and as soon as the water hits 158, I pour it into a high sided plate (or a jar) with the sprouts and cover it with another plate. Now I set a timer for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes are over I put the sprouts in my blender with cold water and blend it. Also I mix it up afterwards with other fruits/veggies like banana, carrots, berries, etc. Which is my morning smoothie. More about the smoothie in another post.
See also this video regarding increasing the Sulforaphane in the sprouts:
How To Increase Sulforaphane in Broccoli Sprouts by ~3.5-fold