Go ahead, get juiced this St. Patrick’s Day—just make it green and good.
If you love to party but also wants to stay green and healthy, spring for some sprouts this year instead of green beer.
Adding sprouts to juice smoothies, salads, or even munching them raw offers a delicious, energy-packed alternative to nutritional no-nos like green beer, pretzels, salted peanuts and other unhealthy St. Patty's snacks.
Sprouts are baby plants, or seedlings, that have a greater concentration of protein, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, RNA, DNA and bioflavonoids than at any other stage of their life—even more than the mature vegetable.
They are excellent for digestion. Because they are so young, their cell walls are delicate and release live nourishment easily. They are abundant in enzymes, making them very easy to digest, even for those with a weak digestive system.
You don’t even have to give up your quest for the four-leaf clover to go veggie green for St. Patty’s festivities.
Clover sprouts are among the most popular, easily grown sprout. Others include buckwheat, baby sunflower, French onion, garlic chive, Chinese cabbage, cress, purple turnip, curly kale, daikon radish and golden alfalfa.
Live, raw, organic sprouts contain some of the most concentrated natural sources of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, trace elements, amino-acids and proteins on earth.
Sprouts offer so much more culinary variety too. You’ll add more taste, nutrition and natural yumminess to your salads, soups and side dishes than you’ll ever find in your average grocery store produce.
Sprouts are also a good blood tonic. When superfoods are grown to the chlorophyll rich two-leaf stage, it has been shown they have been effective in overcoming anemia caused by protein deficiency.
Some women report also that they found relief from hot flashes and other hormonal fluctuations from a regular, daily diet of clover sprouts.
Here are more reasons why sprouts are special.
Sprouts…
- are rich in minerals, vitamins and enzymes
- take less time to digest
- are alive!
- are alkalizing
- can cut your grocery bill in half
- have zero cholesterol
- are an easily absorbed source of oxygen
- give you lots of energy without the empty calories
Wondering where to find your sprouts? The best way to have a steady supply of fresh sprouts is to grow your own.
Micro gardening, or sprouting, is catching on in kitchens and greenhouses around the world.
You can sprout seeds in a jar or plant them in a tray of soil. You can also often find live (growing in their soil) sprouts at health food stores, farmers markets and organic nurseries.
Some nurseries will even ship your sprouts to you.
One of the easiest ways to assure you are getting your daily dose of healthy sprouted greens is with juice or smoothies. Here’s a quick and easy recipe, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
Super-Green Shamrock Smoothie
No food coloring required! Loaded with phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and protein, this green sensation is sure to give you enough energy to party into the wee hours.
Ingredients
3 kiwi fruit (peeled and quartered)
1 Tbs. raw organic honey
1 handful crimson clover sprouts
1 handful sunflower sprouts
1 handful pea shoot sprouts
5 oz. cucumber (chopped)
5 oz. celery (chopped)
Directions
Throw all your ingredients in a blender or juicer, mix it up and drink it down. Cheers!