Why you should add microgreens to your diet

I love growing my indoor garden. I find caring for my microgreens to be such a nice ritual. But microgreens are not only cute veggies; they are also a powerhouse of nutrients.

Research shows that the level of nutrients found in microgreens is superior to that of their mature counterparts, so they are a great way to improve our nutritional intake.

Plus, they are so versatile and easy to grow. Growing microgreens is quick and simple, regardless of your gardening expertise (or lack thereof). They’re also ideal for apartments and small spaces because they can be planted anywhere there’s a sunny windowsill. In addition to being extremely easy to grow, microgreens may be consumed all year long and grown in virtually any location. Because they can be cultivated indoors, there’s no need to wait for nice weather, so no excuses not to try growing them!

Do I sound overly excited? It’s because I am. I love this superfood because microgreens are such a nice way to add nutritional density to our diets. All you have to do is simply sprinkle some microgreens into your meals to receive an array of nutritional benefits.

What are microgreens?

Microgreens are tiny young veggies. They’re harvested one to two weeks after they’ve begun to sprout from their seeds. Microgreens are a smaller version of baby greens, and they are collected later than sprouts. 

Microgreens may be found in a broad range of forms and sizes, ranging from vegetables to herbs. Arugula, mustard greens, basil, radish, and broccoli are among the most popular.

Health benefits of microgreens

A growing body of evidence suggests that the consumption of vegetables lessens the risk of several chronic illnesses. The average person’s vegetable consumption is, however, far below the recommended daily intake.

Microgreens offer a promising opportunity to boost our dietary mineral levels and nutritional values and to enhance our everyday meals. They’re high in nutritional and bioactive substances, and they’ve been shown to help prevent malnutrition and chronic illnesses.

Microgreens are nutrient-dense superfoods that are rich in the vitamins and minerals essential for human health. They also contain more polyphenols and other antioxidants than their mature counterparts, according to research.

Because microgreens are so high in nutrients, consuming small amounts of them may give you equivalent nutritional benefits to larger quantities of mature veggies. This was shown in Dr. Zhenlei Xiao’s research, which looked at the nutritional content of 25 microgreens and found that these infant veggies often contain greater vitamin concentrations in their small leaves than mature vegetables.

Microgreens also bring a spark to any meal, adding flavour, texture and colour. 

How to grow microgreens

Microgreens are extremely adaptable and may be grown in soil, on jute or coconut fibre substrates, or hydroponically. Depending on the kind, they are harvested within 1–3 weeks. They have leaves, stems, and roots when harvested. 

To harvest your microgreens, simply chop them off about an inch above the roots and consume them raw or lightly fried. Or you can simply pull them up from the root – the whole plant is edible.

Here’s what you’ll need to grow your microseeds

• Good-quality seeds (I prefer organic)
• Potting soil or a single-use growth mat made exclusively for cultivating microgreens
• Good light (ideally, 12–16 hours each day of sunshine or UV lighting)

You might find these sites helpful to source your equipment:

• Bloomling
• Wildgreens
• Wessex Microgreens
• Sky Sprouts
• Vitality Hemp
• Sow Seeds

I also created this short video showing how I grow my microgreens:

These are more in depth tutorials I found helpful:

If you don’t fancy buying the equipment and prefer to first get a feel for whether you would actually enjoy growing and eating microgreens, I found this service – Silly Greens – that delivers 3 types of microgreens, already sown, straight to your door.

How to include microgreens in your diet

There are several methods of incorporating microgreens into your diet. Microgreens’ unique flavours, appealing hues, and delicate textures make them appropriate for use as salad ingredients or as edible garnishes for salads, soups, sandwiches, and a variety of main entrees. Microgreens can also be juiced or blended into smoothies.