The Truth About Legume Sprouts

For reasons that seem hard to pin down, the free-spirited hippie generation turned sprouts into a kind of magical food in the ‘60s and early ‘70s.

Sprouts came to symbolize healthy eating in Berkeley (where this column originates), and Berkeley was then, among other things, the sprout capital of the world.

While we have certainly made a lot of social and culinary changes since the ‘60s and the hippies are now grandparents, you can still buy a tie-dyed T-shirt on almost every street corner near UC Berkeley, and sprouts are still on menus.

Sprouts still come on sandwiches instead of, or even in addition to, lettuce. They get added to salads. They turn up in a variety of dishes. They can be stir-fried or baked or added to sauces. They come in many varieties. They are inexpensive and quite nutritious, notwithstanding the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a health warning about them in September.

First, the good news. You probably already know that legumes (beans, peas and certain seeds) are on the list of foods that are good for us. They are high in fiber and complex carbohydrates. They are low in fat and calories. If you were to put a legume, like a soybean, for instance, in water, it would sprout within a short time.

Many of the sprouts produced by legumes have even more nutrients than the parent seed. For example, in a study of sprouted peas, pinto beans, white navy beans, lentils, mung beans, soybeans and alfalfa, investigators found that vitamin C content increased by anywhere from four to 20 times, and riboflavin from three to five times. The amount of niacin, choline and biotin also increased during the sprouting period. Of all the vitamins, only folic acid seemed to decrease somewhat. The mineral concentration of the sprouts was lower than in the parent seeds, but this was probably because the minerals were diluted by the higher water content of the sprouts.

One thing that seemed to be lower in sprouts was the dreaded flatulence factor, which means that you can eat more sprouts and have fewer unpleasant side effects than you often get with a similar amount of fully grown legumes.

So what could the bad news be? According to the FDA, “people who are at high risk of food-borne illnesses should not consume raw sprouts.” The at-risk population includes young children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. Evidently, raw alfalfa sprouts have been a known source of food-borne illness in the United States since 1995, and during the last year alone three salmonella and E. coli outbreaks were linked directly to them.

While the FDA hasn’t banned commercial alfalfa sprouts, it is pushing for an advisory label on the package to let people know of potential dangers. Until more research is completed on how to prevent the problems associated with alfalfa sprouts, the groups mentioned above might be well advised to avoid them. Other sprouts do not seem to be similarly contaminated.

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Should you wish to do so, sprouts are easy to grow at home and a great activity for kids. You need to make sure that you get the kinds of seeds that are supposed to be eaten and have not been treated for planting. Then you need a glass jar, some water and a little patience.

And be aware that growing your own alfalfa sprouts will not assure that they are uncontaminated, because the problem begins in the seed itself.

Here’s how to grow alfalfa sprouts:

Soak one-third cup of seeds or beans in about a quart of cool water overnight. The next day tightly tie a piece of cheesecloth over the top of the jar with string or a rubber band. Pour out the old water, remove the cheesecloth and rinse the sprouts with fresh water. Save the old water for your houseplants--they will love it. Drain well.

Keep the jar in a dark place on its side, and keep a damp cloth over the end. Make sure the seeds can get air but won’t dry out. You need to rinse and drain two or three times a day, depending on the indoor temperature.

On the second or third day, you will have edible sprouts.

Alfalfa sprouts take about five days. Treat them like any other sprouts for the first two days. Just be sure that when you strain them, the tiny seeds are not lost. On the third day, you should pour alfalfa sprouts into a big bowl and flood them with water. Then separate the unsprouted seeds and leave them behind. Strain and drain the sprouts and keep the bowl covered. You need to rinse them a couple of times a day until each sprout has two tiny leaves.

When you drain them for the last time, spread them in a glass baking dish and cover them with clear plastic or waxed paper. Keep them cool in a place where they will get some light. In a couple of hours, they will be green. Cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator.

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Soybeans also need extra care because they mold easily. Take out any beans that have not sprouted as soon as possible. Rinse them at least three times a day and untangle them at the same time. After three days, they are ready to eat. Unlike most bean sprouts, which do not need to be cooked, soy sprouts should be heated well for at least five minutes to kill off some harmful enzymes.

Some bean sprouts taste better if you dip them in hot water for about five seconds and then rinse them in cold water and pat dry. Remember, if you are buying fresh bean sprouts, they are perishable and should be used right away. If they start to turn brown, throw them out.

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Dr. Sheldon Margen is professor of public health at UC Berkeley; Dale A. Ogar is managing editor of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter. They are the authors of several books, including “The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition.”