Sprout
Food · Vegetable · Food, Typed Supps
Sprouting turns a dry seed into a small fresh vegetable, and the conditions that do it also suit bacteria.
Stage by stage
- Intake (Eaten raw and crisp): Sprouts are almost entirely water and are eaten raw, so chewing does most of the processing.
- Germination (Nutrients created in the seed): Sprouting synthesises vitamin C, folate and vitamin E that the dry seed did not contain, and degrades some of its phytate.
- Small intestine (Folate and vitamin C absorbed): Raw consumption preserves the heat-labile folate and ascorbate that cooking would destroy.
- Large intestine (Bulk for almost no energy): Fibre adds bulk at 22 kilocalories per 100g, the reason sprouts feature in weight-management advice.
Time to effect
- Days: No delayed physiological effect; the clock that matters is how long the sprouts have been stored since harvest.
Allergens
None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.
Eating patterns
Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Keto, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.
Satiety
The satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings. At 22 kcal per 100 g that is 1.1 kg of this, which is not a serving anyone eats — so the index has nothing to say about it.
Environmental footprint
0.5 kg CO2e and 108 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Other vegetables" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.
Cost band
Cheap — roughly £2.5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.
Key nutrients
Nutrition per 100g
- Calories: 22
- Protein: 3.2g
- Carbohydrate: 0.5g
- of which sugars: 0.5g
- Fat: 0.3g
- of which saturated: 0g
- Fibre: 2.2g
- Sodium: 39mg
Food vs. supplement
No supplement comparison is favourable per nutrient, and the broccoli sprout sulforaphane trials remain small and inconsistent. What sprouts genuinely offer is a fresh vegetable at 22 kilocalories per 100g that can be grown at home in three days.
Kitchen tip
Buy cold, keep below 5C and use within a few days. Rinsing does not address seed-borne contamination. Cook them if pregnant, over 65 or immunosuppressed, accepting the loss of vitamin C and folate that cooking brings.
Common myth
"Washing sprouts thoroughly makes them safe to eat raw." In reality: Contamination generally arrives inside the seed and is multiplied by the warm humid days of sprouting, so surface washing cannot reach it. This is why sprouts are named specifically in food safety advice for pregnancy and immunosuppression, and why cooking is the only reliable control.
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