How eating baby plants is good for you

You love radishes, onions, carrots, spinach or peas? Then you must know that they are healthy choices to complement your diet. Now, it's time I introduce you to a completely different form of these: sprouts.

Source

Sprouts are germinated seeds which are edible. They contain high levels of vitamins, especially B-vitamins, amino-acids, protein and fiber. They can be eaten fresh, in a sandwich or cooked. They are the perfect complement for your salads. The nutrient content of them speaks for itself but let's see the advantages of eating sprouts:

• due to the nutrient content you will feel all of the benefits of the precious vitamins (more energy, stronger immune system, more beautiful hair and skin, etc.)
• certain sprouts contain antioxidants, which will protect your body from free radicals that make it age
• due to the fiber content your digestion will be improved
• they are sweet! (literally they are very sweet as they contain significant levels of sugar)

How to get sprouts?

In Hungary you can find packaged sprouts in bigger supermarkets, but they tend to be a bit pricy in comparison to how easy they are to make them at home. If you have time, you should definitely try sprouting. You will need seeds and a sprouter. In Hungary you can get a 500g pack of bio-seeds for ~500 Forints. You can get a plastic sprouter for around 1500 Forints. You can find ceramic sprouters but they are significantly harder to clean and for sprouting cleanliness is essential.

A plastic sprouter (Source)

When you have all the stuff needed, first you have to rinse and soak your seeds for a few hours. Usually the time needed for the seeds to soak is indicated on the packaging. When the time is up, rinse the seeds again and put them in one of the trays of the sprouter. Now the only thing to do is to let it sit and grow. You should rinse the seeds well every day, to keep them fresh. Shake off the excess water to prevent the growth of mold. In a few days your sprouts will be ready to consume. 

You should be aware that sprouters have to be very careful. In the humid atmosphere of the sprouter it is easy for mold to develop or your seeds to go spoiled. However water is necessary for the sprouts to grow so the fragile balance should be kept. If your sprouts smell funny, not the usual, or you see anything you don't like on them, don't consume them.

Related articles

• 10 Reasons to Eat Sprouts (refreshingnews99.blogspot.com)
• A girl's adventures with sprouting. (dainushkatwopointone.wordpress.com)
• Growing Your Own (nourishingwords.net)
• Simple Step-By-Step Guide On How To Grow Super Nutritious Sprouts (eatdrinkbetter.com)
• Sprouting 101 (ask.metafilter.com)
• Grow Bean Sprouts: Growing Bean Sprouts Organically (growinganything.com)
• Sprouting: The Why, What and How To Do It Successfully (karenknowler.typepad.com)
• Sprouting Made Easy (kidtestedfirefighterapproved.com)

What's in our bottles?

There is an ongoing debate between believers of tap water and bottled water. The video above shows that in the US the two names sometimes refer to exactly the same thing. Many bottled water companies sell filtered tap water while trying to create a brand image that suggests that the source of the water is a glacier or a remote stream in a pine forest (like two of the favorite brands in the US Dasani and Aquafina).
This is not the case in Hungary. For Hungarians bottled water means a totally different product. Due to the country's geological features, it has a whopping number of underground water reserves. For Hungary, mineral water is a national treasure. This product is treated with such respect that there is strict regulation which controls what product can be called mineral water.

Natural mineral water is the water of any well or engaged spring, issuing from a natural or protected underground water-containing stratum, which, because of its source, is clean and microbiologically impeccable, the composition and temperature of which is at the source nearly constant or within the limits of natural fluctuation, which has favorable properties to health, so can be clearly distinguished from ordinary drinking water. (Source: asvanyvizek.hu)

This regulation ensures that if you buy a bottle of mineral water, you will get a strictly authenticated product that is safe and was filtered by nature, underground, for hundreds of thousands to millions of years. Now that we can be sure that Hungarians don't get the same water from the tap and from the bottle, let us look at which is better.

Tap or Bottled?

If you have ever been to Budapest you know that the water here is not nice. It smells horrible, I personally cannot even smell it when I am washing my hands, it is so dreadful. The reason for this is that the water supply of Budapest is the river Danube. Its water is collected from the places where it seeps into the ground as ground water. It is filtered by the sandy surroundings of the river, but apparently not filtered enough. The cleaning process involves mixing chlorine into the water for disinfection. This is the cause of the horrible smell.

The chemical element chlorine is a corrosive, poisonous, greenish-yellow gas that has a suffocating odor and is 2 1/2 times heavier than air. Chlorine belongs to the group of elements called halogens. The halogens combine with metals to form compounds called halides. Chlorine is manufactured commercially by running an electric current through salt water. This process produces free chlorine, hydrogen, and sodium hydroxide. Chlorine is changed to its liquid form by compressing the gas, the resulting liquid is then shipped. Liquid chlorine is mixed into drinking water and swimming pools to destroy bacteria. (Source: http://www.pure-earth.com/chlorine.html)

If you are not repulsed by the smell of chlorine, and drink the tap water anyway, then at this point all sounds good. Horrible smell - lots of chlorine - lesser chance of bacteria being present, right?

The not so bright thing is that there is a debate whether chlorine is safe or not. Some claim that it is a carcinogen and can cause cancer.

If there is doubt, then we should leave tap water for things other than drinking, as we have a healthier and not so smelly choice. Bottled water, or if we want to be totally correct: mineral water. As the legal definition says, Hungarian mineral water is no ordinary water.

Tips on choosing water in Hungary

In Hungarian supermarkets you will find lots of shelves that are exclusively for mineral waters. One general feature is that the caps are color-coded. Pink cap means still, blue cap means carbonated, green means mildly carbonated. (This trend seems to be changing so keep an eye out.)

You can buy quality waters from just under 100 Forints for 1,5 liters (Nestlé Aquarel, NaturAqua) and you can usually find the high-end products as well (Evian and the Rolls Royce of waters: Perrier).

If you decide on a cheaper product (usually under 60 Forints for 1,5 liters) you should watch out for the label as some of these products are not really mineral but bottled water, only the phrasing on the package is different. But you already know the difference right?


Mineral water seems to be the best choice if you are thirsty, so be sure to drink enough throughout the day! You shouldn't wait for thirst to come, drink frequently all day long! Also a good tip that if you have a headache, a few big glasses of water may be the painkiller you are looking for, as you may only be dehydrated.

IF YOU DECIDE ON MINERAL WATER, PLEASE RECYCLE TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT!

What is this all about?

I am on a mission to eliminate unhealthy habits from my life. I am one of hundreds of thousands of people who grew up picking up habits that come with our changing society. I want to raise awareness about certain topics that affect us even without our knowledge. In this blog you will be able to read about tips and tricks to live healthier in our ever changing pace of life, but not the usual lists of things you should or should not do, but also scientific background so you will have more information to decide for yourself. I am the type of person who likes to research things and consider them from every point of view before I make decisions. I believe the most important decisions are the ones affecting our health. With this blog I would like to encourage you to make the RIGHT decisions. I wish to help you find the Healthy You!