27 Aug Which Sprout Salad for Weight Loss? Recipes with Benefits
Out of the numerous weight loss food items, sprouts are one of the healthiest options. Packed with essential nutrients, fiber and minerals, sprouts are the most effective in combating obesity and losing fat. From the number of sprouts recipes and combinations available, the most commonly used sprouts for weight loss are moong, bean sprouts, chickpea sprouts (chana), Fenugreek seeds (danamethi), alfalfa sprouts and red lentil sprouts (masoor).
Apart from weight loss, sprouts are beneficial in a number of other health related factors. One of the prime functions and benefits of sprouts is its role in regulating blood pressure levels. Eating sprouts regularly can also reduce cholesterol and hypertension.
How Do Sprouts Help in Losing Weight?
The following reasons hold the importance for sprouts in helping to lose weight effectively.
Rich in protein
Loaded with high content of protein, sprouts are essential for building and sustaining muscles, which ultimately help in fat burning. Protein is very important in losing weight, which is aptly provided by sprouts. It provides energy for burning fat and hence losing extra pounds.
Rich in dietary fiber
With health digestion, Food items rich in dietary fiber help you in keeping full for a long while and thus controlling cravings. Sprouts, which are extremely rich in dietary fiber, help in keeping your stomach full for longer and reducing your appetite.
Less fat content
Being extremely low in fat content, sprouts can be consumed daily without worrying about the fat consumption. 100 grams of sprouts contains 0.38 grams of fat, which is extremely low. So you can consume as much quantity of sprouts as you want.
Detoxification
Sprouts contain a substance known as chlorophyll, which helps in getting rid of wastes internally and cleansing the system. Also, sprouts contain certain enzymes that detoxify the body from the inside and make the digestion process faster and easier. As we all know, detoxification of the body is a crucial step in losing weight and must be achieved to reduce bloating and reduction of fat.
Low in calorie count
Add sprouts as main meals in your low calorie diet, Sprouts are low in calorie count with loads of nutrition’s. Having sprouts for your main meals can help you to keep a count on your caloric intake and help you to lose weight efficiently and quickly. These are tasty too, so you can add a variety of sprout combinations and consume them for your lunch or dinner.
List of Sprouts We Can Use For Weight Loss
Amongst the several sprouts easily available today, the most common and effective sprouts used are moong, chana, dana methi and wheat sprouts.
Moong sprouts
These might be the most commonly used sprouts by Indians in their everyday meals. Be it salad, noodles, stir fry or any other food type, Moong sprouts are an integral part of most of the households for its nutrients and health properties. Along with essential minerals and fiber, moong sprouts are loaded with Vitamin C and K. Eating this type of sprouts regularly can help in balancing blood pressure levels, keeping your skin healthy and improving your digestion.
Chana sprouts
Like Roasted chana, chana sprouts also helps in weight loss regime. Apart from improving your digestive system, consuming chana ensures that you do not face heart problems. It also eradicates constipation and other digestion related issues. Chana is loaded with protein, which is an essential nutrient for weight loss. It is also rich in carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Dana methi sprouts
Also known as fenugreek sprouts, dana methi seeds is widely used for weight loss. It is known to have cardiovascular benefits which lowers cholesterol levels and provides a healthy heart. It aids in improving the digestion and is a rich source of antioxidants. Regular consumption of dana methi sprouts can help in improving your skin as well.
Wheat sprouts
Wheat sprouts are made by sprouting wheat berries. It helps in boosting metabolism and providing energy to burn fat. A healthy source of Vitamin E, wheat sprouts also help in neutralizing toxins. There are a number of ways of using wheat sprouts, such as cooking them in soya sauce and flax seed oil. They can also be added in rice or pasta to form a delicious meal and to gain its numerous health benefits.
How to Make Sprouts
The procedure to make sprouts in very simple and quick. You just need one cup of sprouts (any type which is required) and put it in cheesecloth which is wet, with four times more water in proportion to the sprouts taken. Let it soak overnight and transfer it in a clean cloth in the morning. If the sprouts look dehydrated, then keep on sprinkling water over it to regain moisture. This is a really simple process and does not take much effort. You can soak different types of sprouts everyday to enjoy the health benefits of each and to break monotony.
How to Eat Sprouts for Weight Loss- Recipes
Green gram and Chickpea Salad – Tasty and Healthy Recipe
Green gram is low in fat, keeps your appetite at bay and is loaded with vitamins. Chickpeas are high in protein and fiber, which is extremely useful in weight loss. And Low calorie Vegetables like Cucumber, Chilies and lemon to increase weight loss properties and taste.
You will need: 1 cup green gram, 1 cup Bengal gram (chickpea), 1 shredded carrot, 1chopped onion, 1 chopped tomato, 1 chopped cucumber, chopped green chilies, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and salt to taste.
Method:
- Soak green gram and Bengal gram in water for 6-7 hours.
- After they are soaked, tie them together in a clean cloth and leave it overnight.
- Untie the cloth and transfer the sprouts in a bowl.
- Take all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well, including both the sprouts.
You can skip a few ingredients such as carrots and cucumber if you do not prefer the flavor.
Methi sprouts and potato salad
Methi helps in controlling blood sugar levels and improves digestion. Potatoes are low in calories and rich in nutrients, which form a good ingredient to lose weight at times.
You will need: 1 cup methi seeds, 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped boiled potato, chopped red chilies or green chilies, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 teaspoon olive oil and salt to taste.
Method:
- Soak methi seeds in water and leave it overnight.
- After they have sprouted, cut off the roots if you notice any.
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
You can add additional chopped raw vegetables to enhance the taste. Here you can get more weight loss friendly vegetable salads options.
Sprouts and Fruit Salad
As we discussed earlier, moong sprouts are useful in detoxification and control blood sugar levels. Fruits are quite helpful in weight loss as well. Banana, pomegranate etc are loaded with essential nutrients and lemon, Jeera powder etc detoxify the body and are low in calories.
You will need: 1 cup moong sprouts, 1 banana, ½ apple, seeds of ½ pomegranate, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 teaspoon chaat masala, ½ teaspoon jeera powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon black salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper powder and salt to taste.
Method:
- Put the sprouts in a pressure cooker and add ½ cup water, turmeric powder and salt. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Chop the fruits at the time of preparation so that remain fresh.
- Mix the fruits in a bowl and add lemon juice, cooked sprouts, chaat masala, black salt, jeera powder and black pepper powder.
You can interchange or add more fruits as per desire. Here you can find low calorie fruit salad options.
Moong Sprouts and Corn Salad
Now we are well aware of using moong sprouts in our diet till now. Corn is useful in preventing heart diseases and is an important source of several vitamins.
You will need: 1 cup moong sprouts, 1 cup boiled corn, 1 tbsp lemon juice, ½ teaspoon red chili powder, ½ teaspoon chat masala and salt to taste.
Method:
- Soak moong in water and leave it overnight.
- Add the soaked moong sprouts, boiled corn and other ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix well.
You can add additional chopped raw vegetables to enhance the taste.
Wheat sprouts salad
Ingredients like apple, carrot and cabbage are high in vitamins and minerals, Lemon & olive oil help in digestion and with wheat sprouts, they help in keeping your stomach full for long due to the high content of fiber present. It is also low in calories.
You will need: 1 cup wheat berries, ½ apple, 1 carrot, 1 cup shredded cabbage, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp lemon juice, ½ teaspoon olive oil and salt to taste.
Method:
- Soak whole wheat berries in water and leave it overnight. You will notice tails coming at the end of the sprouts in the morning.
- Chop the apple and carrot in to fine cubes.
- Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
You can interchange the vegetables and fruit according to your desire.
Can You Eat Raw Sprouts?
You can definitely eat raw sprouts. They not only are easier to mix in with recipes but give more nutrients and minerals than cooked sprouts. If you cook, roast or fry sprouts, then it will lose its maximum nutrition. People who face with digestive issues can be given steamed sprouts as they are easy on the stomach.
Nutritional Values of Different Sprouts
Moong Beans Nutrition
100 Grams moong beans
Calories 347
Total Fat 1.2 g
Total Carbohydrate 63 g
Protein 24 g
Dietary fiber 16 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Calcium – 13%
Iron – 37%
Vitamin B-6 – 20%
Magnesium – 47%
Kala chana Nutrition
100 Grams Chana
Calories 364
Total Fat 6 g
Total Carbohydrate 61 g
Protein 19 g
Dietary fiber 17 g
Potassium 25%
Calcium – 10%
Iron – 34%
Vitamin B-6 – 25%
Magnesium – 28%
Fenugreek seeds Nutrition
100 Grams Seeds
Calories 323
Total Fat 6 g
Total Carbohydrate 58 g
Protein 23 g
Dietary fiber 25 g
Potassium 22%
Calcium – 13%
Iron – 186%
Vitamin B-6 – 30%
Magnesium – 47%
Note: Here 1g carbs= 4 Calories, 1g Protein= 4 Calories, 1g Fat= 9 Calories. And *Per cent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Ways to Maintain Nutritional Value of Sprouts
You can lose the nutritional value of sprouts quite often if a few points are not considered each time.
- The most important thing to consider is to wash the sprouts every time before eating. They might contain certain kinds of bacteria and fungus, which can affect the colon.
- Always use fresh sprouts instead of dull and stale ones. Make sure that they smell right as well. Do not eat them if you feel a stink or odour.
- Cooking sprouts can lead to losing of important nutrients, which is not preferable.
- Over soaking and over storing of sprouts is not advisable as it is not fit for consumption.
- Also, do not use chemical seeds for sprouts.
Sprouts make their own niche in the list of top food items for weight loss, and we know the reasons behind it now. It is essential that you incorporate sprouts in your healthy diet, which will definitely help you to lose weight in a steady and easy manner. Various sprouts combinations (some of which are mentioned above), will only work wonders for you, combined with other healthy ingredients.
NOTE - Friends, I am not dietitian or Doctor, I write information here on the basis of my own 25 kilo weight loss experience and sometimes from online research. Please take doctor advice before applying any tip, as each and every human body is different.
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