While microgreens are excellent sources of nutrition for your body, it is inadvisable to live off microgreens alone. Sourced from fruits and vegetables, these greens cannot provide the required amounts of fat and proteins that your body needs, and you will likely suffer weight and energy loss.
Continue reading to discover what happens to your body if you only consume microgreens, how many microgreens you should eat in a typical day, which microgreens have the best nutritional value, and which ones you should limit your consumption of.
Can You Eat Just Microgreens?
With a growing vegan movement, increasing numbers of the population move toward a meat-free diet, but can you live on microgreens alone?
Microgreens are essentially the seedlings of salads and vegetables that come to harvest at a young age. It is safe to use microgreens as a supplement to any other form of fruit or vegetable, and their density of vitamins means you receive a lot of goodness within a small amount.
Microgreens are fresh plant products, and like their vegetable counterparts, they provide essential roughage and fiber for your diet. Eating more significant quantities of microgreens means that you will feel fuller and be less likely to reach for junk and snack foods due to hunger cravings.
What Happens To Your Body If You Only Eat Fruits And Vegetables?
A diet limited to only fruit and vegetable sources is likely to cause weight loss as your body lacks the proper nutrition for muscle mass and strength.
Your body will suffer from a deficiency of macronutrients as vegetables do not contain essential fats and proteins that your body needs for optimum function. With such a low-calorie intake, you will likely suffer energy loss.
How Many Microgreens Should I Eat Daily?
Adding small amounts of microgreens to your diet can eliminate weight gain while decreasing the risk of heart disease.
The recommended servings of fruits and vegetables per adult per day are anywhere between five and thirteen servings. You can use microgreens in place of all of these servings.
What Is A Serving Size Of Microgreens?
The serving size of microgreens is around 25 grams or ¾ ounce.
Can You Eat Too Many Microgreens?
In general, it is not possible to eat too many microgreens. They are considered a superfood due to their high nutritional value, and unlike sprouts, which come with associated risks of foodborne illness, microgreens have no links to food poisoning.
Overeating microgreens is unlikely because of the sheer amount of plant matter you would need to consume, but there are some health concerns linked to excessive amounts of vitamins.
Carotenemia
Eating foods that contain high levels of beta-carotene can lead to carotenemia or a change in skin pigmentation. Vegetables rich in beta-carotene include carrots, pumpkin, mangoes, apricots, and sweet potatoes.
While consuming too much beta-carotene can lead to a change in skin color, there are no other known side effects, and it is a condition that is easy to rectify by cutting back on the number of beta-carotene-rich foods in your diet.
Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism is a condition in which your thyroid doesn’t produce enough hormones. The cause of this condition is high levels of thiocyanates, compounds found in veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage that inhibit the body’s absorption of iodine.
These conditions are rare and require consuming large amounts of specific vegetables in short spaces of time, but if you do not have any unwanted side effects, it’s a good idea to consult a doctor.
In general, mix the variety of microgreens you consume each day to provide more well-rounded nutrition.
Which Microgreens Should I Eat In Limited Consumption?
Buckwheat microgreens, otherwise known as sprouts, are rich in proteins and minerals, including magnesium, potassium, calcium, and iron. These greens are also rich in rutin, a powerful antioxidant thought to help combat varicose veins, poor circulation, and atherosclerosis.
However, buckwheat microgreens also contain fagopyrin, a toxic substance that can lead to phototoxicity (when a person’s skin becomes hypersensitive to sunlight) if consumed in high quantities.
While sprouts are perfectly safe to eat in small quantities, you should limit consumption of this particular microgreen to no more than 40g per day.
Can You Get Sick From Microgreens?
Microgreens don’t have any links to food poisoning; however, as with any food, microgreens run the risk of cross-contamination during food prep, leading to sickness.
It is best to avoid the roots of microgreens even though they are edible because they carry the most significant risk of foodborne illness. When harvesting, microgreens should be cut just above the soil line, separating them from the root system.
By only consuming the leafy part of microgreens, the risk of foodborne illness is reduced by half. Harvesting microgreens from above the soil line is the main reason for their increased consumption safety compared to sprouts.
What Is The Best Way To Eat Microgreens?
Microgreens are highly versatile and come with an abundance of serving options. You can use them alone to form salads or juiced to make smoothies.
You can also mix them with other ingredients to add color, flavor, and texture to various dishes, from sandwiches to soups and stir fry.
Which Microgreens Are High In Iron?
Sunflower microgreens contain iron and a range of other minerals, including calcium, magnesium, and potassium. They can regulate hormones, provide the body with essential amino acids and lower cholesterol.
Radishes contain iron combined with a host of other nutrients from folic acid to phosphorus and zinc. Additionally, beets are a great source of iron, folic acid, and fiber while low in fat. And cilantro microgreens provide a whole host of vitamins and minerals, including iron; cilantro microgreens help your vision, bones and keep your blood sugar in check.
Which Microgreen Is Most Nutritious?
Research that tested 25 types of microgreens concluded that the four most nutritious were cabbage, cilantro, green daikon radish, and garnet amaranth. The study also found that microgreens contain up to four times more nutrients than their full-grown versions.
The vitamins include vitamins C and E and carotenoids, and sometimes these figures can be even higher. Red cabbage microgreens contain six times as much vitamin C as their full-size variety and 69 times greater amounts of vitamin K!
