How to Grow Broccoli Sprouts

What You Will Learn in This Article

• What are sprouts?
• What’s so amazing about sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts?
• Why not just eat broccoli?
• How much to eat of broccoli sprouts
• How to grow broccoli sprouts
• How to triple sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts
• When and how to take a sulforaphane supplement like Brocco Power
• How to eat broccoli sprouts + our recipes
• Overcome Estrogen Dominance with help from this kit
• Who can benefit from the Estrogen Reset Kit

Many of the Hormones Balance recipes (including my cookbook Overcoming Estrogen Dominance) include broccoli sprouts. In this article, I will show you why I make them such an important part of our culinary protocols.

You will discover the incredible medicinal benefits of broccoli sprouts, how to triple their sulforaphane content, and tips for making sprouts at home.  If you are short on time, you can simply purchase broccoli sprouts at the health store, already sprouted and prepared.

You will also learn about how to get a standardized, lab-tested dose through supplementation. This can be essential to your healing if you are dealing with severe symptoms of Estrogen Dominance, like breast cancer. Let’s dive in.

What are sprouts?

When a seed, nut, bean or grain is germinated with water and it begins to grow, it becomes a sprout. The germination starts a growing process, which aids in the digestibility of the bean, seed or grain and brings a flood of enzymes into each individual sprout.

When sprouting a dry bean or seed, it will transform from a dry, hard ball into a wonderful array of vitamins, minerals, and proteins that are much easier for the body to digest and use. 

The great news is they are really easy to sprout at home for relatively little cost. Once ready, they are a great addition to salads, can be used as a garnish on any meal, or can add a lovely crunch to soup. More on that below.

What’s so amazing about sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts?

Sulforaphane is what makes broccoli sprouts special among all the sprouts. Sulforaphane is a chemical compound found in all cruciferous vegetables including adult broccoli but its concentration is much higher in broccoli sprouts.

Here are some of its amazing benefits.

1. It improves Estrogen Dominance

Sulforaphane is a potent antioxidant that helps with estrogen metabolism. This is huge because Estrogen Dominance is not just the function of too much estrogen—but poorly metabolized estrogen (what I often refer to as “dirty” estrogen.)

This is where sulforaphane can help skew estrogen metabolism from “dirty” to “clean” estrogens.

Symptoms of Estrogen Dominance include:

• PMS
• Hot flashes
• Fibrocystic and lumpy breasts
• ER+ breast cancer
• Thyroid nodules
• Infertility
• Miscarriages
• Hip fat and cellulite
• Fibroids
• Endometriosis

I’ve written more about Estrogen Dominance in this article.

Sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts can help relieve Estrogen Dominance symptoms in as little as a few days.

Tip: If you’re experiencing symptoms of Estrogen Dominance, you can find out more by taking my Free Estrogen Quiz here.

2. It can shrink breast cancer cells

Medical research has shown that broccoli sprouts can prevent and even shrink estrogenic breast cancers in women because sulforaphane acts as a killer of cancer stem cells.

This study has shown that sulforaphane causes programmed “self-death” of breast cancer cells.

The beautiful thing is: Unlike allopathic medications (such as Tamoxifen), broccoli sprouts and sulforaphane give the patient no debilitating side effects.   

For these reasons, broccoli sprouts are used in most integrative oncology centers that treat estrogenic cancers such as breast, ovarian and uterine cancers.

3. It detoxifies the liver

Sulforaphane is also rich in glucosinolate, a sulfur-rich compound that supports liver detoxification and reduces menopause symptoms.

Why not just eat broccoli?

You can and should eat broccoli as well – it just does not contain as much sulforaphane per gram as broccoli sprouts do. Depending on the source, where it’s grown etc, broccoli sprouts can contain as much as 17 to 30 times more sulforaphane.  

How much broccoli sprouts to eat?

The therapeutic dose of broccoli sprouts can be viewed as a maintenance dose and a treatment dose. In functional oncology, women with active ER+ breast cancer are recommended to eat 1 cup of broccoli sprouts a day. The maintenance dose is ½ cup a day.

It’s interesting to know that sulforaphane is not present in an intact vegetable and only gets activated when broccoli tissue is crushed or chewed. See our suggestions below how to make broccoli sprouts a bigger part of your diet.

How to grow your own broccoli sprouts

Sprouting is easy and can be done at home for very little cost.

Always use filtered water with no chlorine or fluoride for sprouting. The most common reasons sprouts develop mold are poor ventilation and not being rinsed enough.

 

Makes: 2 cups sprouts
Prep time: 10 minutes
Growing time: 4 to 5 days

Equipment
1-quart mason jar, fine-mesh strainer, cheesecloth (100 percent cotton) or coffee filter, rubber band, large bowl

Ingredients
2 tablespoons sprouting broccoli seeds
Filtered water (be sure it contains no fluoride)

Instructions

1. Wash the mason jar with regular soap (do not use antibacterial soap), and sterilize it with boiling water.
2. Add the seeds to the jar and fill it with a few inches of water. Soak the seeds for 6 to 12 hours.
3. Drain the seeds in the strainer, rinse well, and drain again.
4. Return the seeds to the mason jar. Cover the jar with cheesecloth and secure with an elastic band.
5. Place the jar at a 45-degree angle in a well-ventilated place, ideally between 68°F and 72°F.
6. Drain and rinse the sprouts every 12 hours. Strain well each time so little to no water is left in the jar.
7. When sprouts reach 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length, place them in a large bowl of water. Gently swirl them so the seed shells separate and float to the top. Scoop up and discard the shells.
8. Place a paper towel in an airtight container, transfer the well-rinsed sprouts to the container, seal, and keep in the refrigerator.

Sprouts keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week.

How to triple sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts

This fascinating study published by the Journal of Food, Science and Technology showed that heating the sprouts to 70℃ or 158℉, increases the formation of sulforaphane by 3.5 times.

In this video, I’m demonstrating how I triple the amount of sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts using this simple kitchen method.

 

In short, the steps are:

1. Boil 3 1/4 cups of water and transfer to a larger Pyrex dish.  
2. Add 3/4 cup of room temperature water.
3. Optional: If you have a thermometer, check to see if your water temperature is 70℃ or 158℉. It’s an optional step because I’ve tested the above steps, so you should be good.
4. Submerge the broccoli sprouts into the water. Cover and let them stand for 10 minutes.
5. Strain and either use right away or refrigerate for up to a week.

I’ve found the best way to store sprouts without them going moldy is by placing a paper towel at the bottom of a glass container and wrapping the sprouts with more paper towel on top. The paper towel will absorb the moisture – keeping them fresher for longer.

When and how to take a sulforaphane supplement

Consistency is key when it comes to seeing results and the same applies to regularly taking sulforaphane to see the results.

I personally eat sprouts 2 to 3 times/week unless I am traveling and won’t have the time or place to heat up the sprouts. This is when taking sulforaphane in a supplement form can help you to stay consistent.

If you want a complementary approach to my food-centric protocols, I recommend also taking a sulforaphane supplement. Our Brocco Power is standardized to contain 8% sulforaphane glucosinolate using supercritical CO2 extraction of broccoli seeds and no chemical solvents are used in the extraction. The potency of sulforaphane available in one capsule is equivalent to consuming 500 grams (17.5 ounces) of fresh broccoli or 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of sprouts. 

As you can see in the chart below, the broccoli seeds we source have much higher amounts of adult broccoli and 3-day broccoli sprouts.

Furthermore, we add myrosinase to improve the conversion of glucoraphanin (which is what is found in the sprouts) to sulforaphane. We also added vitamin C for best absorption.

Learn more about sulforaphane and Brocco Power in this short video:

If I can get sulforaphane from a supplement, why eat broccoli sprouts?

As you have learned, you can get a guaranteed dose of sulforaphane from a supplement—and that’s essential if you’re dealing with severe symptoms of Estrogen Dominance like breast cancer. But don’t discount broccoli sprouts: they offer more than just sulforaphane. Broccoli sprouts are also high in phytonutrients and chlorophyll and still work to lower “bad” estrogen in your body. Plus, they’re a delicious and nutritious addition to soups, smoothies and salads, giving you an extra boost of sulforaphane.

How to eat broccoli sprouts

As mentioned above: Sulforaphane is not present in an intact vegetable and only gets activated when broccoli tissue is crushed or chewed. You can add broccoli sprouts to salads, soups (just be sure you chew them well), smoothies (my favorite way) or just munch on them – although it has an acquired taste.

To triple the sulforaphane content, be sure to use the heating method I described above.

Here are some of our recipes that use broccoli sprouts:

• Broccoli Sprout Shot
  
• Easy Miso Soup
  
• Quick Sauerkraut Salad
  
• Supergreen Basil Smoothie

If you have any other ideas on how to use broccoli sprouts in our cooking, share them in the comments below this article.

Overcome Estrogen Dominance With Help From This Kit

Based on the above research and positive experience of our community, I’ve put together a kit specifically for Estrogen Dominance. It’s called the Estrogen Reset Kit. It contains all 3 of the supplements you need to normalize your estrogen levels and get back to balance:

• Brocco Power, our Wellena branded sulforaphane supplement
• DIM
• Calcium D-Glucarate

These three supplements used together offer complete estrogen metabolism and elimination. Taking this kit along with following a hormone balancing diet can massively speed up your recovery from estrogen dominance and its frustrating symptoms.

Precautions: Some research has shown that DIM could affect blood sugar levels. If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes or hypoglycemia, or are taking drugs, herbs, or supplements that affect blood sugar, please talk to your healthcare provider before taking DIM. If you decide to add DIM to your supplement regimen, make sure your blood glucose levels are being monitored along the way.

Who Can Benefit From The Estrogen Reset Kit:

If you have any of the following issues, associated with Estrogen Dominance, you may benefit from the Estrogen Reset Kit:

• PMS
• Cellulite
• Stubborn fat on the butt and thighs
• Water retention
• Weight gain, especially around the butt and hips
• Tender, lumpy, or fibrocystic breasts
• Heavy periods
• Irregular periods
• Lack of ovulation
• Endometriosis
• Infertility
• Fibroids
• Uterine polyps
• Thyroid nodules
• Estrogenic cancers, such as breast, ovarian, or uterine

Do any of these sound familiar? If so, this kit may be a piece of the (health) puzzle for you.