During the colder season, we naturally get less sunlight. During this time it’s extremely important to ensure we’re getting all of our vitamins and nutrients needed daily. One of our favorite ways to ensure this is with delicious smoothies!
This smoothie is more than just a delicious smoothie, it also features one of our favorite microgreens – Broccoli Microgreens. Broccoli Microgreens are incredible for both our physical health and our mental health because of its high traces of sulforaphane.
Sulforaphane
Broccoli sprouts and microgreens are extremely anti-inflammatory. They’ve also been shown to have a great effect of reducing depression. This occurs because it supresses inflammatory molecules in the body via its potent antioxidant compounds. By doing this, the imflammatory molecules have a harder time passing through the blood-brain-barrier.
A Study Done by The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry
Sulforaphane supplementation has been shown to help with humans for schizophrenia (8) and autism (9), and initial mouse models show sulforaphane has powerful beneficial effects on depression (10), anxiety (11), and alzheimer’s disease (12). Sulforaphane appears to be especially important for healthy brain development in juvenile and adolescents (13).
For depression, no human studies have been completed yet, but initial results with mice are very promising (14). Expect human studies testing sulforaphane against depression to release their results in 2021 (15).
For normal dosages of 50-100 mg, sulforaphane has no known side-effects, and anecdotally it has been reported to have similar efficacy as SSRIs in treating depression and it .
Broccoli sprouts and seeds are very dense sources of sulforaphane. This is because sulforaphane is a protective compound and is more highly concentrated in younger versions of plant growth. Along the same lines, Sulforaphane content is actually increased when cruciferous vegetables are subjected to heat and pressure stress. A healthy microbiome is also able to convert glucoraphanin into sulforaphane (20), the extent depending on the makeup of your gut.
When broccoli sprouts are heated to between 60-70°C, sulforaphane is increased by about 3.5x (21). Heat too high and the enzyme myrosinase is destroyed, stopping the reaction which creates sulforaphane from occurring. To easily heat broccoli sprouts to 70°C add a cup of boiling water to half a cup of room-temperature water. The resulting water will be about 75°C, and when added to the glass jar containing the sprouts, the final temperature will settle around 70°C.
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Why These Ingredients?
Broccoli Microgreens: Broccoli microgreens and sprouts are anti-inflammatory, high in sulforaphane, and antioxidants. Studies have shown that eating broccoli microgreens has helped improve anxiety, autism, depression, schizophrenia, cancer, diabetes, and more!
Pineapple: Pineapple is high in fiber and vitamin C which helps improve your immune system and replenish your daily doses of vitamins and minerals.
Pear: The fibers within pears naturally help improve the state of your brain health.
Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is a healthy fat-filled with antioxidants and amino acids. Not to mention it’s healthy fat which is essential for brain health in the morning.
Water: As simple as this ingredient may be, water is very important not just for your average person, but also for someone with depression. Hydration helps to give your brain the energy it needs to produce and send its neurons to create a happy and healthy body.