LOVE YOUR SPROUTS

A BRITISH VEG worth celebrating! Enjoy A RAINBOW of fruit and vegetables this Christmas, to benefit from a variety of anti oxidants, vitamins and fibre. But, EAT SPROUTS and enjoy particularly high levels of these essential nutrients.

 Vitamin C to boost your antioxidant levels.

 Vitamin A to support eye health and immune function.

 Vitamin K for blood pressure regulation, cell, nerve and muscle function.

 Anti-oxidants for constant cell repair and blood pressure regulation.

  Folate (Vitamin B9) to ensure optimum DNA and cell manufacture.

Importantly, folate prevents neural tube defects during pregnancy, helps to prevent anaemia and cognitive decline, and may reduce the risk of certain cancers.

 Fibre – you can read much more about the many health benefits fibre by visiting lwnutrition.co.uk/fibre-facts/ The fibre in sprouts will promote good gut bacteria too!www.lwnutrition.co.uk/gutbacteria/

 Omega 3, essential for its anti-inflammatory properties, is unusually high in sprouts. Of course you’ll get far more from eating oily fish but it’s important to eat as much Omega 3 as possible.

All the polyunsaturated fatty acids we need can be made from Omega 6 (Linoleic acid) and Omega 3 (Alpha Linoleic Acid) in our diet. Omega 6 has essential cholesterol lowering properties while Omega 3 is anti-inflammatory and as such reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. It’s important to eat the right balance of Omega 6 : Omega 3. In the UK our intake is 10:1 but a balanced intake of 2:1 is actually recommended.

SO, ENJOY YOUR SPROUTS! And, wash down with a glass of red wine for extra polyphenol antioxidants, shown to lower blood pressure.

TWO TASTY WAYS WITH SPROUTS

 Stir-fry your left over sprouts in rapeseed oil (which is also a good source of omega 3 and tolerates heat well) with chopped chorizo.

 Steam sprouts a little, then squash them roughly and roast in rapeseed oil, adding sundried tomatoes and walnut pieces just before the end of cooking. Drizzle with walnut oil for an extra dose of Omega 3.

You can source cold-pressed rapeseed oil from the highlands in Scotland from http://www.cullisse.com and walnut and other oils and vinegars from https://www.oilvinegar.com/en-gb/products/walnut-oil/