More information on Mung Bean Sprouts
First, a bit of clarification. By bean sprouts I am referring to mung bean sprouts, the distinctive plump silver sprouts with two yellowish "horns" at one end and a scraggly tail that come from the sprouted seeds of the mung bean plant. The Chinese have been growing mung bean sprouts (nga choy or nga choi) for approximately 3,000 years. However, the popularity of bean sprouts in the west is a more recent phenomenon. Many of us first got turned on to sprouts during the health conscious seventies, when we began piling them onto green salads or in tofu burgers. And why not? Not only are bean sprouts high in protein, vitamin C and Folacin, but they are a dieter's dream. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one cup of bean sprouts contains a mere twenty-six calories. They are low in salicylate, a naturally occurring chemical in plants that some individuals have difficulty tolerating. (Aspirin is acetyl salicylic acid). In Chinese medicine bean sprouts are
