Eat Microgreens To Meet Your RDA: The 12 Vitamins You Need (2024)

I’d been sharing my thoughts about microgreens nutrition with my neighbor Doug, and yesterday we were on our daily walk when he asked me, “how much microgreens to eat per day?” That’s an excellent question, I thought.

You should eat enough microgreen nutrients to help you meet the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) necessary to meet your nutritional requirements (Ross, A. Catharine, et al., 2011).

Tasty foods can make you overeat. So, you should be aware that some vitamins and minerals have a maximum daily dose to prevent bad effects like nausea and diarrhea.

However, you would have to eat 20-plus pounds of microgreens a day for a week to reach levels that could cause you any potential life-threatening harm.

On the other hand, if you were lacking in some minerals or vitamins, you could choose to eat more microgreens to help close the gap. But, always consult your medical professional before taking any herbs or supplements.

This post will give you the microgreens nutritional information you need.

Key Takeaways

• Rich Vitamin Sources: Microgreens are exceptionally rich in essential vitamins such as A, C, E, K, and several B vitamins, which are crucial for overall health and wellness.
• Concentrated Nutrients: Due to their concentrated nature, microgreens provide a significant amount of vitamins in a small serving, making it easier to meet daily vitamin requirements.
• Variety and Versatility: Different varieties of microgreens offer different profiles of vitamins, allowing for nutritional customization based on dietary needs or health goals.
• Health Benefits: Consuming microgreens can support immune function, reduce inflammation, and promote healthy skin and eyes, thanks to their high vitamin content.
• Easy Incorporation into Diet: Microgreens can be easily added to various dishes, from salads to smoothies, enhancing both the nutritional value and flavor of everyday meals.

Let Thy Microgreens Be Thy Medicine

Plants have been the source of healing for thousands of years. Herbal medicine, the study and use of medicinal plants, is still widely practiced even in countries like the US and the UK.

Amen Hetep (c. 2980 B.C.), the father of medicine and the progenitor of Hippocrates, said, “Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.” When it comes to chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes, there is a lot of evidence that food has healing properties that can restore or maintain good health.

Microgreens are usually classified with seaweed, nutrition yeast, juicing grasses like wheatgrass, and herbs as “medicinal foods.”

They have been cited as providing specific, measurable benefits just like those of synthetic drugs.

And if you think about it, you use herbs like ginger, curry (curcumin), garlic, and basil all the time when you’re cooking. And we know from research (Xiao, Zhenlei, et al., 2012) that like fresh herbs, microgreens contain large amounts of vitamins A, C, and K, as well as polyphenols.

Polyphenols are micronutrients exclusive to plants that have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capabilities.

In a 2009 study in the Journal of Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity (Pandey, Kanti Bhooshan, and Syed Ibrahim Rizvi. , 2009), the authors cited that “long-term consumption of diets rich in plant polyphenols offer protection against the development of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis, and neurodegenerative diseases.”

Figure 1. The Living Food Pyramid

The authors went on to show that polyphenols in herbs and other plant-based foods can also reduce chronic inflammation and its associated risk for chronic disease.

And while there is still a lot of research on microgreens to be done, eating more can still give you health benefits. So, add more fresh microgreens to your diet!

How Much More?

You would have to eat 20-plus pounds of microgreens a day for a week to reach levels that could cause you any potential life-threatening harm!

According to the latest National Poison Data System Annual Report, vitamin overdose represented less than one-quarter of 1% of all substance categories most frequently identified calls.

Dietary supplements (including minerals) were even less than that, one-tenth of 1%.

Micronutrients, which include vitamins and minerals, are one of the major groups of nutrients your body needs.

Vitamins help key body processes like energy production, immune function, and blood clotting. Meanwhile, minerals are important for processes like growth, bone health, and fluid balance.

You must obtain micronutrients from food since your body cannot produce vitamins and minerals — for the most part. That’s why they’re also referred to as essential nutrients.

Macronutrients, on the other hand, include proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

Microgreens nutrition facts

Some of the microgreens that include these essential nutrients include:

• arugula,
• broccoli,
• kale,
• nasturtium,
• pea shoots,
• radish, and
• sunflower.

Vitamins are organic compounds made by plants and animals that can be broken down by heat, acid, or air. On the other hand, minerals are inorganic, exist in soil or water, and cannot be broken down.

When you eat, you consume the vitamins that plants and animals created or the minerals they absorbed.

The micronutrient content of each food is different, so it’s best to eat a variety of foods to get enough vitamins and minerals.

An adequate intake of all micronutrients is necessary for optimal health, as each vitamin and mineral has a specific role in your body.

Vitamins and minerals are divided into four groups:

• water-soluble vitamins,
• fat-soluble vitamins,
• macro minerals and
• trace minerals.

No matter what type, they are absorbed the same way in your body and work together in the body.

Vitamins are grouped as water-soluble or fat-soluble. Most vitamins are water-soluble. When you eat more than your body can use, they get flushed out in your urine. Fat-soluble vitamins, on the other hand, are like oils and don’t dissolve in water.

Fat-soluble Vitamins Won’t Make You Fat

There are four fat-soluble vitamins in the human diet.

• Vitamin A helps maintain vision, so much so that without it, you would go blind. The main sources of Vitamin A are retinoids and carotenoid antioxidants, known as provitamin A.

The most efficient of these is beta-carotene, which is abundant in many microgreens, such as kale and spinach.

RDA for Vitamin A

Overdosing on vitamin A leads to an adverse condition known as hypervitaminosis A. A high intake of provitamin A does not cause hypervitaminosis, which is very rare but serious.

• Vitamin D maintains the balance of calcium and phosphorus levels in your blood to maintain bone health.

The main source of vitamin D is Vitamin D2, found in mushrooms and plants.

Amaranth and sunflower microgreens are packed with Vitamin D.

RDA for Vitamin D

The key signs of vitamin D deficiency include fatigue, weak muscles, soft bones, an increased risk of fractures, and susceptibility to infections.

Vitamin D overdose is extremely rare. Hypervitaminosis D occurs if you take large amounts over time since extra vitamin D can build up in the body.

• Vitamin E is a group of related antioxidant compounds (tocopherol and tocotrienol) that act in the body to protect cells against free radicals and oxidative damage.

Spinach, cilantro, green daikon radish, and sunflower microgreens are packed with Vitamin E.

RDA for Vitamin E

Vitamin E deficiency is rare in humans. Like all fat-soluble vitamins, however, it can accumulate to toxic levels over time, making overdosing on this vitamin possible.

• Vitamin K plays a key role in blood clotting. Without it, you would run the risk of bleeding to death. The main dietary form is vitamin K1, found in plant foods.

Spinach, kale, and broccoli microgreens are packed with Vitamin K.

However, consult your physician as Vitamin K can affect the liver and should never be taken as a supplement if a patient is on blood thinners,

RDA for Vitamin K

Water-soluble Vitamins Don’t Stay

There are 8 water-soluble B vitamins as well as vitamin C.

• Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
• Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
• Vitamin B3 (niacin)
• Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B7 (biotin)
• Vitamin B9 (folic acid)
• Vitamin B12 (cobalamin)
• Vitamin C

Except for Niacin (Vitamin B3) there are no known side effects or toxicity at high doses. The common side effect of too much Vitamin B3 are diarrhea, nausea and abdominal cramps.

Table: Microgreens nutrition chart

Taking too much vitamin C will not kill you. Around 2,000mg of vitamin C is considered the limit before you start getting headaches. However, anything over 1,000mg can cause diarrhea.

These vitamins enhance the enzymes that help us digest and absorb nutrients in our bodies. Your body doesn’t store water-soluble vitamins, except for vitamin B12. So, eating a balanced diet with lots of microgreens daily should get you what you need.

When to Be Cautious

However, there is a reason why you only see rhubarb stalks in at your grocery. Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid which is used in bleach and antirust products! Eat too much and you might start to vomit and feel weak.

But don’t worry. The research I found (Bandurski, Katie. , 2019) says if you’re about 145 pounds (65.7 kg), it would take about 25 grams (0.06 lbs.) of pure oxalic acid to kill you. You’d need to eat about 11 pounds (5 kg) of rhubarb leaves and 7 pounds (3.2 kg) of spinach in one sitting to get that 24 grams of oxalic acid.

But the main debate about oxalic acid in food is whether it can give you kidney stones.

But just about every leafy green vegetable contains oxalic acid. Spinach has the highest levels of oxalic acid–750 milligrams per 100-gram serving. So, do you need to worry? Nope, not at all.

While they are packed with nutrients essential to our health, spinach, beet greens, and Swiss chard microgreens are also high in oxalic acid which is the source of their slightly bitter taste. In moderation, they are fine though.

Microgreens and Bad Body Odor

You have two types of sweat glands: the eccrine and apocrine glands.

The eccrine gland makes odorless sweat (mainly sodium chloride) to lower body temperature.

The apocrine glands are located in your armpits, groin, and scalp and produce fatty sweat that mixes with bacteria and causes an unpleasant odor.

In addition, the food you eat, as your body breaks it down, can react with the skin bacteria and further change your body odor.

I couldn’t find a lot of research pointing to microgreens and body odor, but there’s enough information out there to give you an idea of what kinds of foods could change your body odor.

Garlic Chives Microgreens

You’re certainly not going to eat garlic anything before a date or interview. But did you know this? Rub crushed garlic on your feet, then wait 30 minutes. You will taste the garlic in your mouth. Wondering why?

Your feet are filled with tiny blood vessels that absorb allicin, the main compound in garlic, which turns into a sulfur compound that finds its way into your lungs and gives you that stinking smell.

Onions Microgreens

Onions also break down into sulfur compounds.

But onion microgreens never make you cry – even if you chop them!

Cruciferous Microgreens

Cabbage, bok choy, or Chinese cabbage, and broccoli, for example, also contain ample amounts of sulfur in the form of sulforaphane.

But you’d have to eat a ton (well, maybe several pounds) to change body odor (through your breath, sweat, or farting).

Curry, cumin, and other microgreen spices

From what I’ve read, it seems that people who eat lots of curries have body odors that smell like these spice aromas.

So, if you plan on eating potentially smelly microgreens, you may want to take note that you could smell.

Your Antidote

I’ve seen where drinking milk before or after removes the smell. But chlorophyll, the thing that makes plants bright green, is a natural body deodorant.

Funny, isn’t it?

Eat chlorophyll-rich microgreens such as spinach and watercress to counter the smell of broccoli and garlic chives odors.

Which Ones Should I Eat?

Here are five varieties of microgreens that you can eat daily at every meal and not have to worry about eating too much or eating too little.

Microgreens nutrition data

• Broccoli microgreens contain more than 550% of the RDA of antioxidant nutrients you need. It has the most complete nutrient profile of any vegetable.

It is packed with Vitamins A, B, C, and K and a sizeable amount of iron, magnesium, and phosphorus.

• Kale microgreens are one of the latest food trends.

It has a lower antioxidant capacity than broccoli, but it has more vitamin B, just as much vitamin C, and less vitamin A than broccoli.

• Pea shoot microgreens are antioxidants like broccoli. Though not as high in nutritional quality as kale or microgreens, eaten together with those two, they deliver a lot of vitamin B’s: B3(niacin), B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B-6 (pyridoxine), and B9 (folate).

They also have double the concentration of iron, phosphorus, and magnesium compared to broccoli.

• Radish microgreens are the forgotten part of the radish.

Most people eat the root or bulb. It is in the same family as broccoli and kale, Brassicaceae (or mustard), and contains a different set of vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, zinc, and phosphorus.

• Last but not least, amaranth microgreens, including quinoa, are very well-balanced in nutrients.

They contain little Vitamin A, B, and C but are a major source of minerals such as calcium, iron, and magnesium.

Of all the other microgreens, amaranth has the highest antioxidant capacity.

Wrap-Up: Eat To Meet Your RDA

Microgreens are a powerhouse of essential vitamins, offering a convenient and effective way to meet daily nutritional requirements. Their versatility in culinary applications makes them an excellent addition to any diet, ensuring both health benefits and enhanced flavors in a range of dishes.

Rotating microgreens and other foods regularly helps to limit the over-consumption of any single antinutrient and provides health-promoting variety in your diet. In addition, adding microgreens to your meals will also help to close any gaps in your vitamin or mineral intake.

I’ve learned a lot about microgreens, how good they are for you, and what you can do with them. Check out my guide, “The Beginner’s Nutritional Guide to Incredible Microgreens.”

References

Bandurski, Katie. “Are Rhubarb Leaves Really Toxic?” Reader’s Digest, 19 Mar. 2019, www.rd.com/article/is-rhubarb-poisonous/.

Pandey, Kanti Bhooshan, and Syed Ibrahim Rizvi. “Plant Polyphenols as Dietary Antioxidants in Human Health and Disease.” Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, vol. 2, no. 5, 2009, pp. 270–278, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2835915/, https://doi.org/10.4161/oxim.2.5.9498.

Ross, A. Catharine, et al. “- Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D – NCBI Bookshelf.” Www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56068/table/summarytables.t7/?report=objectonly.

Xiao, Zhenlei, et al. “Assessment of Vitamin and Carotenoid Concentrations of Emerging Food Products: Edible Microgreens.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 60, no. 31, 30 July 2012, pp. 7644–7651, pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf300459b, https://doi.org/10.1021/jf300459b.