What Benefits Can Cauliflower Bring?

It is a common misconception that the most nutritious foods are always the most colorful as well. In fact, many fad diets even suggest you to stay away from white or colorless food, but the reality is different. The truth is that even white or colorless food can provide you with important nutrients, and cauliflower is one such example. Cauliflower and many white veggies are not like 'white' breads or pastas, which are processed and contain little to no fiber or B-vitamins.

Benefits of Cauliflower

To enjoy good health, you need to include lots of fruits and veggies in your diet. Something that you can always include in your diet is cauliflower. Here are some of the reasons why it deserves your attention.

1. It Improve Heart Health

Just like other cruciferous veggies, cauliflower is also a rich source of sulforaphane that lowers blood pressure and improves kidney function. Sulforaphane offers a number of health benefits; in fact, it is supposed to help improve DNA methylation that promotes normal cellular function. It is extremely beneficial for your overall heart health and works great to repair the damage done to inner lining of the arteries.

2. It Offers Vitamins and Minerals

One of many benefits of cauliflower is that it is packed with all-essential vitamins and minerals. Statistics show that most Americans do not reach their recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals. Including cauliflower in your diet can certainly help you in this regard. A single serving of cauliflower provides you with 77% of your recommended daily intake of vitamin C. Moreover, it also provides you with loads of thiamin, protein, vitamin K, magnesium, niacin, fiber, phosphorus, folate, vitamin B6, potassium, pantothenic acid, and manganese.

3. It Improves Your Brain Health

The presence of choline is the reason why cauliflower is extremely beneficial for your brain health. Some studies have found that taking choline in pregnancy increase the brain activity of babies. This shows that it can help increase memory and boost cognitive function at the same time. There is some evidence that choline in cauliflower may help slow down age-related memory decline and prevent other memory related problems.  

4. It Helps Lose Weight

Since it is lower in calories (29calories/cup), you can always include it in your weight loss diet. It is also good for weight loss because it contains no fat and is very low in carbs and sugar. It provides you with loads of fiber, which not only improves digestion but also keeps you full for long. It helps suppress your appetite and prevents overeating, which in turn will again help you lose weight effectively. Regular consumption of cauliflower helps reduce constipation and eliminates waste and excess water out of your system to make you look slimmer.

5. It Prevents Stomach Disorders

Thanks to the presence of fiber, cauliflower works great to improve digestion and prevent stomach disorders. It contains glucoraphanin, glucosinolates, and sulforaphane that protect the stomach lining and lower your risk of developing bacterial infections. Cauliflower also contains dietary isothiocyanates that lower your risk of colon cancer, stomach ulcers, and other abdominal disorders.

6. It Lowers Risk of Diabetes

One of many benefits of cauliflower comes from its vitamin C content. Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant and eliminates free radicals from your body. Together with potassium, vitamin-C helps regulate glucose metabolism and lower your risk of diabetes. The pancreas also uses potassium to secrete insulin that regulates blood sugar levels. There is also vitamin B6 in cauliflower that improves the tolerance of glucose in your body. It is especially beneficial for patients dealing with gestational diabetes.

7. It Improves Cardiovascular Health

Cauliflower has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that come from the glucoraphanin and sulforaphane. It also contains fiber. Regular consumption of cauliflower would lower inflammation in the body, which in turn helps reduce the oxidative stress as well as total cholesterol. It also works to lower your blood pressure, which lowers your risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

8. It Lowers Risk of Macular Degeneration

The presence of vitamin-C and antioxidants ensure that you do not have to deal with issues like macular degeneration, which are caused by free radical damage. Moreover, the sulforaphane in cauliflower protects the retinal tissues and prevents vision impairment and other eye related problems, including cataracts.

9. It Prevents Cancer

You can increase your protection against cancer by including cauliflower in your diet. It contains glucosinolates that your body breaks down to produce compounds such as isothiocyanates and sulforaphane, which work together to lower your risk of cancer. These compounds produce an anti-estrogen effect in the body to prevent the growth of cancer cells. Regular consumption of cauliflower may help prevent various types of cancer, such as bladder cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Tips for Cooking Cauliflower

There are many benefits of cauliflower, but you need to learn how to cook it properly to enjoy maximum benefits. Quickly cooking cauliflower is usually a good idea because it greatly reduces the sulfur smell without affecting its color or crispness. This would also ensure that all nutrients stay intact. Microwaving or steaming cauliflower is a better idea because boiling it would make it lose its vitamin content. If you would add a tablespoon of lemon juice or milk to the water while cooking cauliflower, this would help preserve its whiteness. Consider cooking it in an iron or aluminum pot to avoid discoloration.

 
 
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