benefits of cauliflower

Cauliflower helps your bodys ability to detoxify in multiple ways. It contains antioxidants that support Phase 1 detoxification along with sulfurcontaining nutrients important for Phase 2 detox activities. The glucosinolates in cauliflower also activate detoxification enzymes.

Cauliflower is an important source of dietary fiber for digestive health. But thats not all.cauliflower or cabbage flower is one of the commonly used flowervegetables. Its compact flower heads hold numerous health benefiting phtyonutrients such as vitamins, indole3carbinol, sulforaphane etc., that help prevent overweight, diabetes and offer protection from prostate, ovarian, and cervical cancers.

Eating cauliflower is like winning the antioxidant and phytonutrient lottery. Its packed with vitamin C, betacarotene, kaempferol, quercetin, rutin, cinnamic acid, and much more. Antioxidants are natures way of providing your cells with adequate defense against attack by reactive oxygen species (ROS).

If cauliflower isnt your favorite vegetable, dont worry. You can get many of these same benefits by eating other members of the cruciferous vegetable family. Broccoli is one of them, but there are others too, The more vegetables you eat from this list the better, as each offers unique and wonderful benefits to your health. For instance, just one cup of kale contains over 10,000 IUs of vitamin A, the equivalent of over 200% of the daily value. Cabbage, meanwhile, is rich in vitamin K1 and B vitamins, which many are deficient in, and has been shown to help heal stomach ulcers and offers benefits to digestion.

Considering the research showing that cauliflower sprinkled with turmeric (which contains the powerful goldenhued polyphenol curcumin) may be especially powerful in fighting cancer, I wanted to share this quick recipe with you, from the Worlds Healthiest Foods.10This antiinflammatory, antioxidantrich dish cooks up in just five minutes, making it perfect for lunch, dinner or even a quick snack. Impressively, one serving of this dish provides 181% of the daily value for vitamin C, 46% forvitamin K, and 33% for folate!

The detox support provided by cauliflower includes antioxidant nutrients to boost Phase 1 detoxification activities and sulfurcontaining nutrients to boost Phase 2 activities. Cauliflower also contains phytonutrients called glucosinolates that can help activate detoxification enzymes and regulate their activity. Three glucosinolates that have been clearly identified in cauliflower are glucobrassicin, glucoraphanin, and gluconasturtiian. While the glucosinolate content of cauliflower is definitely significant from a health standpoint, cauliflower contains about onefourth as much total glucosinolates as Brussels sprouts, about onehalf as much as Savoy cabbage, about 60% as much as broccoli, and about 70% as much as kale.

As an excellent source of vitamin C, and a very good source of manganese, cauliflower provides us with two core conventional antioxidants. But its antioxidant support extends far beyond the conventional nutrients into the realm of phytonutrients. Betacarotene, betacryptoxanthin, caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, ferulic acid, quercetin, rutin, and kaempferol are among cauliflowers key antioxidant phytonutrients.

As an excellent source of vitamin K, cauliflower provides us with one of the hallmark antiinflammatory nutrients. Vitamin K acts as a direct regulator of our inflammatory response. In addition, one of the glucosinolates found in cauliflowerglucobrassicincan be readily converted into an isothiocyanate molecule called ITC, or indole3carbinol. I3C is an antiinflammatory compound that can actually operate at the genetic level, and by doing so, prevent the initiation of inflammatory responses at a very early stage.

The fiber content of cauliflowerover 9 grams in every 100 caloriesmakes this cruciferous vegetable a great choice for digestive system support. Yet the fiber content of cauliflower is only one of its digestive support mechanisms. Researchers have determined that the sulforaphane made from a glucosinolate in cauliflower (glucoraphanin) can help protect the lining of your stomach. Sulforaphane provides you with this health benefit by preventing bacterial overgrowth of Helicobacter pylori in your stomach or too much clinging by this bacterium to your stomach wall.

The antiinflammatory nature of glucosinolates/isothiocyanates and other nutrients found in cauliflower has been the basis for new research on inflammationrelated health problems and the potential role of cauliflower in their prevention. While current studies are examining the benefits of cruciferous vegetables as a group rather than cauliflower in particular, promising research is underway that should shed light on the potential benefits of cauliflower in relationship to our risk of the following inflammationrelated health problems: Crohns disease, inflammatory bowel disease, insulin resistance, irritable bowel syndrome, metabolic syndrome, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and ulcerative colitis.