If you set out to invent and grow a vegetable that could fight cancer, reduce inflammation, and detox the body, you probably couldn’t improve on broccoli.
Broccoli is rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Unfortunately, over-cooking is known to deplete these healthy properties.
Deciding whether to microwave, boil or steam your broccoli may not seem important, but the choice may have major health implications.
“As we’re learning, food processing isn’t just what happens to food before it reaches the grocery shelves,” says American Institute for Cancer Research associate director of nutrition programs Alice Bender. “What you do in your kitchen can make those fruits and vegetables on your plate even more cancer-protective.”
Steaming broccoli for three to four minutes until it turns bright green increases its available sulforaphane. Microwaving or boiling the vegetable decreases or even eliminates it completely. And cutting the broccoli florets into smaller pieces and the stems into thin slices is also thought to enhance broccoli’s ability to stave off cancer.
Here are some other ways to harness broccoli’s powerful immune supporting nutrients (such as vitamin C, beta-carotene, trace minerals zinc and selenium, and others) to bolster immunity and support overall health.
The pollutants in the air you breathe can increase your risk of lung cancer and heart disease. But a clinical trial in China shows that you can help your body shrug off these common contaminants with a potent superfood.
This cruciferous vegetable contains compounds called isothiocyanates (ITCs). ITCs attack proteins in cells that promote cancer while leaving the cell’s healthy proteins alone.
Millions suffer from Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disorder that causes swelling and irritation of the digestive tract. Treatment usually consists of medications, surgery and various dietary supplements, but a study now shows that broccoli and plantain may also help curb the disease.
Chances are you never heard of osteocalcin. But this protein is an important structural component of your bones and plays an important role in keeping your bones from breaking. Interestingly, you have to eat these leafy greens to help your body deposit osteocalcin into your skeleton.
A gentle, seasonal cleanse is an excellent way to jumpstart your body’s healing capacities and cure chronic inflammation, reduce stress, heal ongoing infections and unhealed injuries, relieve allergies and much more.
With the flu season raging out of control, you can use your food and supplements as a defense against getting sick. Here’s a list of 10 natural foods to supercharge immunity and boost overall health and wellness in the process.
