I Hate Broccoli ! ....Well Now You Don't!

Broccoli is one of the most nutritious vegetables, the star of cruciferous vegetable family and a powerful cancer fighting food.

Here?s why :

Broccoli contains 125% more vitamin C than a cup of pure orange juice!

On a volume to volume basis, broccoli has as much calcium as cow?s milk for a more stronger bones.
It has more fiber than a slice of whole wheat bread.

1 cup of steamed broccoli has 45% of Vitamin A daily intake.

The most important of all, it contains a substantially high level of natural phytochemicals, particularly the sulforaphane, which has shown to improve the liver's ability to detoxify toxic compounds from the body including carcinogen cells and free radical.

But I don?t like broccoli !

Here?s the good news. You don?t have to now. Instead you could opt to take broccoli sprouts.

An important discovery from researches shows that broccoli sprout has 10-100 times higher levels of sulforaphane that to the mature broccoli. Three-day-old broccoli sprouts, which are tender shoots topped with two baby leaves, are loaded with a concentrated form of sulforaphane, a powerful cancer fighter, say researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

Yes, the sprouts don?t taste like broccoli for those who hate broccoli. More importantly remember that a tablespoon of broccoli sprouts contains as much sulforaphane as is found in a whole pound of mature broccoli.

Now this certainly adds variety to your the existing quick and easy and healthy recipes collection.

Cooking Tips

To maximize and retain the nutrients, it?s best to consumed broccoli raw or steamed. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, published in October 200,3 investigated the effects of various methods of cooking broccoli. Of all the methods of preparation, steaming caused the least loss of nutrients. Boiling in a large amount of water destroys many of the cancer fighting compounds. Prolonged boiling also gives broccoli unpleasant odor because of the existence of sulphur compounds. Some of the serving ideas are like to try eat it as part of veggies and dip plate, to steam and cover it in low fat cheddar cheese or to add a layer of broccoli sprout to veggie burgers and sandwiches.

Reference:

Fahey JW, Zhang Y, Talalay P. Broccoli sprouts: an exceptionally rich source of inducers of enzymes that protect against chemical carcinogens. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1997 Sep 16;94(19):10367-72.

About the Author:

Ninie Yahya is a working mother having a full time internet home based business in the realm of health and food. To discover great health articles and cooking tips plus quick, easy and healthy recipes, visit http://www.quick-easy-healthy-recipes.com