10 reasons why you should add broccoli to your shopping list!

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broccoli

Feature by our Editorial Assistant Colleen

Hasn’t your mother told you that greens are good for you? Actually, the brighter the green, the more nutrients you’ll receive. That’s true for one of my favourite veggies: broccoli.

I personally think that everyone should have some broccoli stored in their fridge because it keeps well and it’s one of the easiest greens to cook.

Here are the top 10 reasons to add broccoli to your daily diet:

1) Broccoli is a good source of vitamin A (beta carotene). The leaves actually contain the most beta carotene so don’t throw them away!

2) Broccoli also contains calcium (not as much as milk has but it’s good for those of you who are lactose intolerant) and it contains loads of fibre.

3) This vegetable can work to prevent colon and prostate cancers with high amounts of consumption because consuming this vegetable helps encourage human tumour cells to die.

4) Broccoli is good at slowing down or even preventing breast cancer because it is a cruciferous vegetable (from the mustard family such as cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy and turnip). The reason for this is mainly because of the biochemical indol-3-carbinol in the veggie.

5) Broccoli can be used as a remedy for high blood pressure mostly because of the vitamin C it contains (even more so than an orange).

6) It is high in antioxidants such as indoles, isothiocyanates and folate.

7) Because broccoli contains chromium, it helps to control blood sugar and insulin levels.

#8) Broccoli can reduce bad cholesterol.

9) It’s low in calories.

10) For those of you who fear rheumatoid arthritis, broccoli is also great at protecting you. The vitamins C and E, as well as selenium (this is a chemical associated with sulfur) help relieve against the inflammation that you get from rheumatoid arthritis.

My favourite way of cooking broccoli is very simple: steam it!

Vegetables often lose their nutrients and colour when you stir fry it, or boil it in water. You’d be surprised at how good it tastes after a quick steam. Even if you add it into your salad mix raw it will be beneficial because you won’t lose the antioxidants in the vegetable.

Photo by Darwin Bell