Focus food – broccoli

I’ve been thinking recently – it’s been a long time since I’ve done a foodie post. This is mainly because my eats of late have been – oats for breakfast, sandwhiches for lunch, and sandwhiches/leftovers for dinner, and whatever’s on hand for snack in between. Yeah, maybe not the most balanced, but I’m trying my best here 😉

But no matter how crazy life gets, one thing I am dead stuck on is veggies in my diet. Fruit – I try to have it, but veggies are an almost inseperable part of at least 2 meals. Of course, buying fresh produce for just one person is hard for me, so I tend to pick a “veggie of the week” that I buy more of, and buy the rest as the mood strikes.

The veggie of the week was broccoli – I haven’t had it in a long time, and I really enjoyed it. It’s a great, flavourful addition to my grain bowls (the majority of my hot meals) and after a little research I was very pleasantly surprised at all it’s healthy benefits J

Here are some of the main benefits of eating broccoli:

–          Broccoli can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will cook it by steaming. The fiber-related components in broccoli do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they’ve been steamed. Raw broccoli still has cholesterol-lowering ability—just not as much.

–          Broccoli has a strong, positive impact on our body’s detoxification system, and researchers have recently identified one of the key reasons for this detox benefit. Glucoraphanin, gluconasturtiian, and glucobrassicin are 3 glucosinolate phytonutrients found in a special combination in broccoli. This dynamic trio is able to support all steps in body’s detox process, including activation, neutralization, and elimination of unwanted contaminants. Isothiocyanates (ITCs) are the detox-regulating molecules made from broccoli’s glucosinolates, and they help control the detox process at a genetic level.

–          Broccoli may help us solve our vitamin D deficiency epidemic. When large supplemental doses of vitamin D are needed to offset deficiency, ample supplies of vitamin K and vitamin A help keep our vitamin D metabolism in balance. Broccoli has an unusually strong combination of both vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene) and vitamin K. For people faced with the need to rebuild vitamin D stores through vitamin D supplements, broccoli may be an ideal food to include in the diet.

–          Broccoli is a particularly rich source of a flavonoid called kaempferol. Recent research has shown the ability of kaempferol to lessen the impact of allergy-related substances on our body. This kaempferol connection helps to explain the unique anti-inflammatory benefits of broccoli, and it should also open the door to future research on the benefits of broccoli for a hypoallergenic diet.

To sum it up, here are some of the main nutritional benefits of broccoli  -it’s one of nature’s best super foods and provides over twice your daily requirement of vitamin C from an average serve. Plus it’s top of the list for beta-carotene (the precursor of vitamin A), folate, vitamin E plus several B vitamins and minerals like iron and calcium.

Here are so of the ways I’ve been enjoying broccoli recently:

In veggie bowls:

 

Top ped with roasted chickpeas (ala this recipie)

With millet and “cheese sauce”

 

As a side to sandwhiches:

 

In soup.

Honestly, my favorite way is to eat it lightly steamed with only a hint of salt added.

What veggie have you been lovin’ on recentIy?

If you had to pick one, which would you prefer – veggies or fruit?