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 Sulfoaphane.
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.
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