Nutrition - Understanding Why Broccoli Needs to Be an Important Part of Your Diet

What are the nutritional benefits of broccoli?

Broccoli actually has two times as much vitamin C as you will find in an orange and nearly the same amount of calcium as whole milk. In fact, the calcium found in broccoli will be absorbed into the body much easier than the calcium found in milk. It also contains minerals that are known for fighting off diseases like cancer, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and heart disease. It has antioxidant capabilities and several vitamins besides vitamin C. Some researchers have discovered that broccoli can be as efficient in lowering cholesterol as the most popular drugs.

What is the best way to eat broccoli?

The calories contained in broccoli are good calories carrying many health benefits. The dark green color of the broccoli plant indicates that it has a high percentage of beta carotene. The flower part of the plant is what most people eat although the leaves are also edible but a bit bitter to the taste. They are loaded with vitamin A.

Although cooked broccoli in a one cup portion will offer 71.8 mg of calcium which is equal to a half a glass of milk, eating broccoli raw the calcium is 42.2 mg. One half of a cup of broccoli that has been cooked has 1083 IU of Vitamin A while in its raw state there are 678 IU. The Vitamin C content is also higher in the cooked version than in the raw. However, if you are counting calories, one half cup of cooked broccoli will have about 22 calories but in the raw state there are only 12 calories. As far as protein content, the cooked version has 2 grams of protein while the raw version has only 1 gram.

Broccoli Lion - Evidently not just for eating!

The advantage of eating raw broccoli is the fiber content. There is a great deal more bulk found in the raw vegetable. When broccoli is cooked the bulk or volume is broken down. Broccoli that has been frozen has about 35 percent more beta carotene than is measured in fresh broccoli. This is because the florets are usually the only parts that are in frozen packages and the florets are where the majority of the carotene is stored by the plant. The stems of the plant are also edible for the most part and the stems have a lot of extra iron, thiamin, calcium, niacin, vitamin C and riboflavin.
What is the best way to buy broccoli?

As you can see, buying frozen broccoli is a good choice but if you are buying fresh then the darker the green of the plant the more beta carotene it will contain. The stems of the plant should be firm and not woody. When you buy the fresh plant you can cook a lot of the stems and leaves to add more nutritional content to your meals.

Broccoli can be sauteed, boiled, broiled, stir-fried and most importantly steamed. Steaming this vegetable will give you the most color, flavor and nutritional content of any cooking method. Cutting the broccoli into small spears for eating raw is also a good choice. This is a vegetable that adds a lot to almost any dish you can imagine and is easily pared with other vegetables in stir-fry dishes or served alongside meats or fish. It is a wonderful addition to any pasta dish.