Broccoli is a Nutritional Heavyweight You Need on Your Side

Move over oranges! Stand aside milk! According to research, broccoli has more vitamin C than an orange and more calcium than milk when measured ounce for ounce. But really that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the benefits of eating broccoli. That’s because broccoli is arguably the most nutritious vegetable on the planet. And don’t worry, oranges and milk don’t have to feel bad, they are still very healthy and worthy of any diet.

Back to our super vegetable – broccoli. Broccoli is so nutritious it’s hard to find a place to start. So we’ll just pick one of the major benefits and build from there. When you eat broccoli, you’re eating one the best foods you can find to help prevent several types of cancer. Broccoli has been shown to help prevent lung, colon, breast and stomach cancer (the second most common cause of cancer in the world).

How is broccoli so good at fighting cancer? It’s because of broccoli’s high amounts of vitamin C, calcium, folic acid and fiber. Broccoli also contains phytochemicals, which are antioxidant compounds that help protect us from cancer causing free radicals. In fact, the phytochemicals in broccoli even help protect against heart attack and stroke.

The Vitamin C in broccoli not only helps prevent cancer, it helps boost your immune system, helps produce collagen that holds cells together, and can help prevent heart disease. And the calcium in broccoli isn’t just good for your teeth and bones, it also helps protect you from heart disease. Broccoli’s folic acid helps prevent stroke, is necessary for the body’s metabolism and is essential in fetal development.

Eat broccoli and you’ll help get your recommended daily allowance of fiber too, which is now believed to help prevent heart disease on top of helping regulate blood sugar for those with diabetes, and fiber cleans the bowels. More fiber is also good for those trying to lose weight since it helps you feel fuller longer.

Chances are you’ve heard of chromium – whether it’s because you saw the movie Erin Brockovich and learned about the dangerous hexavalent chromium or because you’ve seen weight loss supplements with chromium picolinate that’s good for us. Well broccoli is full of the healthy chromium that everyone needs. Chromium may or may not help with weight loss, but it does help balance our blood sugar, protect DNA and RNA, and helps control the fat and cholesterol levels in our blood.

It’s hard to not like broccoli with all its healthy benefits, but there are plenty of broccoli-challenged taste buds out there. If you’re one of those, here are some ways to work broccoli into your diet without having to muster through the broccoli flavor:

• Steam broccoli and melt a slice or two of fat free American cheese over it
• Add chopped raw broccoli to your salad
• Eat chopped raw broccoli along with other raw vegetables as a healthy snack dipped in fat free ranch or fat free blue cheese dressing