Brocollicious!

So, continuing with our super foods series, today let us have a look at a vegetable that is a true super food in a multitude of ways. But just a reminder about super foods, the super food is an unscientific one, used to describe foods that are high in micronutrients and low in calorie value. Super foods are used as a marketing gimmick by various sources and the super foods we are discussing here are not one of those. We are looking at foods by definition and not by what the company adds to make their product a super food.

So the biggest reference to brocolli is that it resembles the shape of cancer tissue, one of natures way of telling us that it is a cancer fighter. For a long time, science failed to accept it, till one day, scientists were able to isolate a compound called indole carbinol, which is a compound that builds broken DNA and fights cancer. Does not matter what they find and what they do not, but brocolli is a natural cancer fighting agent. It cannot, normal quantities, be able to cure cancer, so do not expect it to, but these compounds fight cancer at very very early stages at cellular levels, so it is great to prevent cancer.

Apart from its cancer preventing properties, brocolli is a super rich source of fibre. Almost 2.5 grams of fibre for every 100 gram serving, but that is not all. 100 g of brocolli gives you about 90 mg of vitamin C. It is also a good source of selenium which plays a good role in good skin nutrition an gives good hair texture. It has lots of other micronutrients that we know of and only God knows how many other nutrients it has.

But the method of preparation is extremely important. While eating it cleaned and raw is the best way to get all the nutrients, too much of steaming tends to kill one of the cancer preventing nutrients. Deep frying brocolli in oil coated with Bhajji mix is not a great way to eat brocolli, so do not do it. Steaming the brocolli upto five minutes seems to be the best compromise without destroying nutrients and keeping it edible and tasty. My patients came up with creative ways of cooking brocolli and once they get the hang of it, brocolli becomes a daily feature in their day to day food habits. Add some olive oil to it and it becomes a great side dish.

drwasim@yourwellnessdoc.com
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