Tag: superfood

Cauliflower, is it a ‘Super food’?

Todays’ post is about Cauliflower. I found out this week that cauliflower aids the body’s detoxification system. This was new information for me.

So I’ve decided to learn a bit more about this vegetable and share the results.

Cauliflower is a member of the Brassica family, better known as cruciferous vegetables. It contains fiber that helps with the feeling of satiety, weight loss and a healthy digestive tract. It is is not only low in calories but also packed with vitamins and minerals.

May be a ‘Super food’

It seems every week experts are calling a food ‘super food’.  To be given this label the food needs to be ‘nutrient rich and considered especially beneficial for health and wellbeing’.

Well, this versatile vegetable also contains antioxidants and phytonutrients that can protect against cancer, choline that is important for learning and memory, and many other important nutrients.

Raw cauliflower is rich in the antioxidant vitamin C, which is required for tissue growth and tissue repair in all parts of the body.

It is also necessary for the formation of the important protein collagen, which is used to make skin, tendons, ligaments, scar tissue, and blood vessels.

Cauliflower contains decent amounts of vitamin K, which has anti-inflammatory properties. Studies also suggest that vitamin K aids in preventing bone loss in both men and women and that it might also decrease the risk of heart disease.

Regular consumption of cauliflower assists healthy blood circulation and aids in maintaining blood vessels, which is attributed to the presence of sulforaphane.

Aids in ‘detoxification’.

Cauliflower also contains a phytonutrient that together with sulforaphane, helps activate and regulate the function of detoxifying enzymes.

These nutrients are important for Phase I detoxification along with sulfur-containing nutrients essential for Phase II detox activities.

Other compounds found in cauliflower are very important for helping the body detox due to their function to support the liver.

These compounds stimulate what are known as ‘Phase II enzymes’, the natural antioxidant system of our body. They help trigger the liver to produce detoxifying enzymes that block free radical damage. At the same time, sulforaphane stimulates detoxification and digestion by preventing bacterial overgrowth occurring in the gut.

Sources; http://www.well-beingsecrets.com/ and http://www.mercola.com/

Minimal cooking

Cooking is harmful to the nutritional content of cauliflower. Cooking for thirty or more minutes reduces health benefits by 75%. So the lesson here is to steam your cauliflower so it’s just tender, or eat it raw.

There was so much more information available on the health benefits of cauliflower. Who would have thought that this humble and unpopular vegetable could contain so many health-promoting nutrients?

It seems that incorporating cauliflower into our daily diet would be a smart strategy to protect against many health conditions.

 

Till the next post,

 

Live Clean n Prosper

Super Salad

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Hi,

Today I want to talk about a salad that I purchased for lunch last week.

This may seem strange, but it was a really tasty, though simple salad. It was promoted as a ‘super food’ salad. So I thought I would research why it was so ‘super’.

What was in it?

Rocket leaves,

Baby English Spinach leaves,

Finely chopped Chinese Wong Bok

(or Napa) cabbage,

Pepitas,

Lemon juice dressing.

Now for the ‘Superfood’ part.

It seems that Rocket leaves are a very nutritious salad green. Apart from providing a little ‘peppery burst’ in each mouthful, it is very good for us.

  • Salad rocket is very high in antioxidants.
  • Also it seems that Rocket is a rich source of certain phytochemicals, which may offer protection against various cancers.
  • Fresh salad rocket is one of the greens rich in folates and an excellent source of vitamin A. Studies found that vitamin A and flavonoid compounds in green leafy vegetables help keep humans protected from skin, lung and oral cavity cancers.
  • This vegetable is also an excellent source of the B-complex group of vitamins, which are essential for optimum metabolic functions.
  • and Rocket also contains healthy levels of vitamin-C.

The English spinach is another salad green with health benefits, many similar to Rocket.

  • Spinach is storehouse for many phyto-nutrients that have health promotional and disease prevention properties.
  • The dark green pigments indicate the presence of antioxidant nutrients and phytochemicals such as beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin – important for healthy eyes.
  • It is also good source of omega-3 fatty acids.

The Chinese cabbage also has similar health benefits to the other leafy greens. I have chosen to highlight just 2.

  • Napa cabbage is incredibly low in calories. 100 g fresh leaves carry jus 16 calories.
  • Napa is also packed with many antioxidant plant compounds. Scientific studies suggest these compounds are known to offer protection against breast, colon and prostate cancers. They also help reduce bad cholesterol levels in the blood.

Finally, the Pepitas or Pumpkin seeds (I like mine toasted)

  • The kernels are especially rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids that help lower bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol in the blood.
  • Pumpkin seeds carry good-quality protein. In addition, the seeds are an excellent source of amino acid tryptophan and glutamate which helps reduce anxiety and nervous irritability.

The nutrition facts were found on http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/

So, it would seem that the very tasty salad that I bought for lunch, was in fact ‘super’.

I have purchased the same greens and replicated the salad more than once now, it is very easy to make and is still really tasty. This salad also works really well with the addition of crumbled Feta.

Enjoy the week and until the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper

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