Let’s look at some more reasons adding broccoli to your diet is beneficial…
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1. Bones and Joints
Broccoli contains many nutrients that have been shown to keep your bones and fjoints healthy and to help prevent bone-related disorders….
- calcium …broccoli contains almost as much calcium as whole milk.
- phosphorus…6% DRV per cup
- vitamin A…11% RDV, in the form of carotenoids
- vitamin C…Broccoli is an excellent source of vitamin C. In fact, only one-half of a cup of cooked broccoli provides a whopping 84% RDV of vitamin C— more than that foundf in half of an orange.
- vitamin K…broccoli contains 116% RDI of vitamin K.
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2. Brain Function
Broccoli contains many nutrients and bioactive compounds that can keep your brain and nervous system functioning correctly. In fact, eating only one serving of dark green vegetables , such as broccoli, per day may help resist mental decline.
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3. Cancer
Broccoli contains nutrients that may help fight and even prevent certain types of cancer—including breast, prostate, stomach, and intestinal. Eating two cups of broccoli twice a week is the amount most nutritionists consider adequate to reap the full cancer-fighting benefits of broccoli.
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4. Dental and Oral Health
Broccoli contains many nutrients—such as vitamin C , flavanoids, and calcium,—that have been shown to support oral health and prevent dental diseases—such as periodontitis, oral cancers
Many people also claim that eating raw broccoli helps remove plaque and whiten your teeth
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5. Diabetes
Broccoli may be worth adding to your weekly menu because there has been research showing that broccoli can be beneficial to diabetics…definitely adding it to my own weekly menu, know that my husband has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and I don’t want to be a fifty year old widow with a five year old, right?
Anyway, why/how is broccoli helpful for diabetics?
First of all, broccoli has been shown to significantly decrease insulin resistance in people with type 2 diabetes….perhaps because of broccoli’s high antioxidant content.
Broccoli has also been shown to lower blood sugar levels and improve diabetic control because of its high content of soluble fiber.
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6. Digestion
Broccoli may support bowel regularity and healthy gut bacteria because it is rich in both fiber and antioxidants, two nutrients that are important for “bowel regularity” and healthy gut bacteria.
Fiber affects several aspects of our digestive system—the speed that food travels through our digestive system, the consistency of food as it moves through our intestine, bacterial populations in our intestine, the health of your stomach lining.
And for those readers out there who still give a crap…broccoli even makes it easier to take a crap.
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7. Eye Health
Broccoli contains lutein and eaxanthin, the same antioxidant that have been shown to make carrots so very good for your eyes;.
These antioxidants both help your eyes from eye diseases and problems—such as macular degeneration and cataracts
8. Heart Health
Broccoli has also been shown to play a role maintaining the health of your heart, maintaining your LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and keeping your blood vessels strong
First of all, broccoli contains sulforaphane, an anti-inflammatory that has been shown to prevent and reverse damage to blood vessel lining caused by chronic blood sugar problems.
.The fiber found in broccoli may reduce your risk of heart disease.
Finally, B-complex vitamins helps regulate or reduce excessive levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that increases your risk of coronary artery disease.
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9, Immune System
Broccoli is loaded with vitamin C, possibly one of the most important nutrients for keeping your immune system effectively doing its job of preventing and treating various illnesses.
The RDV for vitamin C is 100–200 mg….and broccoli contains 78 grams …84% RDI of vitamin C per half-cup serving. of cooked broccoli
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10. Pregnancy
Broccoli contains many of the vitamins, minerals and protein needed by expectant mothers…especially the B vitamins…and even more specifically the vitamin B9, also known as folate…that are important for the development of the fetal brain and spinal cord.
Eating broccoli and other fiber-rich foods while pregnant can can help ensure healthy pregnancy outcomes and support healthier cognitive development of the newborn.
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11. Skin
Broccoli, mainly in the form of broccoli extract, contauns nutrients that have been studied as far as protecting you from getting skin cancer and other skin damage that result from exposure to a damaged ozone layer and increased exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays.
