When I say cauliflower is the new kale you may pull a face of surprise. You may think of a a vegetable which is often over boiled, bland and boring. This is not the case anymore and cauliflower is making a comeback!
This is good news for many reasons, one being cauliflower is kind on your wallet and is readily available in the supermarket. It is available all year round both in the fresh and frozen produce sections.
Secondly, cauliflower is kind on your waistline, with 100g of cauliflower giving you only 25 calories or 105kJ. 77% of your daily vitamin C needs and 30mg of sodium, 2g of sugar, no fat and only 30mg of sodium. Being a vegetable, cauliflower is high in potassium, a mineral which promotes healthy blood pressure levels.
Cauliflower has 3g of fibre per 100g, which is around 10% of you daily needs. Fibre also helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer and promotes a healthy weight.
Cauliflower contains high amounts of:
- B vitamins (Thiamine, Riboflavin Pantothenic Acid, Niacin, Folate and B6.)- An umbrella role of the B vitamins is they are vital for your body to be able to covert the food you eat into energy for your body to use.
- Magnesium –Helps maintain your body make protein and regulate the metabolism of your cells.
- Phosphorus- A vital mineral required for every cell in your body to be able to function normally. Around 85% of phosphorous binds with calcium to form your bones and teeth.
- Vitamin K –Vitamin K acts as an antioxidant as well as helps your blood to clot normally.
- Manganese –Plays a key role in making energy from the food you eat.
- Choline – This nutrient helps repair and maintain the outer parts of your cells and assists in brain development. Choline may also improve your memory by supporting a part of your brain known as the hippocampus.
- Sulphoraphane –A compound found in vegetables which can help protect your arteries from damage by activating a protein which is normally dormant in part of your arteries, making it vulnerable to disease.
- Vitamin E-linked to long term brain health and potentially moderately reducing the risk of Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
Interesting study for the men: A study of 29000 men over 4 years reported eating cauliflower twice a week may reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 52%!
Ways to include cauliflower in your diet:
You could boil them until most of their water soluble vitamins have been drained out of the vegetable and the taste is bland and horrible, or you may like to investigate these methods:
- Roast cauliflower
- Cauliflower crust pizza
- Whole roasted cauliflower cheese
- Cauliflower popcorn
- Cauliflower rice paella
- Honey cauliflower
- Cauliflower savoury breakfast cake
Take home message: Forget expensive super foods and make way for this versatile and highly nutritious vegetable . The sky seems the limit to the ways this vegetable can be used so have some fun!
References:
- Kirsh VA, Peters U, Mayne ST, Subar AF, Chatterjee N, Johnson CC, et al. Prospective study of fruit and vegetable intake and risk of prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2007;99(15):1200-9.
- Nast C. Self Nutrition Data California: Condé Nast; 2017 [updated 2014; cited 2017 5/7/2017]. Available from: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2390/2.
