A big part of achieving your weight-loss goals involves changing your diet. While you can out exercise a bad diet, the level of work and time that requires isn’t aligned with the realities of most women’s day to day lives. So each week we are going to focus on a new food you can add to your diet that will not only aid in weight loss, but improve overall health a well. This week: Broccoli.
Broccoli is High in Calcium
If drinking milk isn’t your thing, eating broccoli can help you get the calcium needed to keep your bones healthy and strong without adding excess fat or calories to your diet. One cup of cooked broccoli contains 74mg of calcium, 123 mg of vitamin C and just 44 calories. Vitamin C is important because it helps the body absorb calcium better. Just to put things in perspective, a glass of 2% milk has 300mg of calcium but has no vitamin C and 121 calories of which 42 of those calories comes from fat.
Broccoli Can Help Reduce the Risk of Getting Certain Types of Cancers
Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable; simply meaning it’s an edible plant. Studies have shown that eating cruciferous vegetables can help reduce the risk of many cancers such as bladder and ovarian cancers. One study showed that men who ate a serving of broccoli or cauliflower a week halved their chance of getting advance stage prostate cancer. Also broccoli contains phytonutrients sulforaphane and indoles which have been shown to boost the body’s ability to rid itself of cancerous cells and for those tumors that do form, they tend to take longer to develop and are smaller in mass.
Helps in Detoxifying the Body
Many phytonutrients work as antioxidants to dislodge compounds before they can damage the DNA. However, new research has shown that the phytonutrients found in broccoli operate at a much deeper level. They actually signal your genes to increase production of enzymes that help the body detoxify, preventing harmful compounds from ever attaching.
Can Help Repair Sun-Damaged Skin
A recent Johns Hopkins research study showed that Sulforaphane can help repair sun damaged skin. Sulforaphane is a compound found in broccoli. When broccoli extract was applied to test animals that had been exposed to UV light equivalent to what a sun bather would be exposed to on a clear summer day, the extract counteracted the animals’ carcinogenic response.
Broccoli is High in Fiber
One serving of broccoli has 9 grams of fiber, that’s about 33% of the recommended amount of fiber needed daily. A diet high in fiber helps prevent constipation, aids in weight loss and helps prevent certain digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome and hemorrhoids. Fiber is very filling and low in calorie, so a diet high in fiber can help you shed those unwanted pounds
I love broccoli. Right now am trying to grow some. It’s perfect with chicken or in a fried rice dish.