Cauliflower Health Benefits, Properties, and Uses

Cauliflower is a white, cruciferous vegetable from the Brassica oleracea family. It’s related to other vegetables like broccoli, kale, Brussel sprouts and cabbage. Cauliflower can be eaten raw, cooked or mashed as an alternative to mashed potatoes. 

Cauliflower Health Uses and Health Benefits

Cauliflower is a powerful vegetable for improved health and nutrition because of its content of disease-fighting phytochemicals and variety of vitamins and minerals. Cauliflower is rich in vitamin C, K and B vitamins and minerals like potassium and manganese.^1,2

Cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower have proven anti-cancer benefits, containing substances that have shown to prevent cellular mutation that leads to tumor development. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory benefits of cauliflower also help to prevent and reduce the risk of developing inflammation-caused chronic disease. This includes various types of cancers, as well as heart diseases and neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.¹

Antioxidant phytochemicals found in cauliflower like beta-carotene and quercetin also help reduce oxidative stress, which also has disease-prevention benefits. Another cauliflower substance called sulforaphane, has shown to help improve heart health and may help to reduce the risk of developing coronary artery disease.²

Being an excellent source of Vitamin K, cauliflower can also prevent osteoporosis, as vitamin K is essential to building and maintaining bone density.¹

Other cauliflower health benefits include:

• Aiding in digestion and preventing leaky gut syndrome
• Supporting weight loss
• Preventing hormonal conditions such as hypothyroidism
• Reducing the risk of eye conditions like macular degeneration

References

1. https://draxe.com/cauliflower/
2. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/22/cauliflower-health-benefits.aspx