My joy of eating broccoli developed while living in Hawaii.
On the mainland, I was busy with many activities and ate a majority of my meals out. But in Hawaii, I was making a majority of my meals and became very creative in the kitchen. One of those creations was homemade dips, and raw broccoli became my favorite food to eat with my dips.
The broccoli you eat is flower buds and stems. Each little green bump on a head of broccoli is a flower bud, a flower that has not opened. Groups of flower buds grow on thick stems. Broccoli is picked while the buds are still tight and green.
If broccoli is left on the plant and not picked, the buds open into small yellow flowers. When a yellow flower is pollinated, meaning pollen is carried to the flower, often by bees, the flower can form a thin seed pod with several seeds inside. A head of broccoli has hundreds of flower buds, so one plant left to bloom can make a great many seeds.
Broccoli gives your body many nutrients. One cup of chopped raw broccoli has about as much vitamin C as an orange. That same cup gives a large amount of vitamin K, which the body uses to help blood clot and to support bones. Broccoli also provides fiber, folate, and potassium. Folate is a B vitamin the body uses to make new cells.
Broccoli contains a substance that turns into a compound called sulforaphane when broccoli is chopped or chewed. Researchers are studying how sulforaphane may protect cells. A compound is a substance made of two or more elements joined together.
Vitamin C breaks down in heat and leaks into cooking water. So, eating broccoli raw or steamed gives your body more vitamin C than eating boiled broccoli.
You are welcome to eat broccoli.
Stacy 🌺
Information in this post comes from my learning and research.
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I share my experiences and my perspective. Eating and healing look different for everyone. If you are struggling with food or your relationship with your body, please find support. You don’t have to do this alone.