Man…..it’s been quite a while since I dropped my last post. Between school and the family I fall short on time. Hopefully, I can be a little more consistent in the future. I am still on my Superfood Series and this post will be based on brussels sprouts. It seems like brussels sprouts can draw an unanimous “ewwwww” if brought up in a conversation. I find that weird because most people eat cabbage and brussels sprouts are just miniature cabbages. Anyway, brussels sprouts are in the cruciferous family which is in the same family as cabbage and superfoods that I wrote about previously, kale and broccoli.
Unfortunately the individuals that turn there noses up to brussels sprouts are missing out on some huge benefits. Not only are brussels sprouts low in calories measuring out at 56 calories per cup, they contain 240% of the recommended daily value of vitamin K1 and 130% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C. In our body we have cancer fighting enzymes. Brussels sprouts contain compound which has glucosinolates. These glucosinolates assist the body with the production of isothiocyanates. The isothiocyanates are what activates the cancer fighting enzymes.
Dr. Mercola provides some outstanding information from a research study. The study reveals that compounds in brussels sprouts essentially trigger pre-cancerous cells to commit suicide. Also, brussels sprouts have been proven to effectively help prevent ovarian cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, and several others. Furthermore, his research his showed that brussels sprouts may possibly contain more cancer fighting compounds than kale, cabbage, and broccoli. I was shocked because I thought that kale and broccoli were the cancer fighting powerhouses of the cruciferous family.
Whenever you’re wanting to clean up your health, you want to go through a process of detoxing. According to the George Maateljan Foundation, those glucosinolates we discussed earlier that help prevent cancer, also promotes the body to detox cancer-like substances. Brussel sprouts contain the sulfur-containing nutrients that fuels the body’s detox system . Due to flavonoids, high levels of vitamin C and manganese, brussels sprouts provide the detox system in your body the vital antioxidant support that it needs. Brussels sprouts are also reported to have the ability to prevent environmental toxins from causing toxin-triggered changes in our DNA.
The antioxidants in brussels sprouts fight cancer and other chronic diseases. Also, brussels sprouts contain anti-inflammatory compounds that fight inflammation at at the early stages of disease development. This is critical when it comes to fighting diseases such as heart disease and atherosclerosis.
As we can see, brussels sprouts are some of the most nutrient dense foods. Besides, they taste great and are super easy to prepare. Salt, olive oil, cracked black pepper, and a hot oven and you have all you need to make some delicious brussels sprouts.
Plant Based Poppin' 