(AscendHealthy.com) – There’s an incredible food that’s used to make everything from flourless pizza to healthy rice, and it can be eaten raw or cooked. This vegetable is on-trend and for good reason. It cuts calories, and carbs and offers a number of other health benefits. Wondering what it is?
The answer is cauliflower, and there are definitely some good reasons to consider eating it.
Cauliflower is Low-Calorie and Low-Carb
Cauliflower is a very low-calorie vegetable, with only 25 calories per cup, which is only 10-20% of the amount found in rice. It’s also a very low-carb vegetable, with only 3 grams of net carbs and 2 grams of fiber for every cup. Cooked rice contains 18 times more carbs. This makes cauliflower a great option for anyone who is looking to follow a low-carb diet, like type 2 diabetics.
This low-calorie, low-carb vegetable is also great for anyone who wants to lose weight. Cauliflower’s fiber content can help promote feelings of fullness, which may curb appetite and make it easier to shed pounds.
Other Health Benefits of Cauliflower
Looking for other great reasons to eat cauliflower? Some of the other health benefits of this vegetable include:
- It helps promote healthy digestion. The fiber in cauliflower helps promote healthy gut bacteria and regulates the digestive system, preventing constipation. Regular consumption may even lower the risk of colon cancer.
- Cauliflower is a good source of vitamins and nutrients. It contains vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin K, folate, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium.
- It may help reduce the risk of heart disease. Thanks to the antioxidants, flavonoids, and carotenoids found in cauliflower, the vegetable can help prevent heart disease. The fiber in cauliflower can also help lower the risk of heart attack and stroke.
- Cauliflower may lower blood pressure. High-fiber foods have been found to reduce blood pressure.
- It might help prevent cancer. An antioxidant in cauliflower known as indole-3-carbinol (I3C) has been linked to a lower instance of breast and reproductive cancers. The vegetable also contains sulforaphane, which has been found to inhibit melanoma and pancreatic, esophageal and prostate cancers by inhibiting histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes involved in the growth of cancerous cells.
- Cauliflower can help boost memory. The vegetable contains choline, which has been linked to memory and learning.
- It helps reduce inflammation. Another benefit of choline is it helps reduce chronic inflammation.
- Cauliflower can improve bone health. The vitamin K in cauliflower can help reduce the risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures.
- It promotes good eye health. The sulforaphane in cauliflower can help lower the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts.
There are a number of great reasons to eat more cauliflower. Eat it raw with dip, make a cauliflower pizza crust or cook up some cauliflower rice to lower the risk of cancer or heart disease and take advantage of its weight loss benefits.
~Here’s to Your Healthy Ascension
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