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Is Broccoli Better Than Cauliflower? The Real Truth About Cancer Risk, Heart Health and More

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Calcium is crucial for the maintenance and development of teeth and bones, and iron helps with your body’s energy production. Magnesium prevents calcium deposits and also acts as a muscle relaxant.

A cup of cooked broccoli is considered a better dietary source of all three minerals. Broccoli contains 74.7 mg of calcium, and cauliflower only has about 19.8 mg; broccoli has 1.4 mg of iron. Meanwhile, cauliflower provides 0.41 mg; and broccoli is a very good source of magnesium with 39.0 mg—about 10% of your daily value—while cauliflower only has 11.2 mg of magnesium.

Broccoli is also a better source of manganese, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc.

Nutritional Values of Cauliflower vs broccoli
How does the nutrition value compare per cooked cup of cauliflower vs broccoli?

 

Health Benefits of Broccoli

It is clear that broccoli is a nutritional superfood, and scientific evidence supports its wide range of health benefits. For instance, broccoli has widely been regarded for containing anti-cancer compounds.

Contains Anti-Cancer Compounds

Broccoli contains the sulfur-containing compound sinigrin, which helps release special phytonutrients, like isothiocyanates, that detoxify cancer-causing carcinogens.

The vegetable also contains other anit-cancer properties. In particular, indole-3-carbinol, found in broccoli, helps deactivate the tumor promoter 4-hydroxyestrone, especially in breast cells. The phytonutrient glucoraphanin in broccoli is also known to convert to sulforaphane in your body; sulforaphane is helpful for liver detoxification, which quickly removes any potential carcinogens.

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