How to Eat Broccoli Correctly

You've probably heard that cooking vegetables can destroy their nutrients.

Broccoli, however, is an exception.

Broccoli is excellent for its anti-cancer effects and for boosting immunity.

However, if not cooked correctly, its beneficial compounds can easily disappear, so

it's best to learn how to eat it properly.

Broccoli is often boiled and dipped in gochujang sauce.

It's also added to soups or curries and boiled, but

these methods are shortcuts to reduced efficacy.

This is because boiling broccoli in water for more than 1 minute destroys key nutrients.

According to research by Professor Lee Ki-taek's team in the Department of Food Science and Engineering at Chungnam National University in Korea,

after 1 minute of boiling broccoli in water, the sulforaphane content was zero!

Sulforaphane is a nutrient effective in anti-cancer and antioxidant activities, but it is sensitive to heat.

Therefore, it's best to blanch broccoli lightly within 1 minute, but

blanching isn't always the right method either.

Blanching broccoli reduces vitamin C,

and it's reported that enzymes are 20% destroyed in water above 75 degrees Celsius.

To preserve nutrients as much as possible, steaming without putting it in water is the appropriate method.

In a study, when broccoli was heated in a steamer, about 90% of sulforaphane was retained even after 1 minute,

and steaming also preserved myrosinase, an enzyme that activates sulforaphane.

A study conducted by a research team at the University of Illinois in the US showed that even when broccoli was steamed for 5 minutes,

myrosinase was not destroyed.

These research findings indicate that steaming broccoli is better for nutrient intake.

If you have an aversion to its texture or aroma, stir-frying it in oil or baking it in the oven are also good methods.

Broccoli is also rich in the antioxidant beta-carotene.

Beta-carotene is fat-soluble, so cooking it in oil increases its absorption rate.

Furthermore, using oils rich in unsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E, such as olive oil or avocado oil,

can help suppress inflammation and cancer in the body.

Source: Kormedi.com