What are Cruciferous Vegetables?
Cruciferous vegetables belong to a certain family of plants known as the Brassicaceae family. This family of plants includes cruciferous vegetables such as the following:
- arugula
- broccoli
- maca
- turnips
- watercress
- radishes
- mustard greens
- cabbage
- kale
- cauliflower
- collard greens
- rutabaga
- cabbage
While there are many other cruciferous vegetables available, this list contains some of the vegetables that contain more nutrients than others, making them an ideal place to start when looking to include them in your diet.
Health Benefits
The health benefits of cruciferous vegetables are many; from cancer fighting properties to simply providing a large dose of fiber to your diet, there are a lot of reasons to choose these vegetables into your daily meal plan.
Fighting Inflammation
When you eat foods that aren't healthy for you, your body is unsure of how to process them, and thus you might feel the discomfort of inflammation. While inflammation is a typical bodily response to infection, it can also indicate when there is another problem in the body, such as a health concern like a digestive issue, heart issue, or diabetes. Cruciferous vegetables are amazing at reducing the body's inflammation, helping it to restore to its natural state. By choosing to consume these vegetables regularly, it will help get your digestive system back on track.
Regulating Blood Sugar
Choosing cruciferous vegetables to add to your plate will actually help you to regulate your blood sugar. This is amazing news for diabetics and for those who are watching their sugars. Since most servings include a decent portion of your body's daily fiber needs, you can eat one or two servings of these vegetables each day.
Cancer Fighting Properties
The antioxidants in cruciferous vegetables are known for their cancer fighting properties. They work to keep the body healthy by providing the body with compounds that are known to help fight off cancers, such as indole-3-carbino and glucosinolates.
Balances Estrogen
Cruciferous vegetables are also widely known for their ability to balance estrogen levels in females. If you are suffering from too high estrogen levels in your body, you might feel symptoms such as bloating, headaches, and a decreased sex drive, so it is important to regulate those levels if you feel ill effects. Cruciferous vegetables have the ability to regulate estrogen levels by introducing indole-3-carbinol into the body, which is known to help regulate estrogen levels.
Promotes Heart Health
It's already known that vegetables are good for you - but did you know that eating vegetables, such as cruciferous vegetables, can actually help to promote heart health? By eating these vegetables you can actively work to reduce your risk of heart disease, which is one of the most dangerous health problems today.
Vitamins and Minerals
There are plenty of vitamins and minerals in each vegetable you eat, and cruciferous vegetables are no exception! These vegetables are loaded with fiber, manganese, phosphorus, vitamins C, E, and K, as well as folate and iron.
With so many different cruciferous vegetables to choose from, there are plenty of ways that you can introduce them into your daily diet. From cancer fighting ingredients to having the ability to regulate blood sugar, these vegetables pack quite a punch. Pick out a few that you want to try, get some recipes together, and find yourself enjoying the health benefits that come with consuming these delicious and health boosting vegetables!
