What Are The Benefits Of Eating Cauliflower?

As a member of the crucifera family, cauliflower has many of the same nutritional benefits as broccoli, kale or cabbage, including cancer-fighting antioxidants. The mild flavor of cauliflower makes it easy to incorporate into soups, stews and curries. You can serve cauliflower raw, or steam, bake or saute it. Cauliflower is usually white, but orange and purple varieties are also available. Purple cauliflower cooks faster and tastes a bit sweeter than other cauliflowers -- the florets turn green when they are cooked.

Anti-cancer Compounds

Cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower have some of the highest cancer-fighting abilities of all foods. Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolates, sulfur compounds that account for their unique flavor profile. The body processes glucosinolates into isothicyanates, or ITCs. According to Joel Fuhrman, M.D., ITCs remove carcinogens from the body, kill cancer cells and slow the growth of tumors. Fuhrman recommends eating plenty of cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower as part of an anti-cancer diet.

Vitamin C

Oranges get all the good press for vitamin C content, but cauliflower is no slacker in that department. A 1-cup serving of cauliflower -- about one-sixth of a medium-sized head -- supplies 100 percent of your daily recommended vitamin C. Vitamin C boosts your immune system, improves your absorption of iron and helps maintain healthy teeth, gums and blood vessels.

Beta Carotene

Standard white cauliflower contains very little beta carotene, but orange cauliflower is full of it. Orange cauliflower is the result of a random, natural mutation of white cauliflower that was discovered in Canada, and it contains carotenoids, the same compounds found in carrots that give them their orange flavor and high beta carotene content. Beta carotene provides the body with vitamin A and may also improve your cardiovascular heath and fight cancer. Orange cauliflower heads tend to be smaller than white cauliflower. They may only be available seasonally or at specialty markets.

Other Benefits

Cauliflower also provides folate, calcium, potassium and selenium. A 1-cup serving of cauliflower contains 2 g of fiber, 2 g of protein and 26 calories. Cauliflower is naturally fat-free, although of course the fat content will increase if you top it with butter.

Buying and Using Cauliflower

Look for firm heads with no discoloration. The leaves surrounding the head should be bright green and not wilted. A whole head of cauliflower will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week, but once it's been cut it will spoil faster. To clean cauliflower, first tear off the leaves, then carefully cut the main stem off with a sharp knife. After that you can cut off individual florets from the underside of the cauliflower. Rinse the florets with water before use.