Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable closely related to broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage. It is highly nutritious whether you choose to enjoy it raw as a snack or in salads, or cooked as a side dish or ingredient in dishes such as curries or soups. The nutritional content of cauliflower will change if you cook it with other ingredients, and cauliflower has the most potential health benefits when your overall diet emphasizes nutritious foods.
Calories and Macronutrients
A cup of raw cauliflower weighs 107 g, or 4 oz., and provides 27 calories. Cauliflower has 2 g of protein, almost no fat and 5 g of total carbohydrates, including 2 g of natural sugars. Healthy adults on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet should get at least 2 1/2 cups of vegetables per day, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As with all plant-based foods, cauliflower is cholesterol-free.
Vitamins
Each cup of cauliflower supplies 52 mg of vitamin C, or 87 percent of the daily value for this vitamin essential for a strong immune system and proper wound healing. Folate is an essential B vitamin for heart health as well as for preventing neural tube birth defects, and cauliflower is a natural source. A cup of cauliflower has 61 mcg of folate, or 15 percent of the daily value. It has 17 mcg of vitamin K, or more than 10 percent of the recommended dietary intake of this essential vitamin for blood clotting.
Minerals
Potassium is an essential mineral for regulating water balance and blood pressure, and cauliflower provides 320 mg of potassium per cup. It has only 32 mg of sodium. A high-potassium, low-sodium diet can help you prevent high blood pressure, or hypertension, and healthy adults should get at least 4,700 mg of potassium and no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Other Information
Cauliflower supplies 2.1 g of dietary fiber, or 8 percent of the daily value, as well as 19 mg of phytosterols, per cup. Dietary fiber and phytosterols are phytonutrients, or healthy compounds in plants, that lower levels of cholesterol in your blood and may reduce your risk for heart disease, according to the Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center. Cauliflower provides coenzyme Q10, which is an antioxidant that may promote heart health, and it contains isothiocyanates, which may reduce your risk for cancer.
References
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Vegetables and Vegetable Products
- Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center; Isothiocyanates; Victoria Drake; November 2008
- Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center; Coenzyme Q10; Victoria Drake; February 2007
- Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center; Biotin; Victoria Drake; August 2008
- Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center; Phytosterols; Victoria Drake; September 2008
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