Broccoli Mommy Please
A Child Who Knows Her Antioxidants

Broccoli mommy please. This is a request rarely heard in the American home or any where else for that matter. I get to hear it from one of my young granddaughters all the time. This kid can and does eat broccoli most anywhere. She eats it cooked, steamed and raw with equal ease. It is kept in the fridge washed and ready for this seven year old's munchie times. Ain’t life sometimes grand?

We are all happy she loves this vegetable for it is a very nutritious one. It can be purchased almost anywhere at anytime of the year. Well washed with soap and water gets rid of most of the man made toxins that comes with this vegetable. If you can get organic all the better.
In a serving size of 148 grams ( 5.25 oz) Broccoli has 14 grams of protein and 8 grams of carbos, one gram of fat. And four grams of fiber. But the biggest nutrient power is antioxidants. 5.25 oz of the vegetable has 230% of your daily requirement of Vitamin C and 90% of your daily requirement of Vitamin A. It is also low in natural sodium.

With this antioxidant power it has been shown that this vegetable could reverse the damage that diabetes’s can cause on the heart and blood vessel system. The ingredient most responsible for this is sulforaphane. Sulforaphane encourages production of enzymes that protect blood vessels in addition to the free radical destruction by the antioxidants. People who already have diabetes are five times more likely to get a heart or circulatory disease. Lots of antioxidants and plenty of fruits and vegetables could keep a person with diabetes from becoming a part of the 65% who have diabetes that will die from heart attack or stroke.
New research also suggests that men who eat broccoli just a few times a week may have a lower risk of prostate cancer Men who ate four weekly servings of this vegetable for a year showed more changes in gene expression, which suggests better protection against the cancer.

Diet changes genes has been shown in a study by nutrition researcher Dean Ornish MD and a team from the University of California. This research team has recently (2008) reported that men with low-risk prostate cancer showed profound changes in gene expression when they ate a low-fat diet that was high in fruits and vegetables

Broccoli To Antioxidant Foods