What is so cruciferous about it?
Let’s talk about cruciferous vegetables, why they are good for you, and how to get the best of them.
Not all vegetables are created equal. You’ve heard the saying that vegetables are good for you, and you ought to eat plenty of them to get fit. And some are better than others.
Well, there is more to fitness than one may think with certain categories of vegetables, especially the bitter and sulfur-tasting ones like those of cruciferous veggies.
If you are a cruciferous virgin, then you are likely not aware of all of the commercial varieties (a simple google image search shall reveal this). They are usually the ones you spit out if you were given a chance to eject one out of all other options.
But, here is the kicker, in the world of veggies, what doesn’t make you cry, will make you healthier.
Loads of nutrients — For starters, cruciferous vegetables (or “Crucis” as I like to call them now) are full of soluble and insoluble fiber, vitamin C, B9 (aka folate), potassium, selenium, and phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants and fruits that give them their defining characteristics such as color, flavor, or aroma. And they function widely from resisting fungi, plant viruses, and bacteria to killing certain insects. Their reputation is known among the human population to have significant yet not-fully-explainable health benefits, from weight loss to preventing and killing cancer. A growing number of clinical trials have gone underway to explore and investigate the underlying mechanism of these compounds’ special healing powers.
The really good stuff — Amongst all of the wonderful vitamins, minerals, and chemical compounds found in Crucis, one stands out among the rest — Sulforaphane. It’s a sulfur-rich compound, usually lay inactive and hidden away in a cloaked form known as glucoraphanin, sleeping or awake, these elements belong to the glucosinolate family of plant compounds. You know the hype is real if you can find the supplement/pill form of it on Amazon. However, its health benefits are no flukes though, more and more scientific research has demonstrated its in-vitro and in-vivo deployment to treat various diseases has turned up positive and encouraging results. Just recently, a Nature article has shown how Sulforaphane delivered to colorectal tumors from cleverly engineered delivery vessels, the tumors shrunk and killed off eventually! This is quite a significant find, although many questions remain about dietary dosage and bodily absorption rate and etc, it is nonetheless pointing the thumb up to Sulforaphane. And the real excitement really lays in the hope that if you can simply EAT TO BEAT DISEASE, why not? Think about the alternatives, which are dangerous surgeries, or drugs laden with side effects.
Romance of Myrosinase and sulforaphane — Sulforaphane lays dormant until activated through chewing, or breaking down of the plants that carry the compounds. Specifically, the activation is done by an enzyme called myrosinase, an active protein that converts chemicals from one form to another, and it resides within the very same plants as that of the Sulforaphane. Chewing breaks down the barriers between these 2 lovers, so they can meet and make love and gift the world a wonderful child that is Sulforaphane.
So in short, Sulforaphane = Myrosinase + Glucoraphanin.
Dead before arrival- Well, like in any romance movie, there are thrills that come with the ride. This romance can be easily destroyed if the preparation or cooking process isn’t done right. Myrosinase is a “live” protein, meaning it is programmed to perform the duty of converting glucoraphanin to sulforaphane. But, it can be destroyed with heat. This is a common problem with proteins called amino-acid denaturation. Heat breaks the glues that hold the protein together and allows it to do work. Yet, to mask the bitterness or unpleasantness of the Crucis, we like to cook our veggies so they become more palatable. As a result, the heat often inactivates the myrosinase, yielding no sulforaphane generation, even when glucoraphanin (the inactive form of sulforaphane) is in abundance in the plants.
Save the romance! — There are solutions though, besides chewing our Crucis raw, or light steaming in water (less than 3 mins), we can do a little clever mix and match to save the conversion process. Say that you like your broccoli well cooked, and that is the only way you can chuck it down, then fine, complement it with some raw arugula (they are skinny leaves which don’t carry strong flavors), they blend in well with other foods also. This way, you obtain some “live” myrosinase from arugula to convert the large stock of glucoraphanin from your cooked broccoli. The chemical integrity of Glucoraphanin doesn’t get destroyed through moderate heat. I can’t guarantee about oil-frying though. In my opinion, nothing good can come out of the frying process. There is a big list of Crucis in the picture above, to gain the most from them, eat them in a rainbow style.
Hope you will get the most benefits from cruciferous vegetables!
Interesting Tidbit — There is an inverse relationship between the age of a plant and the number of glucosinolates per gram that it contains. Meaning, broccoli sprouts, for example, contain not just 5 times more vitamins, nutrients than its adult version, but also the amount of cancer-fighting/preventing glucosinolates as well!
