Cauliflower

Health Benefits
(Source: World's Healthiest Foods, George Mateljan)

Perhaps because the most commonly consumed varieties of cauliflower are white, many people may not associate cauliflower with the same nutrient richness as its fellow green cruciferous vegetables like broccoli or kale. This perspective on cauliflower does not match up with the research findings on this amazing food. White varieties of cauliflower are just as rich in phytonutrients as green cruciferous vegetables, and this nutrient richness is exemplified by its glucosinolates, described below.

Glucosinolates in Cauliflower

The phytonutrients provided by cauliflower are headed off by its glucosinolates. These sulfur-containing compounds are well studied and known to provide a variety of health benefits. The glucosinolates best studied in cauliflower include:

  • glucobrassicin

  • glucoiberin

  • glucoerucin

  • glucoraphanin

  • neo-glucobrassicin

  • progoitrin

  • sinigrin

  • 4-hydroxyglucobrassicin

  • 4-methoxyglucobrassicin

Glucosinolates are the subject of increasing health research, and the more that is learned about glucosinolates, the broader scientists see their role in supporting our body systems. The list of body systems supported by intake of glucosinolates from cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables has now come to include our cardiovascular, digestive, immune, inflammatory, and detoxification systems. For in-depth information about glucosinolates and health support, see our article, Feeling Great with Cruciferous Vegetables.

Antioxidants in Cauliflower

Beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, ferulic acid, quercetin, rutin, and kaempferol are among cauliflower's key antioxidant phytonutrients. An emphatic addition to this list would be vitamin C since cauliflower is our 10th best source of vitamin C among all 100 WHFoods. Like most of its fellow cruciferous vegetables, cauliflower is also a very good source of manganese—a mineral antioxidant that is especially important in oxygen-related metabolism.

Recent research has begun to investigate the relationship between cauliflower's overall antioxidant capacity and its sulfur-containing glucosinolates. The glucosinolates in cauliflower appear to have an important relationship with its antioxidant capacity, although scientists are not yet sure about the exact role that glucosinolates play in this regard.

A final note about cauliflower antioxidants: the Graffiti variety of purple cauliflower has been the subject of several recent research studies and has been shown to have especially strong antioxidant capacity due to its rich concentration of anthocyanins. If you decide to incorporate purple cauliflower into your meal plan, we recommend that you be extra careful to avoid overcooking it. Research studies on anthocyanins in cauliflower have shown that the greatest proportion of these antioxidant pigments is found in the outermost layers of the cauliflower head and this location makes them especially susceptible to loss from overcooking.

Cauliflower and Risk of Specific Health Conditions

Intake of cauliflower has been analyzed in relationship to a variety of different disease risks. When consumed at least once per week, cauliflower has been associated with decreased risk of colorectal cancer and has been shown to be associated with a greater decrease of risk than broccoli (when consumed in a comparable amount). In terms of prostate cancer risk, cauliflower and broccoli have shown a similar ability to decrease risk. While we have not seen individual studies focused exclusively on the relationship between cauliflower and cardiovascular diseases, cauliflower has been included along with other cruciferous vegetables (most commonly broccoli and cabbage) in studies on cardiovascular diseases and has been repeatedly associated with decreased risk. Because of its ability to bind bile acids, intake of cooked cauliflower has also been linked to better regulation of blood cholesterol. In one study focusing on intake of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts in middle-aged women, incidence of obesity was reduced when women in the study increased their servings over time by about 3 servings per day.

Nutritional Benefits From Raw Versus Cooked Cauliflower

Studies show strong nutrient richness in both raw and cooked cauliflower. We've been impressed by study results not only in areas involving conventional nutrients like vitamin C but also in areas involving phytonutrients like sulfur-containing compounds and flavonoids. Although there can be loss of water-soluble nutrients during cooking with water or other liquids, there can also be increased bioavailability from the freeing up of nutrients that remained inside the cells in raw cauliflower but got released from those cells during cooking due to the breakdown of cell walls. For example, we've seen studies showing increased bioavailability of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin following the cooking of cauliflower. Of course, since the chewing of raw cauliflower could also serve to break down cell walls and make carotenoids more bioavailable, what we end up with here is a "win-win" situation in which both raw and cooked cauliflower can make great nutrient contributions to our health.

This same "win-win" situation appears to hold true for cauliflower's sulfur-containing compounds. For example, studies have shown that levels of sinigrin—one of the best-studied glucosinolates in cauliflower—decrease as a result of both steaming and boiling. However, alongside of this decrease in sinigrin is significantly improved bioavailability of the sinigrin that still remains inside the cooked cauliflower.

One final note on temperature and the health benefits of cauliflower. A recent study on the freezing of cauliflower has shown its nutrients to be fairly stable after one-year freezer storage. Cauliflower in the study was blanched in near-boiling water for three minutes prior to freezing for one year. Numerous phytonutrients were evaluated in the study, including cauliflower's sulfur-containing compounds. While nutrients levels were typically reduced after this year of freezer storage, loss of nutrients typically averaged about 15-35%. Although we strongly support purchase of fresh vegetables—including cauliflower—whenever possible, frozen cauliflower may make a second-best option in some meal plans.

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