When it comes to the age old adage ‘eat your greens,’ it’s fair to say it’s up there with teeth flossing—essential for good health, but mind numbingly boring and repetitive.
If you agree, then it’s fair to say boiled Brussell sprouts and broccoli—basically fed to us by every parent ever growing up—also fit the tired category.
While green juices have become a modern salve to save our souls and fuel us with a serve or two per day, anyone who’s dabbled in adding broccoli (or any of the brassica family) to juice will know, sometimes ‘bitter’ doesn’t taste ‘better’ even if it’s labelled ‘cold pressed’ and served in a mason jar.
But it doesn’t mean we should give up on broccoli yet, we just have to learn some fun new ways to spice up an old veggie regime and boost our intake.
And with latest research revealing broccoli possesses strong anti-cancer properties—thanks to key compound sulforaphane found to help reduce cancer and assist cancer drugs —it seems it’s time to stop salivating over spinach, and bring on the brassica love!
With the wellness and beauty world pumping out superfood eeerrything, lucky for us, there is now a whole new world of ways to now boost our broccoli intake that don’t involve the boiled, tupperware-ready garden variety. Read on for the new products to get on board with…
5 Broccoli-Based Products You Need To Try:
1. Broccoli powder
Think all the goodness of broccoli but milled into a nutrient packed powder containing key vitamins A, B1, B6, potassium, zinc and magnesium.
The best part? No boiling, washing, stalk trimming required! As a dairy-free, nut-free, vegan product too, just add a scoop to a smoothie, juice, latte (yes broccoli lattes are a thing!) dip or savoury muffin to get your broccoli dose in!
Shop here (for Aus) or, for here (for US).
2. Broccoli Chips
Technically there are two ways you could play this. Home-baked more your thing? Then cook broccoli chips at home by cutting into pieces and adding a sprinkle of salt or seasoning and baking in the oven.
Or for more of a ‘girl-on-the-go’ scenario, swap kale and beetroot chips and purchase a pre-prepared variety instead. Just pay careful attention to finding a healthy one that’s preferably gluten-free, vegan and vacuum baked.
Shop here for Aus, or here for US.
3. Broccoli Seed Oil
The latest wellness wonder oil in the beauty world, broccoli seed oil is made of cold pressed broccoli sprouts and is said to contain 80-100 times more of antioxidant sulforaphane than broccoli on its own.
Packed full of omega 3, 6 and 9 as well as vitamin A, C, K and B it’s a powerhouse product, popping up in everything from makeup, shampoos and conditioners, lip care products, balms, serums and lotions.
Goes without saying, if ingesting broccoli has not been working out for you, let your skin soak up the natural cancer-fighting serum.
Shop here for Aus, or here for US.
4. Broccoli supplements
Prefer to skip out on the bitter after taste? Opt for a super easy supplement made from broccoli sprouts and containing key superhero ingredient sulforaphane. Each brand will vary in ingredients, but where possible go for a brand that contains a high sulforaphane dosage to really make it worth your while!
Shop here for Aus, or here for US.
5. Broccoli Seeds
Fancy yourself a green thumb? Then you’ll so be into sprouting your own broccoli seeds. As easy as acquiring some seeds, simply soak overnight in room temp water, then drain and place in a sprouting jar in a dark room.
After day four, leave them in sunlight and at day five your sprouts should be in full bloom. From there either extract the seeds and eat as is or toss the whole sprout into a salad for a lighter tasting broccoli boost.
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