Adding variety to the dinner table has more advantages than one. Besides culinary pleasures, unusual vegetables can up your health quotient manifold. On that note, broccoli rabe is one vegetable you must include in your diet right away. This vegetable has benefits that are sure to amaze you!

Would you like to know more? Keep reading!

Broccoli Rabe:

So, what is this vegetable that sounds like a broccoli? Is it broccoli? No. Also called raab, rapini, broccoletti, rappi apart from other names, it is far from the American staple. Broccoli rabe is actually common in Italian dishes and is a close relative to turnips and mustard greens (1). It is a green leafy vegetable featuring leafy stalks and green florets. It looks like a softer version of broccoli, hence the name, but is no less powerful. The curled leaves are bitter to taste and yet, make a point on the palate by complementing sweet, starchy food.

Available all year, broccoli rabe is easy to cook. To ease its bold bitter taste, the stalks need a dunk in salted boiling water followed by another dunk in cold water. Take heed not to over-boil the leaves as they host a variety of health benefits. What are these amazing benefits?

The vegetable has incredible healing properties (2). Broccoli rabe can help fight diseases. It is low in calories, with 20 calories per 100gm serving. Without taxing your health, the vegetable nourishes you with vitamin A, vitamin C, Vitamin K, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and fiber. Here is how broccoli rabe helps.

1. Prevents Cancer:

Regular consumption of broccoli rabe decreases the risk of several types of cancer. The leafy vegetable provides certain health promoting compounds including isothiocyanates. They work against cancer by halting DNA mutation, inducing cancer cell apoptosis and preventing cancer spread within the body. The vegetable is especially competent at checking stomach cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer and lung cancer.

2. Boosts Immunity:

Broccoli rabe has strong antioxidant properties linked to its vitamin C content. Including this vegetable in your diet offers you at least 20mg of vitamin C per 100gm, which is plenty to boost your immunity. Sufficient levels of vitamin C are necessary to synthesize collagen. They also help the skin look younger by reducing damage from free radicals (3).

3. Bones And Teeth:

This green leafy vegetable has enough nutrients to fortify your bones and teeth, making them stronger each day. Vitamin A and Vitamin C work together to build good bones in addition to aiding in other essential functions.

4. Better Vision:

Ensure your eyes stay healthy by having broccoli rabe. It offers an antioxidant called lutein, which protects the retina in your eyes. The leaves also contain pro-vitamin A. It is necessary for healthy vision and the lack of this nutrient in your diet impairs it.

5. Lowers Allergies And Inflammation:

Folate present in Broccoli rabe is an important nutrient that helps build red blood cells. It has another main role. Folate can reduce the incidence of allergies and inflammation, particularly helpful for people with asthma. More green veggies in your diet translate into better protection from allergy.

6. Good Heart Health:

Broccoli rabe proactively saves the heart from many potential cardiovascular diseases. Vitamin K sourced from the vegetable is linked to reduced risk of atherosclerosis. The vitamin acts by preventing calcium buildup in the arteries, redirecting it to the bones. Lesser blockages in the circulatory system can only mean a happier heart.

7. Stable Blood Sugar:

Diabetes is not a frightening term anymore if you eat broccoli rabe everyday. The green leafy vegetable is a good source of dietary fiber. It digests slowly, keeping the blood sugar constant over a period. This also helps control insulin resistance, therefore controlling diabetes.

8. Decreases Headaches:

Lack of magnesium in our diets is known to cause migraine headache (4). Green leafy vegetables like broccoli rabe can supplement the nutrient in your body, correcting the imbalance. Additionally, magnesium is also responsible for nerve conduction. If you want to stay sharp, eat more greens.

Now that we have seen the positive impact broccoli rabe can have on our health, do not miss a chance to bring it home.

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by Sruthi Chowdhry via STYLECRAZE