Vegetables
With the rise of low-carb, ketogenic, and Paleo diets, cauliflower has become increasingly popular. This veggie is versatile, non-starchy, and contains a lot of fibre and other beneficial nutrients. Whether you eat it raw, roasted, or riced, cauliflower offers a lot of bang for your nutritional buck.
Cauliflower Nutrition Facts
The following nutrition information is provided by the USDA for one cup (107g) of raw, chopped cauliflower.
Calories: 27
Fat: 0.3g
Sodium: 32mg
Carbohydrates: 5g
Fibre: 2g
Sugars: 2g
Protein: 2g
Carbs
Like all vegetables, cauliflower is a carbohydrate. But it's the non-starchy, complex kind, with lots of fibre and low amounts of natural sugar. One cup contains about a sixth of the carbs as the same amount of cooked pasta or rice, so it's a great option for people with diabetes or people who are otherwise watching their carb intake.
There is little research on the glycemic index of cauliflower, but it is assumed to be low because cauliflower contains slow-to-digest complex carbs instead of blood-sugar-spiking simple carbs.
Fats
Cauliflower has only a trace amount of fat and is cholesterol-free.
Protein
Cauliflower has a minimal amount of protein. You should include other protein sources in your diet to meet your daily needs.
Vitamins and Minerals
Cauliflower is a good source of folate, a B vitamin that's needed to make DNA and other genetic material, as well as for your cells to divide. It's also an excellent source of bone-optimizing vitamin K and immune-enhancing vitamin C.
Health Benefits
Thanks to these micronutrients, antioxidants, and fibre, cauliflower helps keep the body healthy and prevent disease.
Helps With Healthy Weight Management
Cauliflower delivers a healthy dose of fibre, which provides a slew of benefits. Increasing your intake of dietary fibre can help you maintain a healthy weight as well as lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.
Reduces Heart Disease Risk
Research published in 2016 suggests that a diet rich in cruciferous and leafy green vegetables may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Heals Oxidative Stress
Like other fruits and vegetables, cauliflower is rich in antioxidants. These compounds help repair cells and protect them from inflammation, which can lead to chronic illness.
May Help Protect Against Some Cancers
Cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower also contain a group of substances known as glucosinolates, which are sulphur-containing chemicals that are responsible for the pungent aroma and bitter flavour of cruciferous vegetables. These chemicals also break down to form compounds that research has shown may help protect against several forms of cancer.
Allergies
Allergic reactions to cauliflower aren't common, but they have been reported occasionally in the medical literature. Some people who are sensitive to other Brassica vegetables (such as cabbage and broccoli) may also react to cauliflower. If you think you're allergic to cauliflower, avoid eating it and talk to your doctor to determine the source of the problem.
In addition, people who have hay fever due to mugwort pollen may experience oral allergy syndrome when consuming raw cauliflower. Symptoms include itchiness or swelling around the mouth, and, rarely, anaphylaxis. Know the symptoms of anaphylaxis (such as hives and shortness of breath) and seek immediate treatment if you experience them.
Adverse Effects
Those with thyroid problems should avoid eating large amounts of cauliflower and cabbage, as they both interfere with the body's absorption of iodine, which is needed by the thyroid gland.
Cauliflower is also high in FODMAPs (fermentable oligo-, di-, monosaccharides, and polyols, which are types of carbohydrates). People with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Crohn's disease may find that their symptoms worsen when eating high-FODMAP foods, including cauliflower.
Varieties
Once strictly a white vegetable, you can now find green, orange, and purple varieties of this cruciferous cousin of broccoli and Brussels sprouts. While overall nutrition is similar in each of these varieties, the types of antioxidants present can vary. For example, yellow or orange cauliflower contains more beta-carotene than white cauliflower, and purple cauliflower also contains anthocyanin.
Fresh and frozen cauliflower have a similar nutritional profile. Canned cauliflower is also similar, although may have more fibre than fresh or frozen. You can also buy pickled or creamed cauliflower. Pickled cauliflower has more calories, carbs, and sodium than fresh, but remains low in calories and fat, while creamed cauliflower has more fat than other varieties and preparations.
Cauliflower rice is a popular alternative to rice grains. You can make your own, or purchase pre-cooked and grated cauliflower sold as cauliflower rice. Here is how this "rice" compares, nutritionally, to cooked white and brown rice, per 1-cup serving.
Cauliflower riceWhite riceBrown riceCalories25204238Fat2g0.4g2gSodium20mg387mg394mgCarbs3g44g50gFibre2g0.6g3gSugars1g0g0.5gProtein3g4g5g
When It's Best
Cauliflower is available year-round, but its peak season is late summer.
Choose fresh cauliflower that has firm, compact heads that are tightly closed. The florets should not have any yellowing, as this is an indication that the cauliflower is overly mature. Any attached leaves should be bright green and crisp. Reject any heads that show signs of softness, because that's the start of spoilage. For the best flavour, eat cauliflower as soon as possible—precut florets don't store well and are best when eaten within a day of purchase.
Storage and Food Safety
Cauliflower is perishable and should be kept cold. Store it in the crisper section of the refrigerator in its original packaging. Don't wash cauliflower until you're ready to cook it. Brown speckling is a sign of oxidation, which happens as a result of prolonged exposure to light and air and occurs naturally the longer cauliflower is stored. You can cut away the occasional brown spot, but if this discolouration appears throughout the head (a sign of spoilage), it's best to toss the whole vegetable.
Once cooked, you can store cauliflower in the refrigerator for a few days, or in the freezer for a few months. Or blanch fresh cauliflower florets, then freeze; they will keep for up to a year.
How to Prepare
Raw cauliflower can be broken up into small florets to add crunch to salads or to munch on as a snack with dressing or dip. Cauliflower can also be cooked whole, pulsed, or cut up into florets for steaming, sautéing, blanching, stir-frying, and roasting. The leaves and core are edible too.
Cauliflower can easily substitute for starchier foods, such as potatoes and rice, adding vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fibre. Substituting cauliflower rice for grains adds an extra vegetable to your meal (and reduces calories and carbs, if that is one of your goals).
