$COURSE_TITLE

Instructor:

$INSTRUCTOR_NAME

Email: $INSTRUCTOR_EMAIL

Enter course hightlights here.

...

After analyzing everything about cooking, we will now go into more detail on an important group of vegetables: how to cook cruciferous vegetables. In this post, we will focus on how to cook them in order to benefit from all their properties, since it is as important to eat vegetables as to know how to cook them properly, in order to get their maximum potential and avoid the loss of their so valuable phytochemicals.

Cruciferous vegetables: powerful anti-cancer agentsCruciferous vegetables (broccoli, romanesco, cauliflower, cabbages, arugula, watercress, turnip, radishes) should not be missing from our diet, as they are particularly rich in glucosinolates.

Glucosinolates are sulfur compounds which, thanks to the action of the enzyme myrosinase, become thiocyanates, indoles, and isothiocyanates, which have been shown to have an anti-cancer effect.

In fact, it has been shown that consuming cruciferous vegetables practically every day is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a lower incidence of various types of cancer, specifically breast, lung, stomach, prostate (1) and colorectal (2). Consuming cruciferous vegetables between 3 and 5 times a week seems to reduce the risk of cancer by 30-40% (3).

In 2012 a series of case-control studies were published, carried out by the Mario Negri Pharmacological Institute in Milan, in which it was demonstrated that those subjects who consumed cruciferous vegetables at least once a week presented a significantly lower risk of cancer of the oral cavity, kidney, breast, esophagus, and colon compared to those who did not consume cruciferous vegetables (4).

Sulforaphane is one of the isothiocyanates present in the most studied crucifers. It has a powerful antioxidant action and has been shown to act against various types of cancer (5). Among the mechanisms of action of sulforaphane, we find the protection against DNA damage and also has a pro-apoptosis, anti-metastasis, and antiangiogenic activity. Most of the studies carried out on the anti-cancer action of sulforaphane have been carried out in vitro and in animals, but the results are very promising.

Another of the most studied indoles is indol-3-carbinol, which has been shown in several studies carried out in vitro to act by suppressing the proliferation of various types of cancer cells, including breast, colon, prostate, and endometrium (6). It has been shown that indol-3 carbinol has the potential to modulate estrogen metabolism, which could decrease the risk of hormone-dependent cancer. Currently, we know that indo-3 carbinol acts on several molecules that control cell division, apoptosis, and angiogenesis in cancer cells. In fact, current scientific evidence suggests that this compound can not only help prevent hormone-dependent cancers (7), (8) but also appears to be able to help prevent cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity (9).

The Importance of the Enzyme Mirosinase and GlucosinolatesThiocyanates, indoles and isothiocyanates from cruciferous vegetables are the truly interesting components in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease (10) and these are produced from glucosinolates.

Cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolates, so far so good. Crucifer vegetables also contain an enzyme, called myrosinase, which is responsible for transforming glucosinolates into thiocyanates, indoles, and isothiocyanates. Myrosinase carries out this transformation when vegetables are chewed or crushed. It turns out that myrosinase and glucosinolates are found in different parts of the green and when we chew or crush them both come into contact and conversion begins. That is to say, by a hydrolysis reaction, the metabolites of glucosinolates are generated, which are isocyanates, indoles, and thiocyanates (11). The problem with myrosinase is that it is susceptible to heat. If we subject crucifers to high temperatures, myrosinase will be destroyed and therefore it will not be able to convert glucosinolates into isothiocyanates and indoles.

How to cook cruciferous vegetablesDo we have to have raw cruciferous vegetables?No, it's not necessary. We can use a variety of strategies to prevent the destruction of myrosinase. Depending on the cooking method we choose, the content preserved in myrosinase can vary quite a bit and in addition, in the kitchen we can take into account another series of tricks that we are going to learn, with which to keep the myrosinase practically intact.

In addition, cooking cruciferous vegetables in a healthy way will even enhance their benefits, as their carotenoids will be more bioavailable, which means we will absorb them better.

Different methods for cooking and preserving crucifers Which do we choose?CookingImmersing cruciferous vegetables in water and cooking them for more than five minutes, appears to significantly reduce the glucosinolate content (12), specifically by 5-20%. In addition, myrosinase is destroyed, so the remaining glucosinolates cannot be converted to indoles and isothiocyanates. We must also bear in mind that cooking destroys to a large extent the vitamin C in broccoli (13) and the rest of cruciferous vegetables.

...

WHAT TO DO NEXT:

1. Perform basic content editing (e.g. Syllabus, Meet the Professor, Handouts, Assignments).
2. Choose a theme or customize your background under Site Settings.
3. Change your status to OPEN under Site Settings.
4. Announce the URL to your students and have them register (your course directory will be created automatically).