Due to its high levels of a particularly beneficial compound called sulforaphane, broccoli has gained a reputation as an excellent vegetable in recent years.
It’s no wonder that broccoli pills are on the rise, with some early-stage studies showing how this compound plays a role in blood sugar control and potentially even has anti-cancer benefits.
A team of Chinese researchers decided to try and find the best way to cook broccoli, when a 2011 study showed that eating the whole vegetable gets you more sulforaphane than taking a supplement.
They then reached at a clear winner, publishing their results in 2018, however, it’s still a tough sell if you have better things to do with your time.
The vegetable contains several compounds called glucosinolates, as sulforaphane doesn’t just sit there in the broccoli florets, ready to be consumed.
Common broccoli cooking methods, like boiling and microwaving, seriously reduce the amount of glucosinolates in the vegetable, as per the studies.
“Surprisingly, few methods have reported the sulforaphane concentrations in stir-fried broccoli, and to the best of our knowledge, no report has focused on sulforaphane stability in the stir-frying process,” the researchers noted in their study.
“Our results suggest that after cutting broccoli florets into small pieces, they should be left for about 90 minutes before cooking,” the team concluded, adding that they didn’t test it but thought “30 minutes would also be helpful”.
