Cream of Broccoli Soup

You can make this soup with fresh broccoli or broccoli out of the freezer. You can also freeze chopped celeriac and parsnip root to have for future soups. Carrots, celery root, parsnip (or one variety of parsley, which has a root very similar to parsnip), and onion are considered soup-base vegetables in Romania. All of them are great ways to add flavor to soups, for one. If you use them (and garlic), you won’t need those vegetable-mix powders in your soups – or in any other vegetable and meat dishes, for that matter. There are more such vegetables, used as a base in soups over here: turnips, for instance, bell peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, but the four above are the most common and supermarkets have sized up the opportunity and made little fast-soup packets in the grocery sections out of these four veggies.

Broccoli comes packed with vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Including broccoli in your diet has many health benefits.

A cup of cooked broccoli contains 182mg of vitamin C (303% DV). Broccoli is actually one of the top ten vegetables and fruits highest in this nutrient.

Vitamin C is one of the antioxidants that prevent and repair damage to our cells, protecting our bodies against the harmful action of free radicals, associated with cancer, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

Besides strengthening your immune system, Vitamin C is needed in the synthesis of collagen, which means it helps maintain healthy skin, bones, muscles, tendon, ligaments, cartilage, teeth, gums, and vascular tissues in general. It follows that vitamin C also helps in wound healing. Vitamin C is also important because it aids in the absorption of iron. It also promotes eye health and inhibits histamine, thus relieving allergies.

Beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A by our bodies. Vitamin A promotes healthy bone and teeth growth, so it’s important that you include foods rich in vitamin A in the diet of your children. This vitamin is also needed for good vision. It enables you to see better in the dark, and fights development of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Vitamin A also promotes healthy skin and epithelial cells, inside and outside your body. If you have dry skin and eyes, you may need to increase your intake of vitamin A. Vitamin A also has a role in the healthy functioning of the adrenal and thyroid glands. It is also important in ensuring fertility and the growth of a healthy embryo. As an antioxidant, this nutrient of course bolsters your immune system, protecting against infectious diseases and other illnesses.

If you’re a vegan and don’t eat milk and eggs, liver or fish oils (all sources of preformed vitamin A), then make sure you have enough provitamin A carotenoids (nutrients converted into vitamin A inside the body) by eating vegetables such as spinach, carrots, and broccoli.

A cup of cooked broccoli gives you 76% DV of folate (B9), 28% DV of vitamin B6, 20% of riboflavin (B2), 17% DV of pantothenic acid (B5), 12% DV of thiamin (B1), and 8% DV of niacin (B3).

Various B-complex vitamins are good for the nervous system, heart, muscle, the immune system, and promote healthy growth and development. Folate reduces the risk of birth defects of the brain and spinal cord if taken before pregnancy.

A study following 88,000 women over 14 years, from 1980 to 1994, showed that women aged 55 to 69 who took multivitamins supplementing their intake of folic acid (among other vitamins and minerals) for more than 15 years had a much lower risk of developing colon cancer. Another study followed 14,000 men over 20 years, and provided a correlation between their abstention from alcohol and sufficient intake of folic acid and the lower incidence of colon cancer. Apparently, however, it is not clear whether these correlations are significant, i.e. whether a lower risk of cancer is directly linked to a higher intake of folate (the B9 vitamin occuring naturally in foods) or folic acid (the synthetic form found in supplements and fortified foods). For references on these studies and more info on folate, see this page by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.

Vitamin B6, on the other hand, has been shown to prevent colorectal cancer in men, according to a 2009 Harvard study on 14,916 men. See the abstract on this PubMed.gov page. Among other conditions it may prevent or alleviate, B6 may prevent cataracts and may also help with memory loss, including the kind associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Riboflavin, thiamin, folic acid and vitamin B12 may also reduce the risk of cervical cancer.

Did you know that broccoli protects against breast cancer? Like all vegetables, besides the vitamins and minerals, broccoli contains a series of phytonutrients. Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have pinpointed to the compounds isothiocyanates as the breast-cancer-fighting agents in broccoli. According to their 2008 study, all cruciferous vegetables protect against breast cancer, but broccoli has the highest amounts of isothiocyanates. One isothiocyanate, isosulforaphane (or SFN), was proven to inhibit not only the proliferation of animal mammary tumors, but of human breast cancer cells as well. The mechanism is similar, if not as potent, to that of anticancer drugs. SFN also prevents breast cancer by killing precancerous cells.

Besides B-complex vitamins, a cup of cooked broccoli also contains 494% DV of vitamin K, and a whole range of minerals: manganese (27%), potassium (23%), phosphorus (19%), magnesium (15%), calcium (11%), iron (10%), copper (9%), zinc (8%), selenium (6%), and sodium (5%). Of course, nutrient amounts vary from produce to produce.

Broccoli, is of course, also a good source of fiber, providing 37% DV per cup.