5 Organic Foods Every PCOS Woman Should Eat

Here's an article to inform women with PCOS to understand the importance of eating these foods in an organic form. The reason is that these 5 foods that listed below may contain growth hormones, antibiotics, food colorings, etc...

We know that women with PCOS have to avoid all foods with added hormones because of the hormone surge it can create in our body. Remember the secret to getting your PCOS in remission is stabilizing out you hormones and blood sugar levels.

Eating these foods in an organic form required you to seek out stores that carry these foods. Your safest bet is always a health food store, although some grocery stores are starting carry a lot of organic brands as well.

Eating organic does take some work and research to see what stores carry these products in an organic form. But it's well worth the effort. This does not mean that you have to get rid of everything in your refrigerator and replace it with organic; all it simply means is that foods that may contain growth hormones, we should avoid.

In general everyone should, but more importantly woman with PCOS.
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Try these 5 organic foods the next time you go shopping.
Once you try these foods in an organic form you should notice a cleaner taste, and feel better overall from not ingesting extra hormones into your body.
Try eating these organic foods for a two weeks and see if your body notices a difference.

5 Organic Foods Every PCOS Women Should Eat:

1) For starter's yogurt and/or diary products should be organic. For starters Organic diary products are made without the use of added hormones or antibiotics and can have higher levels of omega-3s. Organic dairy products are not only good for women with PCOS - they can be much less damaging to the environment. So next your reach for a snack in the afternoon, make sure you reach for an organic yogurt and/or diary products.

2) Salads are equally as important as diary to have in an organic state. The reason is conventional salads have some of the highest levels of toxic pesticides. So it's best to choose organic greens. When making your salad, try adding in some extra organic vegetables and boost your intake of antioxidants.

3) Apples are not too missed. Apples also contain toxic pesticides. With that being said its best to have its best to buy organic apples. You may want to start looking up local farmers markets that come to your area so you can stock up on fresh organic fruits and vegetables that don't contain any harmful pesticides.

4) Tomatoes. Yes these colorful round tomatoes are also best when they are organic so you can again avoid all those harmful pesticides. Fresh organic tomatoes are so health for you; they provide your body with lycopene, an antioxidant that may lower cancer and heart disease risks and may do other wonderful things as well.

5) Don't forget your Meat products. Most people don't realize that animals are treated in such an inhumane way; by injecting animals with growth hormones, antibiotics, force fed, etc...that why meat is so important to buy organic. The best quality of meat is from grass fed cows and it's often leaner than other meats and contains more of the good omega 3 fats. Try switching over any of your meats to organic and notice the cleaner, fresher taste.

- Try these delicious ways products in an organic form and notice how much cleaner and fresher your meals will taste.
- Now that you have this information isn't this a great way to spell 'relief' for yourself?

Choosing Organic Food and Trying to Live Within a Budget

In today's market it is becoming more and more difficult to pick organic. As saving money has become a bigger concern, the decision to be organic is a money issue instead of a health issue. To help with the decision you should know which foods you should be ready to spend the money on because of your health, and which you can make a monetary decision on.

When you are deciding on which fruits and vegetables the worst for pesticides are peaches and strawberries. No matter how much you wash them, they are saturated with poisons, so if you can't afford to buy the organic strawberries and peaches, select something else.

Choose organic apples, nectarines, raspberries, pears, grapes and cherries; studies have shown that after rinsing, they still have really high levels of pesticide. If you are using orange, lime, or lemon zest, you want organic, as the skin holds the poisons in them.

When you are looking at papaya, pineapple, mango, and kiwi you can make it a monetary choice. Although there are traces of pesticides after rinsing, and I completely endorse organic, the scientists state they are well within healthy limits.

Always opt for organic bell peppers, spinach, potatoes, celery, cucumber, corn, green beans and carrots. There are a lot of recent studies that have shown that they have extremely high levels of poisons (especially chlorothalonil, methamidophos, benomyl and acephate), which have been shown to cause brain damage, nervous system damage, and birth defects. Asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet peas, and avocados show lower pesticide levels so you make the choice, although again I recommend organic, and if you shop around you will find reasonable prices for the above organic vegetables.

In today's world of genetic modification and pesticides there are some basic staples you should always have organic. Along with corn, rice is one of the most modified grains in the world. So always want use organic rice. It is also a good idea to only use organic oats as their texture allows them to hold pesticides.

This is also true with nuts, as they have a very high fat content which retains pesticides, no matter how hard you try to get it out. So you should try to always buy organic nuts and spreads. As the spreads can be very costly, it may be easier to remove them from your diet. A different option is to buy the organic nuts and prepare your own spreads. There are a lot of recipes to be found on how to do it.

Meat is always a difficult decision, as organic meat can be pricey. But when you think about the chemicals that are being used in order to make it more profitable for the processors, you should always spend the money to buy organic. There are a lot of studies on the effects of the hormones and antibiotics that are being used on meat.

Seafood, is a very hard food to judge when it comes to organic. There are no real regulations on what is organic seafood, so the best choice you can make is to stay away from fish that is known to contain high levels of mercury and PCB's. Bluefish, tuna, swordfish, and shellfish have high levels of both, otherwise you must do research on the latest studies.

Any manufacturer can put organic on the label, as long as they have used some organic ingredients. Be very wary of any processed and packaged food as what they say and what they actually are is not necessarily the same thing. Your best choice is to stay away from them, but if you choose to purchase them, do your research. Know what is actually in them, and find out how ethical the company is.

Choosing organic does not mean you have to go broke. Do your research and shop around for the best prices. With the Internet it becomes very easy to find the best prices on organic products and not break your budget.

Today, people are very health conscious. They exercise more and tend to go for healthier food. As demand for organic food is high, the cost of it increases too. Organic foods are healthy and finding fruits and vegetables that are organically grown in supermarkets is not easy because not all supermarkets carry them.

Organic foods are more difficult to produce and there are more work in which it is planted and harvested. This means that more manpower is needed and thus the cost of it is more expensive. Also, farmers do not use chemical to protect the food. They use other ways to care for the food and thus making the growth process very tedious. As more money is needed to grow these type of food, they will charge more so as to recoup their cost and time.

Farmers need to buy land in order to grow fresh organic vegetables and fruits. However, the yield of organic food is much lesser than with conventional methods. This means that a land will produce lesser food then it would otherwise produce. So they tend to increase the price of organic food so that they can make a good profit.

As you can see, growing organic food is not cheap. However, many people still wonder why organic foods don't cost less. They think that as they do not need to use chemicals to protect the food, they should be able to save some money and pass on the savings to the consumers. This is simply not the case.

While people always want to eat healthy food, some may not want to buy organic food due to the high cost. If you cannot convince yourself that the 10% - 30% markup is justifiable, organic food is not for you.

Now, it is time for some good news. Today, more farmers are growing organic foods. This means that the technology will improve. Hopefully, there will be new ideas implemented in the near future that will lower the overall cost to produce these food and pass the savings to the consumers so that more people can get to enjoy eating healthier food.

Salad bars and fruit and vegetable consumption

Fruit and vegetable consumption has been linked to the prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes, some cancers, heart disease, and obesity. Many health organizations strongly advise people of all ages to eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables every day. However, American children only eat an average of three and a half servings daily. School environment interventions combined with classroom curricula have shown the greatest promise for changing behaviors.

Because most children eat at least one meal at school per day, the school cafeteria remains an important setting for exploring connections between the environment and student's dietary habits. Salad bars have become a recommended method to increase fruit and vegetable consumption without strong evidence of their effectiveness. Therefore, a recent study in JADA used plate waste weighing to determine if elementary school students with self-service salad bars consume more fruits and vegetables compared with students served proportioned amounts determined by cafeteria staff.

Two-hundred ninety-four students in first grade through fifth grade were randomly selected from two schools with salad bars and two with proportioned servings. Fruits and vegetables were measured to the nearest gram after students selected their fruit and vegetable items but before the entree items. Consumption was calculated by subtracting the fruit and vegetable postconsumption weight from preconsumption weight.

Students who attended schools with salad bars present took 112 70 g fruits and vegetables compared with 104 86 g taken by students at nonsalad bar schools. These differences were not statistically significant. Fruit and vegetable consumption was positively related to the number of fruit and vegetable items offered at salad bars. The number of items offered varied by the schools with the two salad bars schools offering four and seven items each and the preportioned schools offering five items each.

The results do not support the hypothesis that salad bars increase fruit and vegetable consumption among elementary school students. Since fruit and vegetable variety of salad bars was associated with greater consumption, the findings provide some suggestions about the mechanisms by which variety could increase consumption. Some limitations of this study include the small number of schools studied and that each school was sampled on one day only. Further studies should include other potential environmental mediators of salad bar effectiveness, such as location, presentation, and interaction with entrees.

Fruit and vegetables - choosing and preparing

Fruit and vegetables are an important part of your daily diet. They are naturally good and contain vitamins and minerals that can help keep you healthy. Research shows that other compounds, phytochemicals or antioxidants, can also help protect against some diseases.

There are many varieties of fruit and vegetables available and they can be prepared, cooked and served in a variety of ways. Eat five kinds of vegetable and two kinds of fruit every day for good health.

Select for freshness, variety and appeal
When buying and serving fruit and vegetables, go with variety for maximum nutrients and appeal. Select a mix of seasonal fruits and vegetables from the different groups and choose for freshness and quality.

• Eat with the seasons – this is nature’s way of making sure our bodies get a healthy mix of nutrients and plant chemicals.
• Try something new – try out a new recipe each week and buy a new fruit or vegetable as part of your weekly shopping.
• Let colours guide you – different colours generally indicate different combinations of nutrients. So, put a rainbow of colours (green, white, yellow/orange, blue/purple, red) on your plate.

Serving suggestions for your family’s health
Vegetables and fruit are a handy snack food and are easily carried to work or school. Include them in everyone’s meals and most snacks for a healthy well-balanced diet. Some suggestions include:

• Keep snack-size fruit and vegetable portions easily accessible in your fridge.
• Keep fresh fruit on the bench or table.
• Add fruit and vegetables to your favourite family recipes or as additions to your usual menus.
• Use the colour and texture of a variety of fruit and vegetables to spice up your meals.
• Think up new ways to serve fruits and vegetables, including:
• Fruit and vegetable salads
• Vegetable stir-fries
• Raw fruit and vegetables
• Vegetable soups
• Snack-pack, stewed or canned fruits or dried fruits.
• Limit fruit juice, as it does not contain the same amount of nutrients as fresh fruit and contains a lot of sugars, even though they may be ‘natural’. Choose water and a serve of fruit.

Preparation and cooking
Cooking and processing can damage some nutrients and phytochemicals in plant foods. It is important to prepare and cook your fruit and vegetables to retain maximum vitamin and mineral content. Some suggestions to get the best out of your fruit and vegetables include:

• Many vegetables and fruits can be eaten raw or pureed into
• smoothies.
• Use a sharp knife to cut fresh fruits to avoid bruising.
• Cut off only the ‘inedible’ parts of vegetables – sometimes the best nutrients are found in the skin, just below the skin or in the leaves.
• Use stir-fry, grill, microwave, bake or steam methods with non-stick cookware and mono-unsaturated oils.
• Avoid overcooking to reduce nutrient loss.
• Serve with pestos, salsas, chutneys and vinegars in place of sour creams, butter and creamy sauces.
• Nutrients such as carotenoids may actually be increased if food is cooked. For example, tomato has more carotenoids when cooked – a good reason to choose a variety of ways to prepare fruits and vegetables.

Once you’ve prepared and cooked your vegetables and fruit, spend some time on presentation. You are more likely to enjoy a meal if it’s full of variety and visually appealing as well as tasty. Sit at the table to eat and enjoy your food without distractions like television.

Things to remember

• A diet high in fruit and vegetables can help protect against cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
• There are many varieties of fruit and vegetables available and many ways to prepare, cook and serve them.
• When buying and serving fruit and vegetables, go with variety for maximum nutrients and appeal.
• Cooking and processing can damage some nutrients and phytochemicals in plant foods, while other phytochemicals are more available when food is cooked. Serve a variety of raw and cooked vegetables and fruit.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, and kale, contain compounds that may help prevent cancer. These compounds appear to stop enzymes from activating cancer-causing agents in the body, and they increase the activity of enzymes that disable and eliminate carcinogens.

Epidemiological studies have long suggested a connection between these vegetables and resistance to cancer. However, only in the past decade have we begun to understand how these compounds work.

Sulfur-Containing Phytonutrients Promote Liver Detoxification

We now know that cruciferous vegetables contain both glucosinolates and thiocyanates (including sulforaphane and isothiocyanate). These compounds increase the liver's ability to neutralize potentially toxic substances.

If potentially toxic molecules are not properly and rapidly detoxified in the liver, they can damage cell membranes and molecules such as DNA within the cell nucleus. Such damage can start a chain reaction that may eventually lead to carcinogenesis-cell deregulation and uncontrolled growth.

Many enzymes found in cauliflower also help with the detoxifying process. These enzymes include glutathione transferase, glucuronosyl transferase, and quinone reductase.

Both animal and human studies show increased detoxification enzyme levels from high-glucosinolate diets. Researchers suggest that this helps explain the epidemiological association between a high intake of cruciferous vegetables and a decreased risk of certain cancers.

New Research Expands our Understanding of How Cruciferous Vegetables Help Prevent Cancer

New research has greatly advanced scientists' understanding of just how cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts help prevent cancer. When these vegetables are cut, chewed or digested, a sulfur-containing compound called sinigrin is brought into contact with the enzyme myrosinase, resulting in the release of glucose and breakdown products, including highly reactive compounds called isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates are not only potent inducers of the liver's Phase II enzymes, which detoxify carcinogens, but research recently conducted at the Institute for Food Research in the U.K. shows one of these compounds, allyl isothicyanate, also inhibits mitosis (cell division) and stimulates apoptosis (programmed cell death) in human tumor cells.

Sulforaphane, a compound formed when cruciferous vegetables are chopped or chewed, is already known to trigger the liver to produce enzymes that detoxify cancer-causing chemicals, inhibit chemically-induced breast cancers in animal studies, and induce colon cancer cells to commit suicide.
An in vitro study published in the Journal of Nutrition suggests that sulforaphane can also help stop the proliferation of breast cancer cells, even in the later stages of their growth.

Sulforaphane may also offer special protection to those with colon cancer-susceptible genes, suggests a study conducted at Rutgers University and published online on May 4, 2006, in the journal Carcinogenesis.
In this study, researchers sought to learn whether sulforaphane could inhibit cancers arising from one's genetic makeup. Rutgers researchers Ernest Mario, Ah-Ng Tony Kong and colleagues used mice bred with a genetic mutation that switches off the tumor suppressor gene known as APC, the same gene that is inactivated in the majority of human colon cancers. Animals with this mutation spontaneously develop intestinal polyps, the precursors to colon cancer. The study found that animals who were fed sulforaphane had tumors that were smaller, grew more slowly and had higher apoptotic (cell suicide) indices. Additionally, those fed a higher dose of sulforaphane had less risk of developing polyps than those fed a lower dose.
The researchers found that sulforaphane suppressed certain kinase enzymes. These cell signaling enzymes are expressed not only in laboratory animals, but also in humans, and the ones supppressed by sulforaphane are involved in activities that promote colon cancer.
According to lead researcher, Dr. Kong, "Our study corroborates the notion that sulforaphane has chemopreventive activity…Our research has substantiated the connection between diet and cancer prevention, and it is now clear that the expression of cancer-related genes can be influenced by chemopreventive compounds in the things we eat."

Human population as well as animal studies consistently show that diets high in cruciferous vegetables, such as cauliflower, are associated with lower incidence of certain cancers, including lung, colon, breast and ovarian cancer. Now, research published in the International Journal of Cancer (Zhao H, Lin J) suggests that bladder cancer can join the list.
University of Texas researchers analyzed the diets of 697 newly diagnosed bladder cancer cases and 708 healthy controls matched by age, gender and ethnicity. Average daily intake of cruciferous vegetables was significantly lower in those with bladder cancer than in healthy controls.
Those eating the most cruciferous vegetables were found to have a 29% lower risk of bladder cancer compared to participants eating the least of this family of vegetables.
Crucifers' protective benefits were even more pronounced in three groups typically at higher risk for bladder cancer: men, smokers, and older individuals (aged at least 64).
Diagnosed in about 336,000 people every year worldwide, bladder cancer is three times more likely to affect men than women, according to the European School of Oncology.
Crucifers' well known cancer-fighting properties are thought to result from their high levels of active phytochemicals called glucosinolates, which our bodies metabolize into powerful anti-carcinogens called isothiocyanates.
Isothiocyanates offer the bladder, in particular, significant protection, most likely because the majority of compounds produced by isothiocyanate metabolism travel through the bladder en route to excretion in the urine, suggested the researchers.

Tips to help you eat vegetables

In general:

• Buy fresh vegetables in season.They cost less and are likely to be at their peak flavor.
• Stock up on frozen vegetables for quick and easy cooking in the microwave.
• Buy vegetables that are easy to prepare. Pick up pre-washed bags of salad greens and add baby carrots or grape tomatoes for a salad in minutes. Buy packages of veggies such as baby carrots or celery sticks for quick snacks.
• Use a microwave to quickly “zap” vegetables. White or sweet potatoes can be baked quickly this way.
• Vary your veggie choices to keep meals interesting.
• Try crunchy vegetables, raw or lightly steamed.

For the best nutritional value:

• Select vegetables with more potassium often, such as sweetpotatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, winter squash, spinach, lentils, kidney beans, and split peas.
• Sauces or seasonings can add calories, fat, and sodium to vegetables. Use the Nutrition Facts label to compare the calories and % Daily Value for fat and sodium in plain and seasoned vegetables.
• Prepare more foods from fresh ingredients to lower sodium intake. Most sodium in the food supply comes from packaged or processed foods.
• Buy canned vegetables labeled “no salt added.” If you want to add a little salt it will likely be less than the amount in the regular canned product.

At meals:

• Plan some meals around a vegetable main dish, such as a vegetable stir-fry or soup. Then add other foods to complement it.
• Try a main dish salad for lunch. Go light on the salad dressing.
• Include a green salad with your dinner every night.
• Shred carrots or zucchini into meatloaf, casseroles, quick breads, and muffins.
• Include chopped vegetables in pasta sauce or lasagna.
• Order a veggie pizza with toppings like mushrooms, green peppers, and onions, and ask for extra veggies.
• Use pureed, cooked vegetables such as potatoes to thicken stews, soups and gravies. These add flavor, nutrients, and texture.
• Grill vegetable kabobs as part of a barbecue meal. Try tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, and onions.

Make vegetables more appealing:

• Many vegetables taste great with a dip or dressing. Try a low-fat salad dressing with raw broccoli, red and green peppers, celery sticks or cauliflower.
• Add color to salads by adding baby carrots, shredded red cabbage, or spinach leaves. Include in-season vegetables for variety through the year.
• Include cooked dry beans or peas in flavorful mixed dishes, such as chili or minestrone soup.
• Decorate plates or serving dishes with vegetable slices.
• Keep a bowl of cut-up vegetables in a see-through container in the refrigerator. Carrot and celery sticks are traditional, but consider broccoli florettes, cucumber slices, or red or green pepper strips.

Vegetable tips for children:

• Set a good example for children by eating vegetables with meals and as snacks.
• Let children decide on the dinner vegetables or what goes into salads.
• Depending on their age, children can help shop for, clean, peel, or cut up vegetables.
• Allow children to pick a new vegetable to try while shopping.
• Use cut-up vegetables as part of afternoon snacks.
• Children often prefer foods served separately. So, rather than mixed vegetables try serving two vegetables separately.

Keep it safe:

• Wash vegetables before preparing or eating them. Under clean, running water, rub vegetables briskly with your hands to remove dirt and surface microorganisms. Dry after washing.
• Keep vegetables separate from raw meat, poultry and seafood while shopping, preparing, or storing.

How to Plant in Clay Soil

Clay soil can be discouraging to the home gardener both for the difficulty in digging and the potential death grip it can put on plants and flowers. But for all its drawbacks, clay soil does not have to keep you from having a beautiful landscape if you use a little hard work and careful planting.

Plant Effectively in Clay Soil

Step 1

Choosing the right plant is essential. Some plants that grow well in clay include: blue star flowers, swamp sunflowers, daylilies, Autumn Joy sedum, goldenrods and ornamental grasses such as switchgrass and Indian grass. The local nursery will help you with this as well. Look for hearty varieties that do not require good drainage or plants that grow well in pots.

Step 2
Using the pick ax, chop up the soil in the area you wish to plant. Chop up the ground in a circle roughly twice as big as the root-ball or pot of your plant.

Step 3
Using the shovel, dig a hole about six inches deeper than the root-ball or pot of your plant. You may have to alternate between the axe and the shovel depending on how hard the ground is. If it's excessively dry, soak the area you chopped up with the axe with water overnight to loosen the soil.

Step 4
Place a four-inch base of soil mixed with the compost mulch in the bottom of the hole. Then add roughly two inches of mulch and sprinkle plant fertilizer over the top of the mulch. Water until moist but avoid standing water.

Step 5
Carefully remove the plant from its pot or loosen the ties on a canvas root-ball. If it has canvas, leave the canvas on the bottom third of the ball as you lower into the hole. Remove the twine, but the canvas can stay to hold the ball together. Backfill around the plant with a mixture of soil and mulch. Slope mulch up and around the plant to an inch away from the base.

Step 6
Water until moist but not flooded. Water carefully the first week and fertilize to add nutrients to the tough terrain.

Carrot Juice Benefits For Health

Carrot is an easily available vegetable that has several health benefits. It is a rich natural source of vitamin A and minerals like sulfur, potassium, sodium, magnesium, chlorine and iodine. These nutrients are mostly present in the peel, so you should always use carrots without peeling off their skin. Drinking a glass of carrot juice every morning for a few weeks produces a marked improvement in eyesight. Carrot juice has natural cleansing properties which removes toxins from the body and makes digestion and bowel movements easier.

It is especially useful in treating digestive disorders like constipation and prevents stomach ulcers. Carrot juice also helps maintain the acid-alkaline balance in the bloodstream. Drinking carrot juice is also recommended as a natural remedy for diarrhea, as it replenishes the water and essential nutrients the body loses in this condition. Carrot juice is also popularly known to be of great use in getting rid of intestinal worms. Consumption of carrot juice is also useful in making blemishes on your skin disappear and making your skin glow naturally. External application of carrot on the skin is also useful in cleansing the skin pores and rejuvenating dull skin. The natural antioxidant properties of carrot juice make it an excellent natural skin cleanser.

Regular application of carrot juice also helps postpone the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles on the skin, making you look younger. An especially useful home remedy for treating all skin types is to boil a few carrots in water, mash them to pulp, add a tablespoon of honey to it and massage your face with this solution. This tones up the skin without making it excessively dry and gives your face a smooth, flawless appearance. You can also make an effective face scrub at home using carrots. Grate a fresh carrot finely, add to it a teaspoon each of coffee powder and granulated sugar, and apply this paste on your face. Leave it on for 10 minutes and then wash it away with water. Carrot also has natural anti-inflammatory and healing properties, which are useful in treating skin allergies and minor cuts and wounds. You may also use carrot juice beneficially for your hair by blending a few boiled carrots in a mixer with a small bowl of yogurt and an egg, and applying this paste on your hair half an hour before shampooing. This will leave your hair feeling soft and silky. Carrot juice also contains a chemical called beta carotene which helps prevent cancer.

Organic vegetables - Broccoli at a glance

The Naming of Broccoli

It's not uncommon for horticulturists to bestow names upon newly developed fruits or vegetables that describe their appearance or their attributes. Broccoli has many strong branches or arms that grow from the main stem, each one sprouting a sturdy budding cluster surrounded by leaves. It was only fitting that the name broccoli came from the Latin bracchium, which means strong arm or branch.

Roman farmers called broccoli "the five green fingers of Jupiter."

In late 16th century England our familiar head of cabbage was called " cabbage," while the entire plant was called cabbage-cole, cole or colewort. To confuse matters further, broccoli and cauliflower were also called colewort.

Throughout its travels during 17th century Europe, broccoli was often confused with cauliflower as well as cabbage, the names often used interchangeably. It was even called broccoli cabbage or Calabrian cabbage.

Growing
Broccoli is in the Brassicaceae family and is classified as Brassica oleracea italica belonging to a family whose other members include cauliflower, kale, cabbage, collards, turnips, rutabagas, Brussels sprouts, and Chinese cabbage.

The Brassica vegetables all share a common feature. Their four-petaled flowers bear the resemblance to a Greek cross, which explains why they are frequently referred to as crucifers or cruciferous.

Though the public can easily distinguish broccoli from cauliflower, botanists have difficulty with classification. Both broccoli and cauliflower are akin to the cabbage family. These members develop flower buds that remain in the bud form and do not open. The buds of the cauliflower grow in a tightly clustered manner, while broccoli buds are more definitive and separate from each other.

There are three main types of broccoli, sprouting, calabrese, and romanesco. Calabrese is most familiar because of its large heading portion and thick stalks. Calabrese is what most farmers grow and bring to market. This variety was developed in Calabria, a province in Italy, and is planted in the spring for harvesting in summer.

The sprouting broccoli has smaller flowering heads and many thinner stalks. This type is planted in April and May for harvesting the following winter and spring. Some may be harvested in December.

The romanesco reaches maturity in the fall and is distinguished by its yellowish-green multiple heads.

Though most commercial markets sell only green broccoli, there are cultivars that produce purple and white broccoli. These are more common in Italy and so closely resemble cauliflower in appearance they are easily confused.

With selective cultivation over the centuries, farmers were able to develop broccoli varieties with larger and larger budding heads. In this way they were able to create cultivars that were lighter and lighter in color, until eventually the result was cauliflower.

In recent years, horticulturists have developed the broccoflower, a hybrid combination of broccoli and cauliflower that looks more like cauliflower with a yellow-green color and a flavor that resembles both its parents.

When broccoli is left on the plant too long, its sugars develop into a type of fiber called lignin, creating stems that will be tough no matter how long the cooking process.

Broccoli rabe is native to the Mediterranean region. It is also called Italian broccoli, di rape, rapini, broccoli raab, Chinese broccoli, and Gai Lon. Another member of the cruciferous family, this variety of broccoli is recognized by its thin stems, tiny budding heads, and abundant leaves with jagged edges. Though it's equally as nutritious as our familiar broccoli, its flavor is more pungent and slightly bitter.

Once a wild herb, broccoli rabe is now cultivated in the Italian provinces of Campania and Puglia as well as in the United States.

Ninety percent of the broccoli grown in the US comes from California's Salinas Valley in North and Santa Maria in the Central region of the state. Other states that grow broccoli include Arizona, Texas, Florida, Washington, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon, Maine, and both North and South Carolina.

Broccoli prefers a cool climate, between 40 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and moist soil to mature in 100 to 120 days. It does not tolerate frost.

Nutritional Benefits
Broccoli is the superhero of the vegetable kingdom with its rich vitamin A content--notice broccoli's dark green color as an indicator of its hearty carotene content. Though a bit on the bitter side, broccoli leaves are completely edible and also contain generous amounts of vitamin A.

With one half-cup of cooked broccoli providing 1083 IU of vitamin A and raw offering 678 IU, this veggie should make a frequent appearance at your dinner table. Folic acid is also abundant with one-half cup cooked registering 39 mcg and raw 31.2 mcg.

Broccoli offers 71.8 mg of calcium for a whole cup of cooked, as much calcium as 4 oz. of milk. That cup of raw contains 42.2 mg.

A cup of broccoli gives you 10% of your daily iron requirement, and the vitamin C content helps the body to absorb the iron.

One cup of cooked broccoli has as much vitamin C as an orange, and one third of a pound has more vitamin C than two and one-half pounds of oranges. A serving of one-half cup cooked broccoli offers 58.2 mg while the raw stores 41 mg. A cup of broccoli actually fulfills your daily vitamin C requirement

If you're a calorie counter, count broccoli in with only 22 calories for one-half cup chopped and boiled and 12 calories for one-half cup raw chopped.

Though this exceptional vegetable is not a powerhouse of protein, it does contain 2 grams for one-half cup boiled, and 1 gram for the same quantity of raw. These same figures apply to fiber as well with 2 grams, for the boiled and 1 gram for the raw broccoli.

Across the nutrition scale, broccoli contains all the nutrients mentioned above in addition to vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.

It is important to note that though the figures listed for raw broccoli seem lower, it is not because raw broccoli is inferior to cooked. Because raw broccoli contains more bulk or volume than the cooked, one must eat more to equal the figures for cooked. Cooking breaks down the volume of broccoli, making it easier to consume larger quantities.

Frozen broccoli contains about 35% more beta carotene than the fresh because the frozen packages consist mainly of the florets. Most of the beta carotene is stored in the florets. But don't jump too quickly. There's plenty of nutrition in those stems, such as extra calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin C.

The darker colors of the florets, such as blue green, or purplish green contain more beta carotene and vitamin C than those with lighter greens.

Medicinal Benefits
Though definitive proof is not yet published, the National Cancer Institute suggests that broccoli, along with its cruciferous family members, may be important in the prevention of some types of cancer.

Because of its impressive nutritional profile that includes beta carotene, vitamin C, calcium, fiber, and phytochemicals, specifically indoles and aromatic isothiocynates, broccoli and its kin may be responsible for boosting certain enzymes that help to detoxify the body. These enzymes help to prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and high blood pressure.

Broccoli along with onions, carrots, and cabbage may also help to lower blood cholesterol. At the U.S. Department of Agriculture's regional research center in Philadelphia, two researchers, Dr. Peter Hoagland and Dr. Philip Pfeffer, discovered these vegetables contain a certain pectin fiber called calcium pectate that binds to bile acids, holding more cholesterol in the liver and releasing less into the bloodstream. They found broccoli equally as effective as some cholesterol lowering drugs.

Broccoli's wealth of the trace mineral, chromium, may be effective in preventing adult-onset diabetes in some people. At the Beltsville, Maryland, Human Research Laboratories of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dr. Richard Anderson, a diabetes expert, found that chromium boosts the ability of insulin to perform better in people with slight glucose intolerance.