Why are garlic and broccoli similar?
They might not be for everyone, however it’s safe to say that they are 2 of the most eaten ‘vegetables’. Either enjoyed as ingredients in dishes or on their own, they are included in cuisines from all over the world, but most importantly they’re both classed as ‘healthy foods’ and ‘recommended to eat regularly’ in our diets. All those similarities but there is one key factor that makes them the even more connected… Their super power and their Achilles heel.
When it comes to consuming our healthy vegetables most of us prefer to cook them, to soften the texture, give them warmth and less bitterness. Often all of those healthy gifts [vitamins & Minerals] are wrapped up neatly behind those fibrous cell walls. Cooking can help unwrap them for us to easily access, but tearing those walls off too wildly can also destroy those gifts, so its good to take care when you cook them to make sure you get the best out of them.
Garlic…
…doesn’t always spring to mind when you say the word ‘vegetable’. Although it is a bulb and part of the allium family it is still classed as a vegetable and more people tend to use it more as an addition rather than a stand alone. For its size, it packs a punch containing vitamins A, C, and B6, as well as manganese, selenium, and fibre. It’s linked with lowering blood pressure, being good for the immune system, so an all round party in the palm of your hand.
But what gives garlic its super power? When you cut into or crush your garlic, you damage those thin cell walls, which behind contain two enzymes. When those two enzymes are exposed to each other they create a compound called Allicin.
This compound is what gives garlic its very distinctive but pungent smell that can be off putting but it is also quite amazing. Allicin, when created is a natural antibiotic that is similar to penicillin in its properties, it is effective against many bacteria including things like E. Coli and even fugal infections.
Broccoli…
…has become a common vegetable for people to include in their diet, its in the top 10 consumed vegetables in the UK, the 2nd most consumed green veg (just behind peas) and on average a person eats 6kg of the stuff each year. So it’s great to hear that it is a power house when it comes to nutrition. Packing a punch with vitamin C as well as containing B6, Iron, Magnesium and even calcium, all those antioxidants and anti inflammatory vitamins that we’re all looking out for in our diet. It is also a good source of protein and fibre.
Recently broccoli has undergone a study, proving that it not only contains a great (if not one of the best) sources of vitamins and minerals, but also compounds that can help protect against cell mutation (cancer), as well as many other beneficial areas. This compound is called sulforaphane.
Similar to Garlic, when two enzymes in the raw broccoli are exposed (by chewing or chopping) they come in to contact with each other and they begin to create this compound sulforaphane. So both can create super beneficial compounds and it is done by chopping it up. The more cuts (or cell walls destroyed) the more of the compound is created.
Both garlic and broccoli work in this similar way and both benefit from time after being chopped to develop that amazing compound. Leaving it chopped for around 45 minutes allows enough time for a maximum amount of the compound to be created (peak). Once it’s created you have transformed your pretty awesome veg in to super veg.
But then what?
Well the problem now comes with the Achilles heel of these magical compounds. Heat.
Unfortunately cooking them destroys the compound and its effectiveness. So to get the most out of them they have to be used raw.
Now raw broccoli isn’t everyone’s thing, those cells walls, though chopped up and exposed are still there and are very fibrous, meaning you’re going to get that bitty chewiness in your mouth. If you can get past that, then you’ve got a superfood snack that has been proven to be the most beneficial. If you can’t get past that, think about cooking your broccoli as little as possible, the enzymes that create the sulforaphane in broccoli are destroyed quite quickly when cooking, but some can remain if you don’t cook for very long.
Garlic’s antibacterial powers are best used externally, and though digesting offers some antibacterial properties, its strong taste puts people off. Cooking your garlic breaks down that compound though and removes the strong smell and taste of the allicin, however it inevitably removes the effectiveness of it also. You can get a compromise from garlic by slicing it very thinly thus creating some compound but in a more controlled way so not to create too much. Then add your garlic to your dish near the very end, so it flavours but doesn’t cook out the allicin. Because the taste will be stronger you won’t need as much, but the health benefits are much greater.
Discovering things like this is great when it comes to making decisions on how to prepare our consume our food. Over all the choice is yours to eat your food how you want.
