Broccoli: Magical Miracle Food of Mystery

These have been plaguing commercial air-time a lot lately:

Commercial 1

Commercial 2


It seems to me that every cycle of months or so a new food is chosen and foisted onto the public for its miraculous benefits. It’s usually milk; not too long ago it was eggs.

Recently it’s been broccoli. Yep, broccoli - -the food that ranks highest next to Brussels sprouts and Lima beans on most kiddies’ list of icky foods (I personally love it as long as it isn’t raw). It makes you wonder – what exactly is so amazing about it? I mean, the adverts tout broccoli as containing “12 essential vitamins and minerals, all lovingly packed into these tiny green trees”… but since it can only throw so much information at you in a 30-second spot, it’s all pretty vague.

Now I checked out the website advertised on these commercials, hoping to find more information, but it’s just as vague, merely stating that broccoli earns top honours as a miracle food, and again reiterating that it contains twelve essential vitamins and nutrients (yes, but what ARE they?).

I began to get suspicious that no real research was done and that broccoli really was just some veggie paper slip arbitrarily pulled from a hat and launched to TV fame.

Here are the actual facts (at least as far as I could tell):

I searched around the net and through some scholarly journal articles, and I couldn’t pin down exactly what these twelve magical nutrients might be. At least some of them must include vitamin C, for which steamed broccoli has roughly 200% of the daily-recommended intake, vitamin K (195 %), Vitamin A (45%), folic acid (20%) and fibre (20%). These include antioxidants, which are great for destroying those pesky free radicals that contribute to premature aging.

This article also states that “scientists” have proven that eating broccoli will prevent cardiovascular disease and strokes, but they don’t site a source. If I’ve ever learned anything, it’s that one should always read the primary source material – there’s too much risk for misinterpretation.

One thing that I noticed was that no one mentioned the risks of eating broccoli. Oh? You thought that broccoli was about as innocuous as a hamster? Too much of anything can be harmful, and too much broccoli can cause…goiters.

This...is a goiter.

Of course, you’re only really running a risk of a goiter if you already have a thyroid condition, or if you’re eating raw broccoli on a daily basis. If you are a massive broccoli fan, don’t panic: according to my Food and Disease Prevention professor, steaming, boiling or cooking broccoli destroys its goitrogenic properties.

Overall, I won't deny that broccoli is a nutritious food, but I will say that I am disappointed in the lack of information on the web to either support or negate the "Miracle Food" advertising that's been shoved into our faces. If you're going to tell us that something is good for us, at least tell us why.

Happy eating!

To find out more about broccoli, check out these links:

The Miracle Food

My Pyramid
Nutrition Data
World's Healthiest Foods: Broccoli
What are Goitrogens?
Broccoli Beats Heart Disease