Broccoli, kale and cauliflower, oh my! These superfood veggies are better known as cruciferous vegetables because they fall into the Brassicaceae or Cruciferae family. Members of the cruciferous vegetable family also include other veggies like cabbage, bok choy and Brussels sprouts.

Considered super foods for your body, cruciferous vegetables contain vitamins, fiber and disease-fighting phytochemicals. A variety of components in this veggie family has been known to lower cancer risks.

According to the American Institute of Cancer Research, these vegetables have the ability to stop the growth of cancer cells or help regulate a complex system of bodily enzymes that defend against cancer.

Cruciferous vegetables are not only healthy, they're portable, too! If you're not eating enough vegetables, it's never to late to start.

You can purchase these cruciferous vegetables or other veggies ready-to-go in the frozen- or fresh-packed sections of your grocery store. In fact, they can all be added to salads, stew or soups to give you a sense of satiety, along with adding nutrients to your daily diet.

Now that you've got a reason (and way) to get more veggies in your diet, check out That's Fit's exercises to get your body moving!

With a growing number of overweight people, you're likely to see at least one pot belly on your morning commute.

A pot belly, or beer belly, is excessive fat in the center of the abdomen which makes the belly round and protruding. While women can get a pot belly, they tend to be more prevalent in men. The biggest causes are overeating and a sedentary lifestyle.

The only way to lose a pot belly is to lose weight. You cannot spot train body parts, but crunches may help tone the stomach muscles. Additionally, you must burn more calories than you consume each day, which is easier if you follow a low-fat, reduced-calorie diet and include at least 30 to 60 minutes of vigorous exercise in your daily routine.

Even if you don't have an excessive amount of fat hanging over your jeans, but still want to slim your stomach, avoiding foods that contribute to bloating can help. Cut back on salt and eliminate gassy foods like broccoli, onions and cauliflower. Carbonated drinks (like soda), alcohol, fried foods and spicy meals can also lead to bloating.

If you don't have a pot belly, but want to tweak another body region try these tips from That's Fit:
Love handles
Arms
Shoulders
Legs
Thighs

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answers. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose one per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz, I just bought a fairly fitted dress for a party this weekend and am desperate to avoid a poochy tummy. I'm in pretty good shape but often get bloated. I can not wear this dress if I'm bloated. Help! Andrea

A. Hi Andrea, Bloating is a bummer, but I can definitely help you avoid it. You're just going to have to be smart about what you eat and drink for the few days prior to your event.

Source

Day 5: If you're trying to control your appetite, increasing the amount of fiber you eat is definitely the way to go. High-fiber foods work to control the appetite in two ways. They make you feel faster and they slow digestion. I'm rarely hungry between meals this week. Though emotionally, I want some of my favorite snacks, I'm mostly able to stick to my game plan, thanks to feeling happily satisfied most of the time.

Because fiber-rich foods are also energy dense, meaning they offer a powerful nutritional punch for very few calories, I just get more food. I can eat an entire bowl of steamed broccoli, for instance, as a snack and barely dent my calorie allotment.

Here's a little tidbit I learned while perusing the September 2008 issue of National Geographic -- an article titled Shopping By The Numbers talks about a a food rating system called the Overall Nutritional Quality Index. Developed by researchers at Yale University and coming soon to a grocery store near you, the qualification system will rate foods on a scale of one to 100 -- one being the least nutritious and 100 being the most nutritious.

In NG's list of common foods, only four items scored 100 -- blueberries, oranges, green beans and broccoli. Here are some other ratings:

• Banana - 91
• Non-fat milk - 91
• Oatmeal - 88
• Raw almonds - 82
• Pasta - 50
• Vanilla yogurt - 43
• Skinless chicken breasts - 39
• Bagel - 23
• Hot Dog - 5
• Soda - 1
  
  

Interesting, huh? See if you can get your hands on the issue for the full list.

Source

The leaves are turning, the days are shorter -- it's impossible to ignore the fact that fall is coming ... er ... make that already here. Despite the fact that it means the impending doom of winter is just around the corner, I like fall -- the colours, the clothes, the warm food and the selection of produce at my local farmer's market.

Mark's Daily Apple Recently counted down the top veggies for fall -- next time you go shopping, stock up on these:

• Endive
• Broccoli
• Brussel Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Celery root
• Onions
• Pumpkin
• Spinach
• Zucchini

Want to know more about these awesome veggies, including how to eat them? Head over here for more info.

Source

When you were little, your mom probably made sure you got your vitamin C to help fend off those nasty bugs that float around classrooms. But recent research shows that adults have good reason to get their vitamin C as well.

At their Conference of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research, the American Heart Association revealed that vitamin C has a positive effect on blood pressure. The practical applications aren't yet known but in the study, high doses of vitamin C resulted in an average seven percent drop in blood pressure.

While it's not reasonable for you to take high doses of vitamin C like those administered in the study, you can be sure to incorporate lots of healthful foods that are rich in vitamin C. Choices include citrus fruits, broccoli, greens, and melon.

Source

Vitamin C might help you lose a few, and it might help you keep those few off too.

Research shows that the human body needs sufficient vitamin C to burn fat, the key to keeping excess weight from stacking up. Nothing too difficult about what to do with this news: Pop your C supplement or chew on some vitamin C-rich foods before your next fitness feat. Even better, snack on it throughout the day if you can. Try some grapefruit in the morning, have an orange for lunch, and fill your dinner plate with treats like red bell peppers, broccoli, and brussels sprouts.

Some background: Vitamin C study participants with low concentrations of C in their blood walked on a treadmill for one hour and burned 25% less fat than people with adequate C in their blood. It didn't take much to bring fat-burning levels up, though. A dose of C is all it takes to create carnitine, a substance that turns fat into fuel.

How much C do you need? Click here to find out.

Source

My little guy loves brown rice salads. He cannot wait to see what "chunks" I have included in my latest recipe. If your kids (or significant others!) are plain rice eaters, why not help them branch out a bit by adding some nutritious "chunks" to their rice.

You may be dealing with picky eaters, so start slowly, adding things you know they'll love. Some pretty safe bets:

• corn kernels
• sweet peas
• steamed carrots
• raisins
• slivered almonds

Now you've been successful, so push the envelope a bit and try:

• chick peas
• chopped spinach
• zucchini
• broccoli
• butternut squash

Broccoli is so nutritionally awesome, I dare say I am not going out on a limb by declaring broccoli the Supreme Ruler of the Veggieverse. Clearly you all are realizing right about now that I spend far too much time with my super-hero-obsessed son.

Pardon my digression, but I'm right, aren't I? If broccoli can be death-defying, cancer-fighting, calcium-rich and just plain yummy, then why shouldn't we put it on a well-deserved pedestal?

Try putting it on a plate instead -- with these three recipes: one easy, one cool, and one stealthy.

Chris recently put broccoli on his list of death-defying foods for its preventative benefits against certain forms of cancer. But the benefits of broccoli don't stop there. Recent research from the UK shows that a compound found in broccoli may reverse heart blood vessel damage caused by diabetes.

The compound sulforaphane, found in broccoli, boosts the production of enzymes that protect blood vessels. In addition, it reduces certain molecules that can do cell damage.

People with diabetes have an increased risk of heart disease and stroke due to damaged blood vessels. Cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, are beneficial to heart health.

Source

Growing your own produce is an economical way to feed your family healthfully. As an added perk, pulling all of the weeds helps to burn a few calories each day.

If you haven't gotten around to planting a garden this summer, you're not too late. There are plenty of veggies that can still thrive even into the fall. Perhaps even into the winter, depending on the weather conditions where you live. Divine Caroline has a list of edible goodies that can be planted now and enjoyed in the coming months:

• Long-maturing crops such as carrots, cabbage, and potatoes can be planted now for regions with October frost dates, or in August for regions with November frost dates.
• Medium-maturing crops like broccoli, Swiss chard, and kale take about two months to mature. You can plant them now or hold off a bit longer for fall growth.
• Fast-maturing crops such as spinach, arugula, and leaf lettuce mature in about a month and can be planted as late as September. Plant some now and then plan to plant again for a second crop in the fall.

Source

We've all heard about foods so super in their powers they can fight off disease. This past week, broccoli made headlines for its ability to protect men from prostate cancer.

How exactly is this possible?

Researchers believe a chemical in broccoli sparks hundreds of genetic changes, activating some genes that do battle with cancer and turning off others that fuel tumors. This study is more than just evidence backing the notion that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables reduces cancer risk. It's the first human trial that looks at the potential biological mechanism at work. We know it's good to eat fruits and veggies. Now we know why.

Specifically, the broccoli eaters in this study showed 400 to 500 positive genetic changes. Men carrying a gene called GSTM1 enjoyed the most benefit. About half the population have this gene.

Source

It's no mystery that vegetables are good for you. The list of reasons why spans far longer than the space provided between these margins.

That's why I decided to focus on one health benefit in particular: the apparent relationship between vegetable consumption and reduced lung cancer risk. Women's Health magazine reports that people who eat at least one daily serving of vegetables lower their risk of this cancer by as much as fifty percent compared with people who ate less veggies than that.

Because they are high in antioxidants, veggies are formidable opponents for carcinogenic free radicals and tobacco smoke, say folks at Women's Health. Keep your lungs healthy by adding broccoli, spinach, and other cancer-fighting vegetables to your daily diet.

Source

Broccoli -- it's the bane of every child's existence at a dinner table, but it also happens to be a known cancer fighter. So, for that reason and myriad others, kids and adults alike would do well to grin and bear through the somewhat lackluster flavor. Of course, there are a number of ways you can spruce up the taste -- the way you season it, what you top it with, and even how you cook it. But, of all your broccoli-enhancing choices, boiling it is probably the worst idea.

This has less to do with taste and more to do with your health, according to researchers from Warwick University in England. Based on the findings during a 2007 study, boiling broccoli for even ten minutes can reduce its immune-boosting, cancer-battling glucosinolates by as much as 80 percent.

To keep your broccoli in fighting form, either steam it or keep boiling time to five minutes or less (doing so demonstrated only a ten percent reduction in glucosinolates). As for more specific tips on how to improve the taste of this cruciferous vegetable, I'll leave that information to you. Cooking is not even close to my thing.

Source

Source