02/11/2026
I am writing about cauliflower and its cancer preventing qualities as well as its delicious and subtle taste. I am also relieved to be finally writing about a vegetable that is white, but good for you (can you think of any others?). As children, my siblings and I were prompted by its ghostly white color to derisively call cauliflower “dead broccoli.” Cauliflower is a great choice when eating specifically to reduce risk of breast cancer. It is a rich source of a class of phytonutrients called flavones. A study of women from Long Island, published in 2006, showed that women with the highest dietary intake of flavones had an almost 40% lower risk of breast cancer. This is consistent with other previous research which showed that higher intake of any type of flavonoid nutrient protected women against breast cancer. And like other vegetables in the brassica family, it is also rich in a compound called indole-3-carbinol (I-3-C). Foods high in I-3-C shift the metabolism of estrogen in women to a form that is less likely to promote the growth of breast tumors. Cauliflower, like other brassica vegetables (broccoli, kale, etc.) is able to assist the liver in detoxification of potentially dangerous environmental compounds, also reducing cancer risk.
To your health,
Robert Pendergrast, MD, MPH
So what are you waiting for? (photo credit, Nick Youngson - link to - http://nyphotographic.com
