Is Cauliflower Good for Diabetics? (7 Health Benefits)

Last Updated on July 25, 2021 by Dr Sharon Baisil MD

Cauliflower is a very useful vegetable when it comes to managing your diabetic levels. Being low glycemic, Cauliflower is good for diabetic patients and is very safe to be included in your meals.

Cauliflowers can have plenty of benefits on the body and hardly has any risks for someone diagnosed with diabetes. So, next time you go shopping for vegetables, you can pick up cauliflower for your diabetic routines without having to worry about it.

Cauliflower is a vegetable that is amazingly built and has many good nutrients for the body. Cauliflower is a natural source of many important vitamins, minerals, and fiber. These are all essential for the body and need to be kept efficiently supplied for better diabetic health and controlling blood sugar levels.

A regular serving of cauliflower can frequently help you to nourish your body with many phytonutrients as well. These assist in maintaining regular good functioning and also enhance the immunity of the body.

The compounds of nitrogen and sulfur found in cauliflower also offer increased protection to the body from cancer-causing cells. The cauliflower has plenty of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients that assist in keeping the risks of internal diseases away.

Cauliflowers fall into healthy veggies for diabetic patients like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, kale, etc. You can include cauliflower in a variety of ways when it comes to cooking cauliflowers. Boiled cauliflower in salads makes a great addition.

Be sure to pick out fresh cauliflowers and always wash them well before use, as they tend to be among the commonly infested veggies. In addition to this, to ensure that your diabetic health benefits from the use of cauliflowers, you can pair it with other healthy whole grains, vegetables, and diabetic-safe food options.

What are the health benefits of eating cauliflower?

There are a lot of reasons why you should start eating cauliflowers. They are great for increasing your overall health and have the many following advantages:

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It is very rich in fiber. Fiber is essential to keep blood sugar levels from rising very high. The fiber in the metabolism works to lower the pace of digestion, which in turn aids in better digestive processes.

The fiber in the body also assists in encouraging good bowel movements. This can also help in preventing constipation in the body and reduces intestinal and abdominal pains.

Cauliflower is low in calories, as we can see from the above table. Thus, it is a great food option to keep your weight in check. As diabetic patients, keeping your weight within normal limits is very necessary.

Cauliflower is also rich in many antioxidants like flavonoids and carotenoids. Antioxidants in the body help fight the free radicals in the body that lead to many internal complications.

The presence of sulforaphane in cauliflowers is very good for keeping the heart healthy and safe. Moreover, cauliflowers are free of cholesterol and, thus, very suitable for heart patients as well.

Cauliflowers are excellent immunity boosters. They have many vitamin C that can induce good protective properties in the body and safeguard it from many diseases. Vitamin C in cauliflowers also helps in absorbing iron in the body and keeps energy levels sufficed.

It is also good for eye and bone health and has many minerals and vitamins that support these functions and keep the overall body fully functional.

Does cauliflower raise your blood sugar?

Well, as we already mentioned – cauliflowers are good for diabetics. It is even recommended to be added to your diet for blood sugar management. Hence, it is very obvious that cauliflowers do not raise your blood sugar levels.

Cauliflowers are themselves lower in sugar as well as in calories. Thus, they make a good fit in one’s diabetic meal plans.

The carbohydrates in cauliflowers are well controlled by the presence of dietary fibers in them. Fiber is an essential nutrient for the body and helps to maintain a good balance in the digestive system. The body’s metabolism slowly and easily digests the cauliflower.

Keeping the metabolic functions properly is crucial for the body, and fiber in the food helps. The fiber in the body assists in slowing down the digestive processes and thus prevents sudden releases of sugar. This is how cauliflower is useful in keeping the body’s blood sugar levels under control and yourself out of diabetic risks.

The overall composition of this vegetable is very effective for diabetes control and helps in boosting immunity. We will talk about the nutritional composition of the cauliflower in detail as we move further on in this discussion.

Keeping the blood sugars low is the primary need of diabetic patients, which can be achieved well with cauliflowers. Researches have shown that having cauliflowers may reduce the risks of spiking sugars.

Let us have a clearer look at the sugar content of cauliflowers by knowing the glycemic index of this vegetable.

What is the glycemic index of cauliflower?

What is the glycemic index of cauliflower

The glycemic index of a food is defined by how the carbohydrates in food can affect our body. The glycemic index measures the level of sugars and ranks the food from 0 to 100 as per their safety for diabetic patients.

Sl. No.	Glycemic Index categories	Glycemic Index ranges
1.	Low Glycemic Index (safe for diabetics)	0 to 55
2.	Medium Glycemic Index (safe when taken in moderate quantities)	55 to 69
3.	High Glycemic Index (unsafe for diabetics)	From 70 and above

Coming to the glycemic index of cauliflower, it is a relief to say that they have a low glycemic index. The value is only 10, which is very low.

In addition to this, the glycemic load of cauliflower is also very low. Half a cup of cauliflower has a mere glycemic load of only 1. This proves that it is very safe and healthy for diabetic consumption.

Adding cauliflowers to your meal items can lower the overall carbohydrate intake as well. This is a great way to manage your overall calorie intake in a day. Having cauliflowers can keep your appetite satisfied and provide you with plenty of nutrients as well. Let us have a look at what these various nutrients are.

What is the nutritional information for cauliflower?

We talked that there are many important and necessary nutrients found in cauliflower. The health facts for it are indeed very beneficial.

The table below shows the nutrients found in 100 grams of cauliflower:

Sl. No.	Nutrients found in 100 grams of cauliflower	Amount available
1.	Calories	25
2.	Carbohydrates – Sugars – Dietary fiber	4.97 g – 1.91 g – 2 g
3.	Proteins	1.92 g
4.	Fats	0.28 g
5.	Water	92.07 g
6.	Cholesterol	0 mg
7.	Potassium	299 mg
8.	Calcium	22 mg
9.	Manganese	0.155 mg
10.	Choline	44.3 mg
11.	Magnesium	15 mg
12.	Sodium	30 mg
13.	Phosphorus	44 mg
14.	Iron	0.42 mg
15.	Zinc	0.27 mg
16.	Copper	0.039 mg
17.	Selenium	0.6 µg
18.	Vitamin C	48.2 mg
19.	Folate	57 µg
20.	Vitamin K	15.5 µg
21.	Vitamin B5	0.667 mg
22.	Vitamin B6	0.184 mg
23.	Vitamin B1	0.05 mg
24.	Vitamin B3	0.507 mg
25.	Vitamin B2	0.06 mg
26.	Vitamin E	0.08 mg

You can find out from the above table that many vitamins and minerals found in cauliflower can be good for health. But how and for what?

Let us try to clear that by discussing what the health benefits of cauliflower are.

What are the disadvantages of eating cauliflower?

Some side effects can be experienced due to cauliflowers as well. They are:

Too much fiber in the body from excess consumption of cauliflowers may lead to issues like bloating and flatulence. It is almost similar to eating too many beans, broccoli, cabbage, etc.

The presence of vitamin K in this veggie can lead to blood thinning. If you take related medicines, it is advisable to speak to your doctors first.

If you are allergic to cauliflower, it can lead to mouth infections or irritations that can cause certain disturbances.

Dr Sharon Baisil MD

Medical Doctor at Beat Diabetes

Dr Sharon Baisil MD is an international award-winning doctor, known for creating innovative technologies for the prevention and treatment of Diabetes. He developed the android app called Beat Diabetes, which is presently the most downloaded diabetes app in India. It was chosen as ‘Diabetes-App of the Year’ globally by Healthline. Dr Sharon has helped over 100,000 individuals with Diabetes from 140 countries, during the past 4 years, to control their sugar levels. You can read all the best-selling Diabetes eBooks by Dr Sharon Baisil MD , by clicking here . All the diabetes articles written by Dr. Sharon are thoroughly researched and draw from peer-reviewed journals like the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, ensuring the highest quality and reliability of information.

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