Love ’em or hate ’em, Brussels sprouts are everywhere at this time of the year, and you will be hard-pressed to escape them this week! Never has there been so divisive a vegetable, but these tiny cute cabbages can definitely play a big role in keeping us healthy over the festive season.
Now that the Christmas parties are in full swing and the celebrations will continue for another couple of weeks, plenty of us will feel like we’ve overdone it on festive cheer at some stage!
Apart from loading up on water and electrolytes to get back to feeling as normal as possible, you can boost the healing process by supporting your liver detox process by providing it with certain important nutrients. And many of these are found naturally in sprouts…
In order for your body to detox efficiently, a large supply of natural sulphur must be provided through your diet, and this traditional Christmas veggie happens to be rich in nutrients containing sulphur.
To further boost detoxification and lower inflammation in the body, Brussels sprouts contain vitamins A, C, E and K and essential omega-3 fatty acids. They are also a good source of calcium, contain sufficient levels of protein and are high in fibre, which is essential for a healthy digestive system.
Furthermore, Brussels sprouts can assist in lowering cholesterol levels by binding with bile acids produced from cholesterol in the liver and carry them out of the body in the form of waste.
I love sprouts raw and crunchy in a salad for maximum nutrition, but they’re also very beneficial lightly steamed or sauteed in toasted sesame seeds and tamari sauce.