Cauliflower has more vitamin C than orange juice!

Cauliflower is one of the richest vegetables in vitamin C. A serving provides up to 58% of the required daily intake. Actually, cauliflower has more vitamin C than orange juice per 100g!

How much vitamin C do we need a day?

According to the National Institutes of Health, we need about 75-90 mg of vitamin C per day. Adult men require approximately 90 mg, while adult women require only 75 mg of vitamin C.

However, even much higher dosages are considered pretty safe. We can get more than 1,000 mg of vitamin C a day without experiencing any side effect.

But, most healthy people can get more than enough vitamin C from food.

How much vitamin C is in cauliflower?

Cauliflower is one of the richest foods in vitamin C. Raw cauliflower has 48 mg of vitamin C per 100g. A cup provides 52 mg of vitamin C, which is 58% of the Daily Value (DV).[1]

In fact, cauliflower is richer in vitamin C than orange juice! Orange juice has only 31 mg of vitamin C per 100g. Certainly, a glass of freshly squeezed juice can boost our daily intake of vitamin C, as it contains about 76 mg of vitamin C, or 85% of the DV. All citrus fruits are high in vitamin C.

Moreover, a head of cauliflower has up to 405 mg of vitamin C. The vitamin C content depends on the size of cauliflower:

  • small (4″) has 128 mg of vitamin C,
  • medium (5-6″) has 283 mg of vitamin C,
  • large (6-7″) has 405 mg of vitamin C.

How to cook cauliflower to preserve vitamin C?

Vitamin C is very vulnerable to heat. It can be lost during cooking of cauliflower. It’s estimated that at least 8% of vitamin C in cauliflower is lost during boiling.

Actually, the best way to cook cauliflower, broccoli, or any other vegetable with vitamin C in order to preserve most vitamin C is to steam it.

Furthermore, you can sprinkle lemon juice on the cooked cauliflower in order to get more vitamin C. Lemon juice is particularly rich in vitamin C as well.

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