With the rise of low-carb, ketogenic, and Paleo diets, cauliflower has become increasingly

popular, as it can substitute for starchier foods like rice and even pizza dough. This veggie
is versatile, non-starchy, and contains a lot of fiber and other beneficial nutrients.
Whether you eat it raw, roasted, or riced, cauliflower offers a lot of bang for your
nutritional buck.

Cauliflower Nutrition Facts

The following nutrition information is provided by the USDA for one cup of raw chopped
cauliflower (107g).1

• Calories: 27
• Fat: 0.3g
• Sodium: 32.1mg
• Carbohydrates: 5.3g
• Fiber: 2.1g
• Sugars: 2g
• Protein: 2.1g
• Vitamin C: 51.6mg
• Vitamin B6: 0.2mg
• Magnesium: 16mg
• Potassium: 319.9mg
• Folate: 61mcg
• Choline: 47.4mg
• Vitamin K: 16.6mcg

Carbs
Like all vegetables, cauliflower is a carbohydrate. But it's the non-starchy, complex kind
with lots of fiber and low amounts of natural sugar.1 It has a low glycemic index rating,
somewhere between 15 and 30, meaning that it won't cause a blood sugar spike.

One cup of cauliflower contains about a sixth of the carbs as the same amount of cooked
pasta or rice.2

Fats
Cauliflower has only a trace amount of fat and is cholesterol-free. Therefore, it can easily
be included in a low-fat diet or a diet that aims to lower cholesterol.

Protein
Cauliflower has a minimal amount of protein. You will need to include other healthy
protein sources in your diet to meet your daily protein requirements.
Vitamins and Minerals
Cauliflower is a great source of vitamin C. One cup provides more than half of the 75 mg
daily recommended intake for adult women and 90 mg recommendation for adult men.3 It
also provides a good dose of vitamin B6 and magnesium.

Those aren't the only nutrients in cauliflower, either. This vegetable contains calcium,
iron, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, fluoride, and a wide array of B
vitamins.

Calories
At 27 calories per cup, you'd have to eat a lot of cauliflower before it had a big impact on
your total calorie intake. A total of 65% of the calories in cauliflower come from carbs,
26% protein, and 10% fat.

Summary

Cauliflower is a fiber-rich vegetable that is low in fat and calories. It is a great source of
vitamin C while supplying a good dose of vitamin B6 and magnesium, along with a variety
of other trace nutrients.

Health Benefits
Thanks to its many micronutrients, antioxidants, and fiber, cauliflower offers many health
benefits.

Provides Health Promoting Fiber

Cauliflower delivers a healthy dose of fiber. One significant benefit of increasing dietary
fiber intake is that it can help you maintain a healthy weight, reducing your risk of several
chronic health conditions.

Cauliflower is an excellent source of dietary fiber. The fiber in cauliflower is known to

provide several additional benefits to ward off chronic diseases. It is essential for
digestion, blood sugar control, weight management, heart health, cancer prevention, and
other benefits.4

Reduces Heart Disease Risk

One of the health conditions that fiber helps guard against is heart disease. Research
published in 2017 shows that dietary fiber may boost cardiovascular health, at least in
part, in the way it influences the gut microbiome.5
Poor diet is connected to an increased risk of heart disease, which researchers say can be
mitigated by consuming vegetables high in nutritional value. At least eight studies have
shown that a higher intake of cruciferous vegetables, including cauliflower, improves the
risk of cardiovascular disease, atrioventricular septal defect, ischemic heart disease,
cerebrovascular accident (type of stroke), ischemic stroke, and intracerebral hemorrhage.6

Prevents Oxidative Stress and Chronic Diseases

Like other fruits and vegetables, cauliflower is rich in antioxidants. These compounds help
repair cells and protect them from inflammation, which can help reduce the risk of chronic
illness.7

Cauliflower is an excellent source of bioactive phytochemicals, which may reduce the risk
of chronic diseases. These include glucosinolates, phenolics, flavonoids, chlorophylls,
nutritional compounds, and antioxidants.8

May Protect Against Some Cancers

Cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower contain a group of substances known
as glucosinolates. These sulfur-containing chemicals are responsible for the pungent
aroma and bitter flavor of this category of vegetables. These chemicals break down to
form compounds that may help protect against several forms of cancer.9

Lessens the Effects of Aging

Glucoraphanin is a glucosinolate found in cauliflower and a precursor to the phytochemical
sulforaphane (SFN). Sulforaphane helps protect against damage caused by spending too
much time in the sun's ultraviolet rays and shows promise when included in anti-aging
products.10

Allergies
Allergic reactions to cauliflower aren't common, but they have been reported occasionally
in the medical literature. Some people who are sensitive to other Brassica vegetables
(such as cabbage and broccoli) may also react to cauliflower.

In addition, people who have hay fever due to mugwort pollen may experience oral
allergy syndrome when consuming raw cauliflower. Symptoms include itchiness or
swelling around the mouth and, rarely, anaphylaxis.

Know the symptoms of anaphylaxis—such as hives and shortness of breath—and seek

immediate treatment if you experience them. If you think you're allergic to cauliflower,
avoid eating it and talk to your doctor for a diagnosis and treatment.
Adverse Effects
People with thyroid problems should avoid eating excessive amounts of cauliflower and
cabbage. Both interfere with the body's absorption of iodine, which is needed by the
thyroid gland. However, you'd need to eat an unusually large amount of these foods to be
at risk, so normal consumption is both acceptable and healthy.11

Cauliflower is also high in FODMAPs (fermentable oligo-, di-, monosaccharides, and

polyols, which are types of carbohydrates). People with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
and Crohn's disease may find that their symptoms worsen when eating high-FODMAP
foods, including cauliflower.12

Varieties
Once strictly a white vegetable, you can now find a green, orange, and purple varieties of
this cruciferous cousin to broccoli and Brussels sprouts. While overall nutrition is similar in
each variety, the types of antioxidants present can vary. For example, yellow and orange
cauliflower contains more beta-carotene than white cauliflower, and purple cauliflower
also contains anthocyanin.

Fresh and frozen cauliflower has a similar nutritional profile. Canned cauliflower is also
similar, although it may have more fiber than fresh or frozen.

You can also buy pickled or creamed cauliflower. Pickled cauliflower has more calories,
carbs, and sodium than fresh but remains low in calories and fat, while creamed
cauliflower has more fat than other varieties and preparations.

When It's Best

Cauliflower is available year-round, but its peak season in the U.S. is late summer
through late fall.

Choose fresh cauliflower that has firm, compact heads that are tightly closed. Any
attached leaves should be bright green and crisp. The florets should not have any
yellowing, which indicates that the cauliflower is overly mature.

Reject any heads that show signs of softness because that's the start of spoilage. For the
best flavor, eat cauliflower as soon as possible—precut florets don't store well and are
best when eaten within a day of purchase.

Storage and Food Safety

Cauliflower is perishable and should be kept cold. Store it in the crisper section of the
refrigerator in its original packaging. Don't wash cauliflower until you're ready to cook it.

Brown speckling is a sign of oxidation, which happens due to prolonged exposure to light
and air and occurs naturally the longer cauliflower is stored. You can cut away the
occasional brown spot, but if this discoloration appears throughout the head (a sign of
spoilage), it's best to toss it.

Once cooked, you can store cauliflower in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer
for a few months. Or blanch fresh cauliflower florets, then freeze; they will keep for up to
a year.

How to Prepare
Raw cauliflower can be broken into small florets to add crunch to salads or munch on as a
snack with dressing or dip. Cauliflower can also be cooked whole, pulsed, or cut up into
florets for steaming, sautéing, blanching, stir-frying, or roasting. The leaves and core are
edible too.

Cauliflower can easily substitute for starchier foods (such as potatoes), adding vitamins,
minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. Substituting cauliflower rice for grains adds an extra
vegetable to your meal and reduces calories and carbs if that is one of your goals.

You can make your cauliflower rice or purchase pre-cooked and grated cauliflower sold as
cauliflower rice. Here is how this "rice" compares, nutritionally, to cooked white
rice and brown rice, per 1-cup serving.139

Cauliflower rice White rice Brown rice

Calories 25 242 218
Fat 2g 0.4g 1.6g
Sodium 20mg 0mg 2mg
Carbs 3g 53.4g 45.8g
Protein 3g 4.4g 4.5g
Fiber 2g 0.6g 3.5g
6 Uses for Cauliflower Rice

13 Sources
By Barbie Cervoni MS, RD, CDCES, CDN

Barbie Cervoni MS, RD, CDCES, CDN, is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes
care and education specialist, counseling patients with diabetes. Barbie was
previously the Advanced Nutrition Coordinator for the Mount Sinai Diabetes and
Cardiovascular Alliance and worked in pediatric endocrinology at The Steven and
Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center.