Broccoli vs Cauliflower: Which Is Less Inflammatory?

Broccoli is less inflammatory than cauliflower, but only just: both are anti-inflammatory, one point apart on the inflammation scale. They are the same plant bred into two different heads, they sit beside each other in the shop, and they roast on the same tray at the same temperature.

Broccoli takes the extra point for sulforaphane, a compound almost no other vegetable supplies. It is not sitting in the floret waiting for you. Chopping or chewing sets off an enzyme in the plant that makes it, and sulforaphane then switches on the defences your own cells use against damage, so the effect carries on after the meal is over.

Cauliflower brings the sulphur compounds shared by the whole cabbage family, and a cup of raw florets covers more than half a day of vitamin C. It gives up ground on colour, because a white head holds none of the pigments its green and purple relatives use against cell damage. Cauliflower pays that back in another way: riced or mashed, it replaces rice and potato on the plate, and both of those lift blood sugar much faster than cauliflower does. Cook either one without boiling it, since boiling kills the enzyme behind sulforaphane and sends the rest of the good compounds into water you pour down the sink. Steam or roast instead, and buy broccoli fresh, because frozen florets are blanched first and that enzyme is already gone.