Functional food pranks

Do y’all remember this Halloween prank idea gone viral? Chocolate covered brussels sprouts. I laughed so hard when I first saw it. It popped up in my brain the other day and I started laughing again thinking about it in terms of actually being a functional food....because, well, it is.

Chocolate and cruciferous veggies (kale, cauliflower, broccoli etc.) actually have some great things in common and the common ground of this is they are superfoods for heart health.

And who couldn’t use a little more heart health these days? Both contain high amounts of polyphenols which act as dietary antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory effects. And it is coming to light more and more that inflammation affects every aspect of our health. Inflammation contributes to heart disease.

See where I’m going with this?

It has been shown that those who eat more cruciferous veggies have less carotid artery wall thickness. As well, dark chocolate and cacao have shown vasodilation and cardioprotective effects.

As an added benefit cruciferous veggies aid our liver detox pathways.

I’m not sure I”m going to start dumping chocolate over my brussels sprouts, but I still regard it as one of the best prank ideas of all time and I’m all about some bacon sautéed brussels sprouts with sides of homemade mayo and sauerkraut and some dark chocolate for dessert. • #polyphenols #brusselsprouts#cruciferousvegetables #chocolate #cacao#hearthealth #antioxidants #antiinflammatory#functionalfood #functionalnutrition#functionalnutritioncoach #adapt#adaptogeniclifestyle #healthyeating #funny#prank #chocolatecoveredbrusselsprouts

Image credit: Mark Sparrow