Know2eat

Cauliflower

Brassica oleracea var. botrytis

Also known as White cauliflower, Romanesco, Purple cauliflower

SaveCompare

A cultivated Brassica oleracea grown for its dense head of undeveloped flower buds. Its mild flavour and low carbohydrate content have made it a common substitute for rice and potato.

Weight ManagementBlood Sugar & Metabolic HealthInflammation

Potential health benefits

Best supported: Limited

Ordered by how well the human research supports them — strongest first. A rating describes the state of the evidence, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.

Satiety and appetite

Weight Management
Limited evidence

Substituting cauliflower for a starchy staple lowers the energy density of a meal, and lower energy density is associated with reduced intake in feeding studies. Trials on cauliflower specifically are lacking.

Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.

2 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Blood glucose response

Blood Sugar & Metabolic Health
Insufficient evidence

Replacing rice or potato with cauliflower reduces the carbohydrate content of a meal, which lowers the glucose response for arithmetic reasons. There is little research testing cauliflower itself as an active ingredient.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

No source is attached to this association yet, so it is rated insufficient by default. It is listed because people commonly ask about it — not because there is evidence for it.

Inflammatory markers

Inflammation
Insufficient evidence

Cauliflower is often included in anti-inflammatory food lists on the strength of its glucosinolate content. Human trials measuring inflammatory markers after eating cauliflower have essentially not been done.

Insufficient evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.

2 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Ask about Cauliflower

Ask about Cauliflower

Answers are written only from the entries on this page — the same nutrients, compounds, claims and citations you can read above. Nothing is added from outside the database, and every answer lists what it was built from.

AI explanations are not switched on for this site, so there is nothing to ask here. Everything above is read straight from the database and does not need them.

Key nutrients

Nutrient content per 100 grams
NutrientAmount% DV
Macronutrients
Calories25 kcal1%
Protein1.92 g4%
Total fat0.28 g0%
Carbohydrate4.97 g2%
Fibre2 g7%
Total sugars1.91 g—
Water92.1 g—
Fats
Saturated fat0.13 g1%
Monounsaturated fat0.034 g—
Polyunsaturated fat0.031 g—
Cholesterol0 mg0%
ALA (omega-3)0.015 g—
EPA (omega-3)0 g—
DHA (omega-3)0 g—
DPA (omega-3)0 g—
Linoleic acid (omega-6)0.016 g—
Vitamins
Vitamin A0 µg0%
Vitamin C48.2 mg54%
Vitamin D0 µg0%
Vitamin E0.08 mg1%
Vitamin K15.5 µg13%
Thiamin (B1)0.05 mg4%
Riboflavin (B2)0.06 mg5%
Niacin (B3)0.507 mg3%
Pantothenic acid (B5)0.667 mg13%
Vitamin B60.184 mg11%
Folate57 µg14%
Vitamin B120 µg0%
Choline44.3 mg8%
Minerals
Calcium22 mg2%
Iron0.42 mg2%
Magnesium15 mg4%
Phosphorus44 mg4%
Potassium299 mg6%
Sodium30 mg1%
Zinc0.27 mg2%
Copper0.039 mg4%
Manganese0.155 mg7%
Selenium0.6 µg1%
Other measured compounds
Beta-carotene0 µg—
Alpha-carotene0 µg—
Lycopene0 µg—
Lutein + zeaxanthin1 µg—
Caffeine0 mg—
Ash0.76 g—

Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

Source record: Cauliflower, raw (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 169986).

% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.

Bioactive compounds

Compounds present in meaningful amounts. Presence is banded rather than quantified, because whole-food levels vary enormously with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

How preparation changes things

Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.

  • crushedIncreases isothiocyanate yield

    Chopping the florets and leaving them to stand before cooking allows myrosinase to convert glucosinolates before heat inactivates it.

  • boiledReduces glucosinolates and vitamin C

    Boiling leaches both glucosinolates and vitamin C into the cooking water and destroys the enzyme needed to form isothiocyanates. Roasting or steaming retains considerably more.

Things to know

Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.

  • Too much

    High FODMAP content

    Cauliflower is high in the polyol mannitol and is one of the vegetables most often identified as a trigger in irritable bowel syndrome. Cauliflower rice concentrates a large amount into one serving.

  • Worth knowing

    Goitrogens with iodine deficiency

    As a cruciferous vegetable, cauliflower releases thiocyanates that compete with iodine uptake. The concern applies to very high raw intakes in people who are already iodine-deficient, not to ordinary cooked portions.

  • Worth knowing

    The purine question

    Cauliflower appears on older gout food lists because of its purine content. Large cohort studies have not found vegetable purines to raise gout risk the way meat and seafood purines do, so that restriction is generally no longer advised.