Six Reasons Why Broccoli Rabe Should Be Your New “It” Veggie

Article by: Keri Glassman, MS – RD – CDN,

Our Nutrition Expert, Keri Glassman, is one of America’s foremost registered dietitians. She brings with her a wealth of nutritional knowledge, as well as an appreciation for foods that people love. 

If I have it my way, we’ll all be sporting t-shirts, mason jars and beach bags that say Broccoli Rabe this summer. You could say it’s my “it” veggie of the year. This very special veggie (in the best ways of course) deserves high praise in both the nutrient and taste departments.

Here are six reasons you shouldn’t leave the grocery store without it:

Pumping iron.

Iron, as many people know by now, is found in many other places than our meat and potato indulgent dinners. Iron is in fact found in a variety of fruits and veggies, including greens. Your go-to kale salad has less iron than broccoli rabe, and don’t you need a lil’ variety?  

Swiss chard can fight, but broccoli rabe will help knock out a cold.

When you’re getting creative with your veggies, keep in mind, broccoli rabe has about two times the amount of zinc as swiss chard. Why does this mineral matter? Zinc is an overachiever when it comes to your immune system, by boosting it and fighting the common cold.

It’s not all about antioxidants, green veggies have fiber too.

You can find fiber in your green veggies too. Broccoli rabe contains 50% more gastrointestinal health boosting fiber than kale. I told you, you may just be sporting a broccoli rabe bag this summer.

Orange veggies are awesome, but greens are a good way too to get in the uber antioxidant, Vitamin A, also.

Vitamin A is critical for your immune function and for good skin health. It protects your skin from wrinkles and keeps it from getting too dry.

Take that, Popeye.

Broccoli rabe beats spinach when it comes to calcium. Many of us depend on our greens to get in our bone building calcium, whether due to being lactose intolerant, vegan, or simply just not wanting to overdo dairy. Add broccoli rabe to your list of greens that pack a nice calcium punch.

Your waistline may just waste away.

We all know we need water to live. Our bodies are 50 to 75 percent water and every chemical reaction in our body depends upon it. We don’t need to get water from drinking it alone, however. The water volume in food counts towards our fluid intake. Leafy greens are especially high water volume veggies, broccoli rabe is 92.6 percent water. Also, high water volume foods help you stay full, so you eat less, which has been shown to aid in weight loss. Not only that, but being properly hydrated has been shown to boost our metabolism by 3 percent! Not bad, H2O.

Improve your energy, fight a cold, keep you regular, battle aging, build your bones and slim your waistline? Not a bad resume, broccoli rabe. Yes, please, I’m beginning to wash and chop right now.

Check out Keri’s recipe for Broccoli Rabe Chips.