Broccoli linked with lower fall risk in the elderly: Study

They may not be everyones favourite foods but broccoli and brussels sprouts have far more health benefits than first believed. In fact, the green veggies are packed full of nutrients that actually help prevent falls in the elderly.

Now it is common knowledge that vegetables should be a part of everyones daily diet but according to researchers there are a handful of these healthy foods that significantly lower the risk of falls that require hospitalisation, Scimex reported.

The team from the School of Medical and Health Sciences spent 15 years studying the diets of women aged 70 and above and came to the conclusion that eating one serve of cruciferous vegetables – brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage- a day makes the world of difference.

It seems there was a reason for all of the nagging from parents growing up as lead researcher Dr Marc Sim and his colleagues found just half a cup of the veggies a day lowered the risk of a fall.

“We also found that higher overall vegetable consumption was associated with better muscle strength and physical function in our participants, which we suspect is one of the ways they reduce the risk of falling,” he explained.

Hoping to create a better future for those prone to falls, Dr Sim said suffering an injurious fall can have a significant impact on an individual’s quality of life.

“On top of the physical impact, suffering a fall has been linked to a reduced participation in social and physical activities due to a fear of falling again,” he said.

“We wanted to find out what factors could help prevent people from falling to allow them to maintain their quality of life well into old age.”

Read more: Broccoli versus cauliflower: Which is healthier?

Taking it one step further, the researcher explained they will undertake further testing of the cruciferous vegetables to find out exactly what properties they contain to help prevent falls.

But broccoli isn’t just good for preventing falls. Only recently Starts at 60 spoke to Brisbane-based nutritionist Alessandra Trovato about the benefits of the green veggie and the similar looking cauliflower.

Members of the brassica family, both veggies are rich in vitamins C and K, however broccoli beats cauliflower in this respect as it has a higher nutrient content. Broccoli also provides more minerals and fibre, and also contains vitamin A which is not found in cauliflower.

Are you a fan of broccoli? Do you have a lot of it in your diet?