Broccoli will be better for you if you do one simple thing before cooking

As fad diets come and go, one thing remains true - is good for you. Inside its crunchy stalk and florets are vitamins, minerals and compounds that have been found to lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation, and stabilise blood sugar.

Whether you roast, steam, stir fry or eat the veg in raw form, there is a way to make broccoli even healthier no matter . Surgeon Dr Karan Rajan teamed up with health influencer Cory Rodriguez to share some food hacks that make healthy food even healthier. The duo shared how you can maximise broccoli's without doing a thing - except wait 10 minutes.

Sulforaphane is a nutrient with antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. It's found in cruciferous vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.

Chopping or chewing activates sulforaphane, which is why it pays to wait.

"If you chop up broccoli and let it sit out for 10 minutes before cooking it, you can increase the cancer-fighting compound sulforaphane in the broccoli," said Cory.

A found that letting broccoli sit for 90 minutes after chopping and before cooking maximises the amount of sulforaphane, almost triple the amount in broccoli that was cooked right after chopping.

Granted, an hour and a half is quite long to wait. The researchers said even 30 minutes would be helpful.

The duo shared other healthy hacks from reducing garlic breath to increasing other nutrients.

"If you eat an apple after you eat garlic, then the enzymes in the apple break down the sulfur in the garlic leaving you without garlic breath," they shared.

Letting a cooked potato cool before eating, will "increase its resistant starch content, making it better for your gut and blood sugar control".

Stuck with a rock hard avocado? Cory and Dr Rajan said that ethylene gas from bananas help unripe avocados ripen.

They concluded with a tip for better skin: "If you grate carrots before you eat then you absorb more of the skin-supporting antioxidant beta-carotene."