Steam cooking significantly improves in vitro bile acid binding of collard greens, kale, mustard greens, broccoli, green bell pepper, and cabbage
This is an interesting study that look at how steam cooking effects the ability of certain foods to bind to bile acids. Remember that bile acids are produced by the liver from cholesterol and stored in the gallbladder until needed. When our body needs to make more bile acids, we use cholesterol from the liver, essentially lowering it’s potential circulation in the serum.
So, not only would the binding to bile acids remove this cholesterol from circulation, but these bile acids, if left alone in the GI tract, are irritating to the lining of the GI tract and can increase the risk of certain GI cancers (that’s one of those little gems they NEVER seem to tell patients who have their gallbladders removed…). So, these vegetables, when steamed, actually had a greater ability to bind the bile acids and have the dual effect on circulating cholesterol as well as protecting the GI tract.