Login or Register

Do Broccoli Sprouts Prevent Cancer

Jan 16, 2011 | By Chad Stone, Ph.D.
Do Broccoli Sprouts Prevent Cancer
Photo Credit Sprouts on a leaf image by Monika 3 Steps Ahead from Fotolia.com

Broccoli contains a number of healthy vitamins and nutrients that may help to prevent cancer and other chronic disease. In recent years, one specific compound found in broccoli, sulforaphane, has received a lot of attention as an anti-cancer compound. Raw broccoli contains a significant amount of sulforaphane. Broccoli sprouts have up to 50 time more sulforaphane than mature broccoli, potentially making broccoli sprouts an anti-cancer superfood.

Broccoli and Sulforaphane

Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables contain high levels of compounds known as glucoraphanins. Once inside your body, glucoraphanin is converted to sulforaphane, a molecule with very encouraging anticancer properties. CancerQuest, an online cancer resource of Emory University, explains that sulforaphane has been shown to kill many different types of cancer cells. Sulforaphane may also help to prevent cancer by increasing certain levels of certain anti-cancer enzymes in the body. While sulforaphane may prevent many different types of cancers, it may be most effective at preventing prostate cancer, as sulforaphane can block a key mechanism of prostate cancer development, according to a 2010 study by Gibbs and colleagues in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

Bioavailable Sulforaphane in Raw Broccoli

When broccoli is cooked, its level of bioavailable sulforaphane is reduced by about 90 percent, explains NaturalNews.com. The process of cooking broccoli does something to make the absorption of sulforaphane less efficient, as only about 3.4 percent of the sulforaphane in cooked broccoli makes it into your blood stream, versus 37 percent for raw broccoli. The sulforaphane in raw broccoli also appears to enter into the blood stream faster than that of cooked broccoli. After eating raw broccoli, sulforaphane levels in the blood peak after about 1.6 hours while it takes six hours for the sulforaphane from cooked broccoli to peak.

Broccoli Sprouts Are Loaded With Sulforaphane

While raw broccoli contains high levels of sulforaphane, broccoli sprouts are even more loaded with this cancer-fighting compound. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine explains that 3 day-old broccoli sprouts contain 20 to 50 times more sulforaphane than mature broccoli. To demonstrate that broccoli sprouts can be effective at preventing cancer, scientists at Johns Hopkins fed broccoli sprout extracts to rats treated with cancer-inducing agents. Rats that were fed the broccoli sprout extracts developed fewer and smaller tumors compared to rats that were not given a broccoli sprout extract.

Broccoli Sprouts and Stomach Cancer

In addition to killing cancer cells, the sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts may also help to fend off chronic bacterial infections of the stomach that eventually cause stomach cancer. Science Daily details research in Japan conducted in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University. According to this study, people who eat broccoli sprouts are less likely to suffer from the harmful effects of Helicobacter pylori, a rampant stomach bug that causes upset stomach, ulcers and even stomach cancer.

References

Article reviewed by GlennK Last updated on: Jan 16, 2011

Must see: Photo Galleries

Member Comments