Broccoli – A Food and A Medicine

Broccoli and Its Nutritional Value

Broccoli is a high fiber and cruciferous vegetable which is also known as super food [3,4]. Its green florets produce sulforaphan, a compound which is highly heat stable and potent anticancer agent [1].

 

Misconceptions

It is believed that there are enzymes present which are responsible for production of sulforaphan in Broccoli. So, they should be inactivated during cooking and result should be in no production of given compound. But experiments proved that it was a misconception [2].

Broccoli and Its Medicinal Application

During a research at University of Illinois, Elizabeth Jeffery, professor of Human Nutrition found that lower gut microbial flora was actively releasing sulforaphan from broccoli and absorbing [1,2]. Experiment was performed using rat as test animal and work was published in Journal of Food and Function [5]. Elizabeth believe using probiotics with prebiotics (broccoli) enhance proliferation of microbes occur. So taking broccoli with yogurt can prove to be a good choice [2,4]. It will help to increase the activity of both broccoli as well as colon inhabiting bacteria against cancer cells [1].

Scope of Study

The importance of above mentioned study is that the intestinal region examined was strikingly similar with human colon which indicated our system will work similar way [6]. Broccoli is already believed to be effective against colon, breast and prostate cancer [3,5]. Studies earlier in 2010 at University of Michigan has proved that concentrated doses of sulforaphan are effective for treatment of breast cancer [6].

References

1. Scientists Attempt To Boost Broccoli’s Ability To Fight Cancer

2. Research Finds that Broccoli’s Anti-Cancer Potential Can Be Boosted

3. Broccoli can help prevent bowel cancer

4. Probiotics in yogurt boost benefits of broccoli

5. How broccoli can lower the risk of bowel cancer - even if it is overcooked

6. Tweak Could Enhance Broccoli's Cancer-Busting Potential