Powerful Sprouts: Broccoli and Cancer

Broccoli sprouts are a rich source of components that can induce glutathione, one of the body’s most important detoxifiers. In the June 2014 issue of The Natural Path, we reported on a study that found that broccoli sprouts boost detoxification of some airborne pollutants.

In a controlled trial, 291 people exposed to substantial levels of air pollution were given a broccoli sprout drink for 12 weeks. Urinary excretion of the pollutant benzene increased by 61% and of acrolein by 23% (Cancer Prevention Research 2014;doi:10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-14-0103).

Now a study just published in the same journal reports that that power of broccoli sprouts has value in fighting oral cancer. . . .

The sulforaphane in broccoli has been shown to protect against environmental carcinogens. So, researchers tried treating head and neck cancer cells from humans with sulforaphane. They found that the sulforaphane induced the cells to increase levels of a protein that turns on genes that promote the detoxification of carcinogens like the ones found in cigarettes. This result suggests that the sulforaphane in broccoli could protect against cancer of the head and neck.

This promise is important because, according to the authors of the study, “With head and neck cancer, we often clear patients of cancer only to see it come back with deadly consequences a few years later.” So, they turned to broccoli.

In a small study of ten healthy people, they found that drinking or swishing with fruit juice mixed with broccoli sprout extract for several days showed that the broccoli sprout extract did in live people what it did in the cells in the earlier study. It activated the same genetic pathway in their mouths.

This study suggests that broccoli sprout extract could be an important cancer preventer.

Cancer Prevention Research 2016
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-06/uops-bse062216.php

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For more on healthy eating to prevent cancer, see Linda’s newest book, The All-New Vegetarian Passport: a comprehensive health book and cookbook all in one.