Rallie McAllister, M.D., M.P.H. Broccoli may not be America's best-loved vegetable, but it undoubtedly tops the list of health-promoting foods, especially when it comes to preventing certain types of cancer.
Scientists have isolated compounds from broccoli that appear to slow -- or even stop -- the progression of bladder cancer. In a study conducted at Harvard University and Ohio State University, researchers found that men who ate two or more half-cup servings of broccoli per week had a 44 percent lower incidence of bladder cancer than men who ate less than one weekly serving of broccoli.
The compounds responsible for broccoli's cancer-fighting effect are isothiocyanates (ITCs) and sulforaphanes. Also found in other cruciferous vegetables, including cabbage, kale and collard greens, sulforaphanes appear to boost the body's defenses against cancer, while ITCs have been shown to trigger cancer cell death.
If you haven't acquired a taste for broccoli spears, you might enjoy broccoli sprouts. Sprouts are not only tender and tasty, they offer approximately 30 times more cancer-fighting ITCs and 50 times more sulforaphanes than mature broccoli.
The benefits of broccoli go well beyond offering protection against bladder cancer. The results of a study published in The Journal of Nutrition suggest that regular consumption of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables may play an important role in reducing the risk of breast cancer in pre-menopausal women.
In a recent article published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, researchers reported that broccoli-fed animals had improved heart function and less heart muscle damage after bouts of oxygen deprivation. The researchers noted that broccoli benefits the cardiovascular system by boosting levels of a protective protein called thioredoxin.
In a study funded by the National Cancer Institute, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute showed that the ITCs in broccoli appear to be highly effective in suppressing the growth of human prostate cancer cells.
Regular consumption of broccoli offers excellent cancer protection, but the protection provided by the combination of broccoli and tomatoes may be even better. At the University of Illinois, researchers found that prostate tumors shrank more in rats fed extracts of broccoli and tomatoes together than the tumors in rats fed either substance alone.
At a time when only about 23 percent of American adults eat the recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day, most of us could stand to boost our intake. The best way to get all the health-promoting benefits of broccoli, tomatoes and other plant foods is simply to eat them.
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