Broccoli The anti-carcinogenic properties of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli have been touted for some time, but new research reveals that you can double its powers by eating it with broccoli sprouts.
Broccoli sprouts are simply very new broccoli plants – they are grown for three or four days, compared to several weeks for the broccoli heads you buy in the supermarket.
Just three to five servings of broccoli each week are enough to give you a beneficial anti-carcinogenic effect, say the researchers from the University of Illinois. But its effects are down to an enzyme called myrosinase, which works as an anti-inflammatory as well as against cancer. If broccoli is overcooked, this enzyme is destroyed. What’s more, supplements containing broccoli powder do not contain the enzyme either, so on their own they are not a good substitute for the vegetable itself. What supplements, and other foods such as mustard, radishes and wasabi, do contain, however, is a substance called sulforaphane that helps boost the benefits of myrosinase.
What does this all mean for you? If you mix broccoli sprouts, which contain a lot of myrosinase, with your broccoli supplement, or broccoli itself, you’ll increase its anti-carcinogenic properties. "We saw a twofold increase in sulforaphane absorption when sprouts and powder were eaten together," says graduate student Jenna Cramer, who is co-author of the study. They also saw other signs indicating that the healthy substances appeared earlier in the bloodstream and at higher levels too.
As for how to cook broccoli: the research team say that two to four minutes of steaming is ideal.
First published February 21, 2011