The Cancer-Fighting Power of Veggies Work With Your Genes
 
 
 Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower contain compounds that reduce the risk of hereditary cancers. The beneficial compound in these vegetables is sulforaphane (SFN).

Researchers have known that the compound can fight cancer caused by carcinogens, but now they've found it also fights those caused by genetics.

The researchers used mice that had been specially bred to carry a mutation that switches off a gene that suppresses tumors (the same gene that's related to colon cancer development in humans). When the gene is inactivated, polyps that lead to tumors develop in the small intestine.

In the study, one group of mice was fed a diet supplemented with 300 parts per million (ppm) of SFN. Another group was fed a diet supplemented with 600 ppm of SFN.

Three weeks later, mice fed the 300-ppm diet had an average of 25 percent fewer polyps in the small intestine compared to mice fed no SFN. Polyps decreased 47 percent in the 600-ppm group.

The researchers believe SFN suppressed certain enzymes that are active in mice and humans with colon cancer. They recommended that SFN be evaluated clinically for its cancer-preventative effects in humans.
 
 

Science Blog May 17, 2006
 
Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 
 No major news here.

Both broccoli and cauliflower are on the list of the 25 disease-fighting and highly recommended vegetable list. It is important to keep in mind that although these vegetables contain many healthy benefits, they might actually throw off your biochemistry if they don't fit in with your metabolic type.

To give you an idea of this, I am a protein metabolic type and broccoli pushes my biochemistry in an unhealthy direction. So, it helps me to avoid it, and that is what my body tells me to do.

However, the DIM (Diindolylmethane) found in broccoli is also in other cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, which happens to be good for protein types.

So it is very important to understand your body at a deeper level because if you were to eat broccoli and you were a protein type, the other effects of broccoli might push your metabolic biochemistry in the wrong direction and thus override the benefits of the DHT inhibition.

The best way to understand specifically what foods are ideal for your body in particular is to learn your metabolic type. Properly eating for your particular metabolic type will lead to increased daily energy, improved emotional well-being, a feeling of satisfaction and, of course, optimized health and weight so you live longer.

You'll also understand how beneficial eating generally healthy foods like broccoli really is compared to other foods that might be even better for you.

However, even if you were a mixed or vegetarian/carb type and broccoli were good for you, there are likely better ways to get the benefits than eating whole broccoli.

Growing broccoli sprouts yourself is easy and inexpensive. You can purchase organic broccoli seeds and your local library or health food store may have some instructions on sprouting seeds.

The other major benefit of the sprouts is that they don't smell, as you don't have to cook them. They are eaten raw, usually as an addition to salad. I suspect that there are similar benefits for many of the other vegetables when eaten as sprouts.

If you are interested in really leveraging this approach I would highly recommend adopting the use of broccoli spouts. I advocated this approach nearly 10 years ago now and wrote a detailed article about how you can inexpensively grow your own broccoli sprouts.

  
 Related Articles:

Broccoli Sprouts Fight Ulcers and Cancer

Chemicals in Broccoli and Other Veggies Cut Lung Cancer Risk

The Cancer-Fighting Power of Broccoli Sprouts
 

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