Health Tip # Whatever: Eat Your Broccoli (Sprouts)

I've never been a good vegetable and fruit eater. Not really. Too lazy to learn how to cook good vegetable dishes. I've become better at it in the past year, but I still struggle. It's so much easier (and more appealing) to grab some yummy, sugary carb than to take the time to create a tasty salad or  a vegetable dish that requires more than quick steaming (and even that takes time...i.e. cutting and cleaning the veggies first...I've never had the patience!). So one thing I'm trying to do is add more sprouts. I try adding them into things I really like, like cheesy quesidillas, omelets, or even soup.

The American Cancer Society believes that 30% of all cancer is due to inadequate consumption of vegetables and fruits. About 91% of Americans fail to achieve target recommendations, that is, 5 vegetable servings a day or 2-3 pounds a week. Asians who consume from 15-20 servings of fruits and vegetables a day have a much lower incidence of some cancers.

Vegetables of the cruciferous family isolate the anticarcinogenic constituents of Brassica plants. Glucosinolates (appearing in cruciferous vegetables) can inhibit, retard, or even reverse experimental multistage carcinogenesis (Fimognari et al. 2002). As enzymatic processes hydrolyze glucosinolates, isothiocyanates are released, including sulphoraphane. Sulphoraphane wields a strong arm against cancer, promoting apoptosis, inducing Phase II detoxification enzymes, increasing p53 and participating in the regulatory mechanisms of the cell's growth cycle. Necrosis (localized death of diseased tissues) is typically observed after prolonged exposure to elevated doses of sulphoraphane.

For the past several years, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have urged the inclusion of broccoli sprouts in the diet. According to Dr. Paul Talalay, broccoli sprouts have 20-50 times more anticancer sulphoraphanes than grown vegetables (Fahey et al. 1997). Eating a few tablespoons of sprouts daily can supply the same amount of chemoprotection as 1-2 pounds of broccoli eaten weekly (Talalay 1997). —from the LEF (Life Extension Foundation) newsletter

Sunflower seed sprouts are another really good one - highly nutritious!

Comments

[Ms.K]

Love sunflower sprouts. Can't find 'em in NYC. In fact, I plain don't eat nearly the fruits and vegs I used to. That's one of the things I crave about SF.

[Karen]

I've had heard/read of the "elevated levels" of sulforaphane, but I have never been able to locate the source of that information. What are those levels? How much sulforaphane for what length of time is considered toxic and how easy would it be to reach that level?