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By GreenMedInfo Research Group
Air pollution is associated with a long list of health problems, including cardio-respiratory, pulmonary, and chronic respiratory conditions. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified air pollution as carcinogenic to humans.
Clinical trials have found that tiny broccoli sprouts can help neutralize this problem. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and several other institutions in the United States and China tested the power of broccoli sprouts to protect people from air pollutants.1
They conducted a 12-week randomized, placebo-controlled study of 291 Chinese adults in Jiangsu—a coastal province of China with very high levels of air pollution.
Detox Air Pollution With Broccoli Sprout Drink
In the study, participants were asked to consume about half a cup of a broccoli sprout drink every day. The control group drank pineapple and lime juice. The results were published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. They found that throughout the 12-week period, the participants taking the broccoli sprout drink increased their rate of excretion of the pollutant benzene by sixty-one percent.
Of note, benzene is a known carcinogen. In the US, benzene exposure comes predominantly from car and truck exhaust, emissions from coal and oil combustion, evaporation from industrial sites, and gas stations. Smoking is another source of benzene exposure.
In addition, the study participants taking the broccoli sprout drink increased their excretion of acrolein by twenty-three percent. Smoking and secondhand smoke, as well as burning fuels like gas and oil are other sources of acrolein.
How Do Broccoli Sprouts Defeat Toxins?
Science has shown for some time that cruciferous vegetables like kale, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts contain a compound called glucoraphanin.
Animal studies show when glucoraphanin is chewed or swallowed it produces a cancer-protective compound called sulphoraphane. Additionally, sulphoraphane activates enzymes that take up the pollutants and flush them out through the urine.
In one study, researchers were surprised by the rapid rate at which sulphoraphane cleared toxins from the body. They also noted the effects of broccoli sprouts did not wane. They retained their high level of effectiveness across the twelve-week study.
The researchers concluded that broccoli sprouts enhance detoxification of some airborne pollutants and “may provide a frugal means to attenuate their associated long-term health risks.” They also indicated that sulphoraphane works best on toxins to which you’ve recently been exposed.
The sulphoraphane improves the liver’s ability to detoxify carcinogens. In fact, broccoli has been shown to kill the stem cells that make cancer immortal.
The Mighty Sprout
Broccoli sprouts are much more powerful than the fully grown vegetable. At five to six days old, the sprouts contain over one hundred times more sulphoraphane per gram than the mature plant. Broccoli sprouts are also known to have a beneficial effect on reversing breast cancer.
In 2011, the September Oncology Report found that sulforaphane suppressed breast cancer cell proliferation and growth. In fact, the research committee found that Sulforaphane inhibited the growth of cultured human breast cancer cells, leading to cell death or apoptosis.2
An equally promising study from the University of Buffalo found that sulforaphane inhibited the growth of human breast cancer cells and “indicated a potential use of this compound as a chemotherapeutic agent in cancer treatment.”3
The drink used in the China study was made with broccoli sprouts developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. They are sold under the brand name BroccoSprouts and are widely available in supermarkets or you can easily and quickly sprout your own from seeds.
Broccoli sprouts are best eaten raw and taste great on sandwiches, in wraps, as a salad topping, or blended in a smoothie.
Better yet, try serving them with broccoli. Studies show combining the two makes the anti-cancer effect almost twice as powerful.
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Well Being Journal adapted the above article from the previously published original at greenmedinfo.com titled “Mighty Broccoli Sprouts Rapidly Detox Pollutants,” November 6, 2019.
References
- Egner PA, et al. “Rapid and sustainable detoxication of airborne pollutants by broccoli sprout beverage: results of a randomized clinical trial in china.” Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2014 Aug;7(8):813-23.
- Veronique Desaulniers. “Broccoli Sprouts and Their Effect on Breast Cancer,” GreenMedInfo Research Group, June 27, 2012.
- Elaine Tseng, et al. “Dietary organic isothiocyanates are cytotoxic in human breast cancer MCF-7 and mammary epithelial MCF-12A cell lines.” Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2004 Sep;229(8):835-42.
