How Cruciferous Vegetables Kick Cancer to the Curb

 

You know that consuming plenty of vegetables is vital for you’re your nutritional wellness, but which ones? Sure, plant foods are all good for your wellbeing – they’re rich in vitamins, minerals, and gut-healthy fibre – but are all vegetables created equal? Or could some vegetables provide enhanced benefits as compared to others? In truth, the answer is…not really. All veggies are great but, if you are literally forcing yourself to eat more vegetables, new research suggests that cruciferous ones are the way to go.

 

Cruciferous vegetables belong to the cabbage family, and include broccoli, collard greens, Watercress, arugula, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Kale, bok choy and wasabi, to name just a few. All of these veggies are absolutely packed with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. If you want to get specific, all cruciferous vegetables have a high content of beta carotene, zeaxanthin and lutein from the Carotenoids group, along with being rich in folate and Vitamins C, E and K. With the addition of gut-friendly fibre that these veggies provide, it’s no wonder that they can help make up a healthy diet.

 

However, considering the fact that a lot of other vegetables have these healthy components, we need to explore the things that set cruciferous vegetables apart from all the others; glucosinolates and myrosinase. When your body digests cruciferous vegetables, the myrosinase to come into contact with glucosinolates, initiating a chemical reaction that has a vital effect on your wellness: protecting you against cancer. Powerful anti-cancer compounds release active compounds like nitriles, indoles, isothiocyanates and thiocyanates as a result of this chemical reaction, and this prevents cancer in four key ways:

 

1. Protecting against DNA damage

2. Having a holistic antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antiviral effect within the cells

3. Making potential carcinogens inactive

4. Helping to negate oxidative stress and fight against oxygen free radicals produced by the body. Reducing these helps cut down the risk of several cancers, including prostate cancer.

 

In fact, research recommends you add about two to three servings of cruciferous vegetables to your diet, but this can be daunting if you’re not particularly fond of veggies. The down side to cruciferous vegetables is that they contain sulphur based chemicals (the very same beneficial glucosinolates) which gives these vegetables a slightly bitter taste. That said, once you take a look at the wellness numbers, you will agree that cruciferous vegetables are no doubt better for you as compared to other vegetables!

 

• Research found that 28 servings of vegetables per week decreased prostate cancer risk by 33%, but just three servings of cruciferous vegetables per week decreased prostate cancer risk by 41%.


• Just one more servings of cabbage per week can reduce your risk of pancreatic cancer by 38%.


• One serving per day of cruciferous vegetables can lower your risk of breast cancer by over 50%.

 

Cruciferous vegetables are very beneficial when it comes to preventing hormone based cancers – like breast cancer and ovarian cancer – in particular. This is due to the fact that compounds like indole-3-carbinol (abundant in broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage), can help your body excrete oestrogen and other hormones. New research has reveals that these ITCs blunt the growth-promoting effects of oestrogen on breast and cervical cancer cells. Chinese researchers recently found that women who regularly ate one serving of cruciferous vegetables per day had a 50% reduced risk of breast cancer. Moreover, a European study revealed that consuming cruciferous vegetables at least once a week led to a 17% decrease in breast cancer risk. Plus, breast cancer survivors who eat cruciferous vegetables regularly have lower risk of cancer recurrence – the more cruciferous vegetables they ate, the lower their risk.

 

Categories: cancer prevention, Cruciferous Vegetables, vitamins

New Broccoli Superfood Can Retune Your Body to Fight Ageing!

You know that fresh produce is beneficial to your well-being, but can boring old fruit and veg can’t do much for your anti-ageing wellness? Now, British scientists have given broccoli a makeover, turning it into a super-food that can re-tune your metabolism to fight the ageing process.

 

Sold under the brand name Beneforte (which is available from certain supermarkets for a quid), the vegetable has been boosted with a plant compound which wellness experts assert can protect you against heart disease and cancer. Volunteers who tried the product experienced metabolic changes that were the biological equivalent of a car’s 12,000 mile service. In your body there are tiny energy generators in cells called mitochondria, which become less efficient with age. The malfunction of these generators contributes to problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer. However, Beneforte gave these mitochondria a new lease of life and improved their performance.

 

Although Beneforte showed the most striking effect out of other tested cruciferous vegetables –including ordinary broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale and cauliflower – the research team, led by Professor Richard Mithen from the Institute of Food Research, asserted that the findings underlined the health benefits of eating cruciferous vegetables in general. In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the study authors concluded, ‘A diet rich in cruciferous vegetables effectively re-tunes our metabolism.. In this manner, cruciferous vegetables may be able to reduce the risk of many chronic diseases associated with ageing.’

 

For the study, 48 volunteers were split into three groups and ate 400 grams a week of either Beneforte, standard broccoli, or peas for three months. In the Beneforte group, the participants showed clear signs of improved metabolism, and two biochemical processes vital to mitochondrial function were “rebalanced”. These volunteers also experienced reduced levels of compounds linked to inflammation in their blood. Professor Mithen noted, ‘Although this is a pilot study, we think it is significant because it shows in humans a measurable effect on our metabolism, which is central to our overall health and could explain the diverse range of beneficial effects many observational dietary studies have shown previously.’

 

Nutritionist Dr Gail Rees, from the University of Plymouth, commented, ‘This is an exciting study that demonstrates how eating broccoli benefits our metabolism. It is of huge scientific interest as we are now starting to unravel exactly which components of fruit and vegetables are responsible for good health and what the specific effects are. The study.. is particularly important because it shows the advantages of eating regular but reasonable portion sizes of a special type of broccoli high in glucoraphanin. The study also demonstrates that the response to eating this type of broccoli is dependent on genetic makeup, so how beneficial it is to your health varies according to your genetics.’

Categories: anti aging, Beneforte, broccoli, Cruciferous Vegetables, heart disease, Metabolism, Research, study, superfood, vegetables