Eating Baby Broccoli May Protect Against Stomach Cancer

Results of a Japanese study indicate that eating two to three ounces of baby broccoli every day can be very effective to prevent against those stomach bugs that become the cause of gastritis ulcers and can even lead to stomach cancer.

Sulforaphane is a natural biochemical that is abundantly found in fresh broccoli sprouts and this chemical also seems to boost the production of an enzyme in the bowels that prove quite effective to shield against inflammation, oxygen radicals and DNA-damaging chemicals.

An article, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, says that some serious health conditions can be avoided by eating two or three ounces of fresh broccoli every day.

According to Jed Fahey, a nutritional biochemist, says about the new findings: “It is, indeed, a food that can be very helpful to prevent various gastric problems and even help to protect against stomach cancer.”

Results of some previous studies have already shown sulforphane serves as a vital antibiotic against a bacterium known as Helicobacter pylori and it can become the cause of ulcers, gastritis and stomach cancer. However, this is the first study that showed the effects of this biochemical on people.

Fahey says in this connection, “a considerably higher amount of sulforaphane has been noticed in the Broccoli sprouts than the broccoli with mature heads.

In their trail, the researchers offered 70gm of broccoli sprouts to those 25 patients who had Helicobacter pylori infection. They had to consume this specific amount of broccoli sprouts for two months.

Another group of 25 people with this infection were given the same amount of alfalfa sprouts for two months that do not have sulforaphane.