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lacoste
New member
I just switched over to green beans as well from broccoli. For me personally i just digest he green beans much more efficiently. Everyone around me is happier too.*Bunny* said:^^ got that right... I just switched to Green Beans, I was all broccoli'd out ... Never had a problem with digestion though ... This is a great food to have in your diet
. That's just me though. Everyone is different.
madteabagger
New member
bigmark1515 said:
I read in men's health that broccolli, brussel sprouts, and a couple other veggies have some chemical in them that naturally supports test production. Not sure how much it helps, I bought like 5 bags after that and still have 4.5 in the freezer. That was a few months ago.
Lifterforlife
New member
madteabagger said:
Check out post #5.
Broccoli is good cooked or raw. I like to use it cooked with my after workout meal (usually chicken and rice). Other days I like to juice it with some carrots and celery in my Omega Juicer. It is crazy how you can actually feel the nutrients enter your body when you drink a cup of fresh vegi juice.
Health Benefits
Cancer Protection
Like other cruciferous vegetables, broccoli contains phytochemicals--sulforaphane and the indoles--with significant anti-cancer effects. Research on indole-3-carbinol shows this compound helps deactivate a potent estrogen metabolite (4-hydroxyestrone) that promotes tumor growth, especially in estrogen-sensitive breast cells, while at the same time increasing the level of 2-hydroxyestrone, a form of estrogen that can be cancer-protective. Indole-3-carbinol has been shown to suppress not only breast tumor cell growth, but also cancer cell metastasis (the movement of cancerous cells to other parts of the body). Scientists have found that sulforaphane boosts the body's detoxification enzymes, potentially by altering gene expression, thus helping to clear potentially carcinogenic substances more quickly. When researchers at Johns Hopkins studied the effect of sulphoraphane on tumor formation in lab animals, those animals given sulforaphane had fewer tumors, and the tumors they did develop grew more slowly and weighed less, meaning they were smaller.
A study published December 2003 in the cancer journal, Oncology Report demonstrated that sulforaphane, which is a potent inducer of Phase 2 liver detoxification enzymes, also has a dose-dependent ability to induce cell growth arrest and cell death via apoptosis (the self-destruct sequence the body uses to eliminate abnormal cells) in both leukemia and melanoma cells.
A study published in the September 2004 issue of the Journal of Nutrition found sulforaphane also helps stop the proliferation of breast cancer cells, even in the later stages of their growth. (If broccoli isn't one of your favorite vegetables, remember that a tablespoon of broccoli sprouts contains as much sulforaphane as is found in a whole pound of adult broccoli.)
Another study, published in the December 2003 issue of Cancer, the journal of the American Cancer Society, looked at indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a naturally occurring component of Brassica vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. I3C has been recognized as a promising anticancer agent against certain reproductive tumor cells. This study evaluated I3C’s effects on cell cycling progression and cancer cell proliferation in human prostate cancer cells. I3C was shown to suppress the growth of prostate cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner by blocking several important steps in cell cycling and also to inhibit the production of prostate specific antigen, a protein produced by the prostate whose rising levels may indicate prostate cancer. Researchers noted that the results of this study demonstrate that “I3C has a potent antiproliferative effect” in human prostate cancer cells, which qualifies it as “a potential chemotherapeutic agent” against human prostate cancer.
New research has greatly advanced scientists’ understanding of just how Brassica family vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts help prevent cancer. When these vegetables are cut, chewed or digested, a sulfur-containing compound called sinigrin is brought into contact with the enzyme myrosinase, resulting in the release of glucose and breakdown products, including highly reactive compounds called isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates are not only potent inducers of the liver’s Phase II enzymes, which detoxify carcinogens, but research recently conducted at the Institute for Food Research in the U.K. shows one of these compounds, allyl isothicyanate, also inhibits mitosis (cell division) and stimulates apoptosis (programmed cell death) in human tumor cells.
Cell replication (when the parent cell divides to form two daughter cells) occurs in a four-stage process. After the cell divides (the first stage), pole structures are created called spindles (the second or metaphase). If anything interferes with the construction and deconstruction of these spindles, the cell division process stops, and the damaged cells commit suicide. The IFR team, led by Ian Johnson, has shown that isothiocyanate disrupts the metaphase, thus preventing the cell division of the colon cancer cells. Their research is published in the July 2004 issue of Carcinogenesis.
Broccoli definitely proves the adage, "Good things come in small packages." Broccoli sprouts concentrate phytochemicals found in mature broccoli—a lot. Researchers estimate that broccoli sprouts contain 10-100 times the power of mature broccoli to boost enzymes that detoxify potential carcinogens! A healthy serving of broccoli sprouts in your salad or sandwich can offer as much or even more protection against cancer as larger amounts of mature broccoli.
Broccoli Sprouts Provide Protection against Stomach Cancer
Regularly eating broccoli sprouts may help prevent stomach cancer by reducing Helicobacteri pylori (H. pylori) infection, which is known to cause gastritis (stomach inflammation) and peptic ulcer, suggests a study published in an early 2005 issue of Inflammopharmacology.
The research team, led by Akinori Yanaka of the University of Tsukuba, Japan, found that in patients with H.pylori infection, a diet including 100 grams of broccoli sprouts per day (about 3 ounces) resulted in a significant reduction of H. pylori and pepsinogen (a biomarker in the blood indicating the degree of gastritis).
The researchers think these beneficial results are due to broccoli sprouts' especially rich concentration of sulforaphane, which can protect against oxidative (free radical) damage in cells that can damage DNA, potentially causing cancer.
Helicobacter pylori infection results in a constant barrage of oxidative damage to the cells that make up the lining of the stomach. Cells can survive against such chronic oxidative stress by increasing their protective arsenal of anti-oxidant enzymes, thereby protecting cells from DNA damage.
Recent studies have shown that the gene encoding Nrf-2 (NF-E2 p45-related factor-2) plays an important role in increasing the production of antioxidant enzymes protective against oxidative stress. Sulforaphane stimulates this nrf-2 gene-dependent production of anti-oxidant enzymes, thereby protecting cells from oxidative injury during H. pylori infection.
The Japanese team recruited 40 patients infected with H. pylori. Each day for two months, 20 patients ate a diet with 100 grams of two or three-day old sulforaphane-rich broccoli sprouts each day for two months, while the remaining 20 ate a diet with 100 grams of alfalfa sprouts instead.
"We wanted to test alfalfa spouts together with broccoli sprouts," Yanaka explained, "because the chemical constituents of the two plants are almost identical, except that 100 grams of broccoli sprouts contain 250 milligrams of sulforaphane glucosinolate whereas alfalfa sprouts contain neither sulforaphane nor sulforaphane glucosinolate."
(Glucosinolates, naturally occurring compounds in cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage as well as broccoli, are enzymatically converted into sulforaphane and other bioactive components when the sprouts are chewed or cut.)
At the end of the two-month dietary regimen, patients consuming 100 grams of broccoli sprouts per day showed significantly less H. pylori and markedly decreased pepsinogen (an indicator of gastric atrophy). Those eating alfalfa sprouts did not show any effect.
"Even though we were unable to eradicate H. pylori, to be able suppress it and relieve the accompanying gastritis by means as simple as eating more broccoli sprouts is good news for the many people who are infected," said Yanaka. Infection with H. pylori is very common worldwide, and some experts estimate that nearly 50% of the American public is infected with the bacterium. In addition, this research provides a deeper understanding of earlier studies suggesting broccoli sprouts have cancer-preventive properties. We now know that by increasing the production of anti-oxidant enzymes that protect against H. pylori-induced DNA damage, these sulforaphane-rich sprouts also help prevent gastric cancer.
Help for Sun-Damaged Skin
Sulforaphane, an active compound found in Brassica family vegetables and highly concentrated in broccoli sprouts, has already been shown to boost liver and skin cells' detoxifying abilities. Now, research conducted at John's Hopkins University and published in the November 2005 issue of Cancer Letters indicates sulforaphane can help repair sun-damaged skin.
After exposure to a dose of UV light comparable to that which would be received by a person sunbathing by the sea on a clear summer's day, twice weekly for 20 weeks, test animals were treated with varying doses of broccoli extract applied topically to their backs, 5 days a week for 11 weeks. Broccoli extract counteracted the animals' skin cells' carcinogenic response to UV light. Recent research has demonstrated that some sun exposure is essential for good health since it is needed for our production of vitamin D, yet skin cancer rates continue to rise due to depletion of the ozone layer. Broccoli sprouts' ability to repair damage done to sun-exposed skin may offer us a way to receive the benefits of sunlight we need without increasing our risk for skin cancer.
A Cardio-Protective Vegetable
Broccoli has been singled out as one of the small number of vegetables and fruits that contributed to the significant reduction in heart disease risk seen in a recent meta-analysis of seven prospective studies. Of the more than 100,000 individuals who participated in these studies, those who diets most frequently included broccoli, tea, onions, and apples—the richest sources of flavonoids—gained a 20% reduction in their risk of heart disease.
Now, an animal study, published in the May 4, 2004 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, not only suggests that just eating a couple of tablespoons a day of broccoli sprouts may have a major beneficial impact on cardiovascular health, but offers some of the reasons why.
In this 14-week study, led by Bernhard Juurlink, from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, rats prone to high blood pressure and stroke were fed either broccoli sprouts rich in a compound already known to be protective against cancer called glucoraphanin (and also known as sulforaphane glucosinolate or SGS), broccoli sprouts depleted of this substance, or no broccoli sprouts at all. At the end of the study, in rats fed the glucoraphanin-rich diet, tissue antioxidant defense mechanisms increased, inflammation decreased in the heart, arteries and kidneys, and blood pressure dropped. Rats given broccoli sprouts without glucoraphanin and rats given no broccoli sprouts exhibited no protective changes. According to Juurlink, glucoraphanin-rich broccoli sprouts help the body disarm free radicals—not directly like the antioxidant vitamins C and E, which scavenge one free radical at a time by binding to it, and are therefore rendered inactive in the process—but by boosting the body’s own antioxidant defense systems by increasing levels of glutathione, an antioxidant produced by the body that serves as an essential component in glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase, some of the liver’s most important detoxification enzymes. The end result is a broad spectrum of ongoing, prolonged antioxidant activity that cycles over and over, eliminating many free radicals.
Cataract Prevention
Broccoli and other leafy green vegetables contain powerful phytochemical antioxidants in the carotenoid family called lutein and zeaxanthin, both of which are concentrated in large quantities in the lens of the eye. When 36,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study were monitored, those who ate broccoli more than twice a week had a 23% lower risk of cataracts compared to men who consumed this antioxidant-rich vegetable less than once a month. In addition to the antioxidant potential of broccoli's carotenoids, recent research has suggested that sulforaphane may also have antioxidant potential, being able to protect human eye cells from free radical stressors.
Stronger Bones with Broccoli
When it comes to building strong bones, broccoli's got it all for less. One cup of cooked broccoli contains 74 mg of calcium, plus 123 mg of vitamin C, which significantly improves calcium's absorption; all this for a total of only 44 calories. To put this in perspective, an orange contains no calcium, 69 mg of vitamin C, and 60--about 50% more--calories. Dairy products, long touted as the most reliable source of calcium, contain no vitamin C, but do contain saturated fat. A glass of 2% milk contains 121 calories, and 42 of those calories come from fat.
Protection Against Ulcers
The same research team that discovered that broccoli sprouts fight cancer have also found that these sprouts may also eradicate Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium not only responsible for most peptic ulcers but one that has been found to increase a person's risk of getting gastric cancer three to sixfold. Glucoraphanin, a compound found in broccoli and broccoli sprouts that the body turns into the cancer-preventive chemical sulforaphane, appears to be more effective than modern antibiotics against H. pylori. Clinical research is being planned that will hopefully confirm these findings, offering people an effective dietary approach to eliminate H. pylori.
As promised, a study published in the December 2003 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy provides more support for broccoli’s ability to eliminate H. pylori In this study, sulforaphane, a phytochemical richly abundant in the form of its precursor in broccoli sprouts, was able to completely eradicate H. pylori in 8 of 11 mice that had been infected with the bacterium via the implantation of infected human gastric cells. Results were so dramatic the researchers concluded that sulforaphane-rich broccoli may be of benefit in the treatment or prevention of infection with H. pylori, a primary cause of ulcers.
An Immune System Booster
Not only does a cup of broccoli contain the RDA for vitamin C, it also fortifies your immune system with a hefty 1359 mcg of beta-carotene, and small but useful amounts of zinc and selenium, two trace minerals that act as cofactors in numerous immune defensive actions.
A Birth Defect Fighter
Especially if you are pregnant, be sure to eat broccoli. A cup of broccoli supplies 94 mcg of folic acid, a B-vitamin essential for proper cellular division because it is necessary in DNA synthesis. Without folic acid, the fetus' nervous system cells do not divide properly. Deficiency of folic acid during pregnancy has been linked to several birth defects, including neural tube defects like spina bifida. Despite folic acid's wide occurence in food (it's name comes from the Latin word folium, meaning "foliage," because it's found in green leafy vegetables), folic acid deficiency is the most common vitamin deficiency in the world.
Protection against Rheumatoid Arthritis
While one July 2004 study suggests that high doses of supplemental vitamin C makes osteoarthritis, a type of degenerative arthritis that occurs with aging, worse in guinea pigs, another indicates that vitamin C-rich foods, such as broccoli, provide humans with protection against inflammatory polyarthritis, a form of rheumatoid arthritis involving two or more joints.
The findings, presented in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases were drawn from a study of more than 20,000 subjects who kept diet diaries and were arthritis-free when the study began, and focused on 73 subjects who developed inflammatory polyarthritis and 146 similar subjects who remained arthritis-free during follow-up between 1993 and 2001. Subjects who consumed the lowest amounts of vitamin C-rich foods were more than three times more likely to develop arthritis than those who consumed the highest amounts.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=9
Health Benefits
Cancer Protection
Like other cruciferous vegetables, broccoli contains phytochemicals--sulforaphane and the indoles--with significant anti-cancer effects. Research on indole-3-carbinol shows this compound helps deactivate a potent estrogen metabolite (4-hydroxyestrone) that promotes tumor growth, especially in estrogen-sensitive breast cells, while at the same time increasing the level of 2-hydroxyestrone, a form of estrogen that can be cancer-protective. Indole-3-carbinol has been shown to suppress not only breast tumor cell growth, but also cancer cell metastasis (the movement of cancerous cells to other parts of the body). Scientists have found that sulforaphane boosts the body's detoxification enzymes, potentially by altering gene expression, thus helping to clear potentially carcinogenic substances more quickly. When researchers at Johns Hopkins studied the effect of sulphoraphane on tumor formation in lab animals, those animals given sulforaphane had fewer tumors, and the tumors they did develop grew more slowly and weighed less, meaning they were smaller.
A study published December 2003 in the cancer journal, Oncology Report demonstrated that sulforaphane, which is a potent inducer of Phase 2 liver detoxification enzymes, also has a dose-dependent ability to induce cell growth arrest and cell death via apoptosis (the self-destruct sequence the body uses to eliminate abnormal cells) in both leukemia and melanoma cells.
A study published in the September 2004 issue of the Journal of Nutrition found sulforaphane also helps stop the proliferation of breast cancer cells, even in the later stages of their growth. (If broccoli isn't one of your favorite vegetables, remember that a tablespoon of broccoli sprouts contains as much sulforaphane as is found in a whole pound of adult broccoli.)
Another study, published in the December 2003 issue of Cancer, the journal of the American Cancer Society, looked at indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a naturally occurring component of Brassica vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. I3C has been recognized as a promising anticancer agent against certain reproductive tumor cells. This study evaluated I3C’s effects on cell cycling progression and cancer cell proliferation in human prostate cancer cells. I3C was shown to suppress the growth of prostate cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner by blocking several important steps in cell cycling and also to inhibit the production of prostate specific antigen, a protein produced by the prostate whose rising levels may indicate prostate cancer. Researchers noted that the results of this study demonstrate that “I3C has a potent antiproliferative effect” in human prostate cancer cells, which qualifies it as “a potential chemotherapeutic agent” against human prostate cancer.
New research has greatly advanced scientists’ understanding of just how Brassica family vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts help prevent cancer. When these vegetables are cut, chewed or digested, a sulfur-containing compound called sinigrin is brought into contact with the enzyme myrosinase, resulting in the release of glucose and breakdown products, including highly reactive compounds called isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates are not only potent inducers of the liver’s Phase II enzymes, which detoxify carcinogens, but research recently conducted at the Institute for Food Research in the U.K. shows one of these compounds, allyl isothicyanate, also inhibits mitosis (cell division) and stimulates apoptosis (programmed cell death) in human tumor cells.
Cell replication (when the parent cell divides to form two daughter cells) occurs in a four-stage process. After the cell divides (the first stage), pole structures are created called spindles (the second or metaphase). If anything interferes with the construction and deconstruction of these spindles, the cell division process stops, and the damaged cells commit suicide. The IFR team, led by Ian Johnson, has shown that isothiocyanate disrupts the metaphase, thus preventing the cell division of the colon cancer cells. Their research is published in the July 2004 issue of Carcinogenesis.
Broccoli definitely proves the adage, "Good things come in small packages." Broccoli sprouts concentrate phytochemicals found in mature broccoli—a lot. Researchers estimate that broccoli sprouts contain 10-100 times the power of mature broccoli to boost enzymes that detoxify potential carcinogens! A healthy serving of broccoli sprouts in your salad or sandwich can offer as much or even more protection against cancer as larger amounts of mature broccoli.
Broccoli Sprouts Provide Protection against Stomach Cancer
Regularly eating broccoli sprouts may help prevent stomach cancer by reducing Helicobacteri pylori (H. pylori) infection, which is known to cause gastritis (stomach inflammation) and peptic ulcer, suggests a study published in an early 2005 issue of Inflammopharmacology.
The research team, led by Akinori Yanaka of the University of Tsukuba, Japan, found that in patients with H.pylori infection, a diet including 100 grams of broccoli sprouts per day (about 3 ounces) resulted in a significant reduction of H. pylori and pepsinogen (a biomarker in the blood indicating the degree of gastritis).
The researchers think these beneficial results are due to broccoli sprouts' especially rich concentration of sulforaphane, which can protect against oxidative (free radical) damage in cells that can damage DNA, potentially causing cancer.
Helicobacter pylori infection results in a constant barrage of oxidative damage to the cells that make up the lining of the stomach. Cells can survive against such chronic oxidative stress by increasing their protective arsenal of anti-oxidant enzymes, thereby protecting cells from DNA damage.
Recent studies have shown that the gene encoding Nrf-2 (NF-E2 p45-related factor-2) plays an important role in increasing the production of antioxidant enzymes protective against oxidative stress. Sulforaphane stimulates this nrf-2 gene-dependent production of anti-oxidant enzymes, thereby protecting cells from oxidative injury during H. pylori infection.
The Japanese team recruited 40 patients infected with H. pylori. Each day for two months, 20 patients ate a diet with 100 grams of two or three-day old sulforaphane-rich broccoli sprouts each day for two months, while the remaining 20 ate a diet with 100 grams of alfalfa sprouts instead.
"We wanted to test alfalfa spouts together with broccoli sprouts," Yanaka explained, "because the chemical constituents of the two plants are almost identical, except that 100 grams of broccoli sprouts contain 250 milligrams of sulforaphane glucosinolate whereas alfalfa sprouts contain neither sulforaphane nor sulforaphane glucosinolate."
(Glucosinolates, naturally occurring compounds in cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage as well as broccoli, are enzymatically converted into sulforaphane and other bioactive components when the sprouts are chewed or cut.)
At the end of the two-month dietary regimen, patients consuming 100 grams of broccoli sprouts per day showed significantly less H. pylori and markedly decreased pepsinogen (an indicator of gastric atrophy). Those eating alfalfa sprouts did not show any effect.
"Even though we were unable to eradicate H. pylori, to be able suppress it and relieve the accompanying gastritis by means as simple as eating more broccoli sprouts is good news for the many people who are infected," said Yanaka. Infection with H. pylori is very common worldwide, and some experts estimate that nearly 50% of the American public is infected with the bacterium. In addition, this research provides a deeper understanding of earlier studies suggesting broccoli sprouts have cancer-preventive properties. We now know that by increasing the production of anti-oxidant enzymes that protect against H. pylori-induced DNA damage, these sulforaphane-rich sprouts also help prevent gastric cancer.
Help for Sun-Damaged Skin
Sulforaphane, an active compound found in Brassica family vegetables and highly concentrated in broccoli sprouts, has already been shown to boost liver and skin cells' detoxifying abilities. Now, research conducted at John's Hopkins University and published in the November 2005 issue of Cancer Letters indicates sulforaphane can help repair sun-damaged skin.
After exposure to a dose of UV light comparable to that which would be received by a person sunbathing by the sea on a clear summer's day, twice weekly for 20 weeks, test animals were treated with varying doses of broccoli extract applied topically to their backs, 5 days a week for 11 weeks. Broccoli extract counteracted the animals' skin cells' carcinogenic response to UV light. Recent research has demonstrated that some sun exposure is essential for good health since it is needed for our production of vitamin D, yet skin cancer rates continue to rise due to depletion of the ozone layer. Broccoli sprouts' ability to repair damage done to sun-exposed skin may offer us a way to receive the benefits of sunlight we need without increasing our risk for skin cancer.
A Cardio-Protective Vegetable
Broccoli has been singled out as one of the small number of vegetables and fruits that contributed to the significant reduction in heart disease risk seen in a recent meta-analysis of seven prospective studies. Of the more than 100,000 individuals who participated in these studies, those who diets most frequently included broccoli, tea, onions, and apples—the richest sources of flavonoids—gained a 20% reduction in their risk of heart disease.
Now, an animal study, published in the May 4, 2004 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, not only suggests that just eating a couple of tablespoons a day of broccoli sprouts may have a major beneficial impact on cardiovascular health, but offers some of the reasons why.
In this 14-week study, led by Bernhard Juurlink, from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, rats prone to high blood pressure and stroke were fed either broccoli sprouts rich in a compound already known to be protective against cancer called glucoraphanin (and also known as sulforaphane glucosinolate or SGS), broccoli sprouts depleted of this substance, or no broccoli sprouts at all. At the end of the study, in rats fed the glucoraphanin-rich diet, tissue antioxidant defense mechanisms increased, inflammation decreased in the heart, arteries and kidneys, and blood pressure dropped. Rats given broccoli sprouts without glucoraphanin and rats given no broccoli sprouts exhibited no protective changes. According to Juurlink, glucoraphanin-rich broccoli sprouts help the body disarm free radicals—not directly like the antioxidant vitamins C and E, which scavenge one free radical at a time by binding to it, and are therefore rendered inactive in the process—but by boosting the body’s own antioxidant defense systems by increasing levels of glutathione, an antioxidant produced by the body that serves as an essential component in glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase, some of the liver’s most important detoxification enzymes. The end result is a broad spectrum of ongoing, prolonged antioxidant activity that cycles over and over, eliminating many free radicals.
Cataract Prevention
Broccoli and other leafy green vegetables contain powerful phytochemical antioxidants in the carotenoid family called lutein and zeaxanthin, both of which are concentrated in large quantities in the lens of the eye. When 36,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study were monitored, those who ate broccoli more than twice a week had a 23% lower risk of cataracts compared to men who consumed this antioxidant-rich vegetable less than once a month. In addition to the antioxidant potential of broccoli's carotenoids, recent research has suggested that sulforaphane may also have antioxidant potential, being able to protect human eye cells from free radical stressors.
Stronger Bones with Broccoli
When it comes to building strong bones, broccoli's got it all for less. One cup of cooked broccoli contains 74 mg of calcium, plus 123 mg of vitamin C, which significantly improves calcium's absorption; all this for a total of only 44 calories. To put this in perspective, an orange contains no calcium, 69 mg of vitamin C, and 60--about 50% more--calories. Dairy products, long touted as the most reliable source of calcium, contain no vitamin C, but do contain saturated fat. A glass of 2% milk contains 121 calories, and 42 of those calories come from fat.
Protection Against Ulcers
The same research team that discovered that broccoli sprouts fight cancer have also found that these sprouts may also eradicate Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium not only responsible for most peptic ulcers but one that has been found to increase a person's risk of getting gastric cancer three to sixfold. Glucoraphanin, a compound found in broccoli and broccoli sprouts that the body turns into the cancer-preventive chemical sulforaphane, appears to be more effective than modern antibiotics against H. pylori. Clinical research is being planned that will hopefully confirm these findings, offering people an effective dietary approach to eliminate H. pylori.
As promised, a study published in the December 2003 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy provides more support for broccoli’s ability to eliminate H. pylori In this study, sulforaphane, a phytochemical richly abundant in the form of its precursor in broccoli sprouts, was able to completely eradicate H. pylori in 8 of 11 mice that had been infected with the bacterium via the implantation of infected human gastric cells. Results were so dramatic the researchers concluded that sulforaphane-rich broccoli may be of benefit in the treatment or prevention of infection with H. pylori, a primary cause of ulcers.
An Immune System Booster
Not only does a cup of broccoli contain the RDA for vitamin C, it also fortifies your immune system with a hefty 1359 mcg of beta-carotene, and small but useful amounts of zinc and selenium, two trace minerals that act as cofactors in numerous immune defensive actions.
A Birth Defect Fighter
Especially if you are pregnant, be sure to eat broccoli. A cup of broccoli supplies 94 mcg of folic acid, a B-vitamin essential for proper cellular division because it is necessary in DNA synthesis. Without folic acid, the fetus' nervous system cells do not divide properly. Deficiency of folic acid during pregnancy has been linked to several birth defects, including neural tube defects like spina bifida. Despite folic acid's wide occurence in food (it's name comes from the Latin word folium, meaning "foliage," because it's found in green leafy vegetables), folic acid deficiency is the most common vitamin deficiency in the world.
Protection against Rheumatoid Arthritis
While one July 2004 study suggests that high doses of supplemental vitamin C makes osteoarthritis, a type of degenerative arthritis that occurs with aging, worse in guinea pigs, another indicates that vitamin C-rich foods, such as broccoli, provide humans with protection against inflammatory polyarthritis, a form of rheumatoid arthritis involving two or more joints.
The findings, presented in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases were drawn from a study of more than 20,000 subjects who kept diet diaries and were arthritis-free when the study began, and focused on 73 subjects who developed inflammatory polyarthritis and 146 similar subjects who remained arthritis-free during follow-up between 1993 and 2001. Subjects who consumed the lowest amounts of vitamin C-rich foods were more than three times more likely to develop arthritis than those who consumed the highest amounts.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=9
Broccoli Killer
New member
I usually eat broccoli once or twice a day. I nuke a big bowl of it up, drain it, throw in a tablespoon of flax oil or olive oil, some soy sauce and throw in a cut up piece of meat, mix all together and eat! Ya can't go wrong!
Sassy69
New member
Broccoli has been my best buddy for competitoin prep -it is a fantastic food source and fits the "dark green leafy vegetable" requirement of a good diet very nicely. If you haven't discovered already, broccoli eaten in large quantities can do gawdawful things to your digestion - the reason - all of those types of veggies (broccoli, collard greens, etc) have a sugar in them that we don't have a naturally occurring enzyme to digest... therefore... 
This is when the guy who created Beano is a saint in my book. Beano or digestive enzymes will help.
I've also discovered raw broccoli seems to be a great diuretic -- crazy water dumpage when I do competition prep - the last couple days pre-comp - small servings of chicken & raw broccoli in between my carb loads!
This is when the guy who created Beano is a saint in my book. Beano or digestive enzymes will help. I've also discovered raw broccoli seems to be a great diuretic -- crazy water dumpage when I do competition prep - the last couple days pre-comp - small servings of chicken & raw broccoli in between my carb loads!
