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Broccoli is good for you but there's a trick to make it work even harder. Adding mustard, horseradish or wasabi to your broccoli has been found to significantly boost its cancer-fighting ability in a new study published this week. The secret sidekick is an enzyme called myrosinase which is necessary to form sulforaphane, the vegetable's cancer-preventive component. When a food item containing the enzyme was eaten with broccoli, scientists at the University of Ilinois found that the combination revved up the production of sulforaphane in both foods. The study was published online in the British Journal of Nutrition Tuesday. To...

URBANA – Teaming fresh broccoli with a spicy food that contains the enzyme myrosinase significantly enhances each food's individual cancer-fighting power and ensures that absorption takes place in the upper part of the digestive system where you'll get the maximum health benefit, suggests a new University of Illinois study. "To get this effect, spice up your broccoli with broccoli sprouts, mustard, horseradish, or wasabi. The spicier, the better; that means it's being effective," said Elizabeth Jeffery, a U of I professor of nutrition. In the study, when fresh broccoli sprouts were eaten with broccoli powder, the scientists were able to...

Is it constitutional for Congress make you buy broccoli for your own good, ask three professors of health law at Boston University in the New England Journal of Medicine for December 22nd. The ringing answer that they give to this question is “We don’t know.” They have decided to sit on the fence until others, in the shape of the Supreme Court, decide for them. The Affordable Care Act enjoins millions of citizens to buy private health insurance. The authors say that it is difficult to decide whether refusal to buy such coverage counts as an activity that bears on...

It may not be as dramatic or spark the (surprising) interest the Broccoli Incident did during the first Bush administration, but the Obama White House does offer this bit of vegetable news: Michelle Obama hates beets. This tidbit comes from an interview for the September issue of Ladies’ Home Journal, in which Obama discusses the first family’s eating habits and says: “Neither the president nor I have the beet gene.” This brings to mind President George H.W. Bush, who in 1990 demonstrated his assertiveness to the American public by declaring during a news conference: I do not like broccoli. I...

FORMER Celtic star John Hartson wishes he had munched his greens instead of steak and chips during his playing days. The striker, who fought cancer, used to be teased about his weight by opposing fans and yesterday admitted his diet could have been better. The dad-of-four told how during his Arsenal days in the 90s manager Arsene Wenger ordered his players to eat healthy food like broccoli. Studies have suggested the chemical sulforaphane, found in broccoli, can ward off cancer and lessen the effects of tumours. Hartson, 35, said: "Arsene Wenger concentrated a lot on diet and fitness, whereas at...

A new study has shed light on the interaction between broccoli consumption and reduced prostate cancer risk. Researchers have found that sulforaphane, a chemical found in broccoli, interacts with cells lacking a gene called PTEN to reduce the chances of prostate cancer developing. Richard Mithen, from the Institute of Food Research, an institute of BBSRC, worked with a team of researchers on Norwich Research Park, UK, to carry out a series of experiments in human prostate tissue and mouse models of prostate cancer to investigate the interactions between expression of the PTEN gene and the anti-cancer activity of sulforaphane. "PTEN...

A compound derived from broccoli could help prevent or treat breast cancer by targeting cancer stem cells -- the small number of cells that fuel a tumor’s growth -- according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. The study tested sulforaphane, a component of broccoli and broccoli sprouts, in both mice and cell cultures. Researchers found sulforaphane targeted and killed the cancer stem cells and prevented new tumors from growing. “Sulforaphane has been studied previously for its effects on cancer, but this study shows that its benefit is in inhibiting the breast cancer...

Scientists have discovered that a component of the superfood can protect arteries from “furring” which can block blood flow and lead to angina, heart attack and stroke. Arteries don’t clog at the same rate and researchers know that a protein is inactive in parts which are more vulnerable to disease. New tests suggest that a chemical found in vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower can boost a natural defence mechanism to protect against the damage. Tests in mice have shown that the chemical, known as Sulforaphane, found naturally in the vegetables can stimulate the protein to offer this protective...

"I'm president of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!" proclaimed George H.W. Bush in a 1990 news conference. America's 41st president disdained broccoli so much that he banned the vegetable from the White House menu. Now 84, Bush may live to regret his broccoli bullying: New scientific evidence suggests that a chemical in broccoli may rejuvenate the immune system enough to ward off common diseases of aging. At the University of California- Los Angeles, Andre Nel and colleagues recently discovered that sulforaphane, a phytonutrient in broccoli, activates antioxidant pathways at the cellular level. Injected...

I had to preserve the image below, since it says so much. I've struggled against the weather, here in Columbus, Ohio, trying to get some of the normally well-performing vegetables to grow, given the greatly reduced sunlight levels and temperatures here, this year. Pampered the little plants with Miracle Grow fertilizer, watered them religiously (or at least agnostically), hired their own personal masseuses, and generally played the part of the expectant father ready to pass out cigars- "Look, everyone..., it's a squash!" Yet, as if to make a point- around the side of the house, near the garage side door,...

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. - T.G.I. Friday's said a severed snake head found in a dish of broccoli at one of its upstate New York restaurants was likely planted in the meal. Diner Jack Pendleton said he found the snake head the size of his thumb mixed in with his vegetables at T.G.I. Friday's in Clifton Park on Sunday. The Ballston Lake man said he thought at first it was a mushroom.

Miami, FL (AHN) - Eating baby broccoli, or broccoli sprouts, may prevent stomach ulcers and even stomach cancer, according to a new study. The study's researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said that broccoli sprouts suppress Helicobacter pylori infections, which are one of the most common bacterial infections worldwide and are a common cause of stomach cancer, according to an American Association for Cancer Research press release. Stomach cancer is the second most common and the second deadliest cancer in the world, according to the AACR. "Broccoli has recently entered the public awareness as a preventive dietary agent. This...

Levels of the beneficial, cancer-fighting compound sulforaphane in broccoli are reduced by 90 percent when the vegetable is cooked, according to a study conducted by researchers from TNO Quality of Life in the Netherlands, and published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. "Consumption of raw broccoli resulted in faster absorption, higher bioavailability, and higher peak plasma amounts of sulforaphane, compared to cooked broccoli," the researchers wrote. Eight male participants were fed 200 grams of crushed raw or crushed cooked broccoli as part of a warm meal; researchers then measured the men's blood and urine levels of sulforaphane. Based...

How Vegetables Cooked Makes DifferenceBroccoli appears to lower the risk of lung cancer in smokers and ex-smokers, according to a new study. Li Tang of the roswell Park Cancer Institute said that cruciferous vegetables don't eliminate the threat of cancer, but they help. "Broccoli is not a therapeutic drug, but for smokers who believe they cannot quit nor do anything about their risk, this is something positive," Tang said. "People who quit smoking will definitely benefit more from intake of cruciferous vegetables." Other common cruciferous vegetables include kale, collard greens, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and bok choi. A team studied...

Besides lowering the risk of cancer and coronary heart disease due to high levels of vitamin C and beta carotene which are important antioxidants, broccoli also appears to benefit people suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is often caused by smoking and is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States, affecting more than 16 million people. The disease is characterized by emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which obstructs air flow to the lungs. There is no cure for this deadly disease and the current drugs do not slow its progression. How exactly broccoli helps in COPD? Well,...

That's one six-year-old's take on the facts of life. ... Frederica, 6: They come from Mummy's tummy. They start like an egg. I'm not sure how the egg gets there to begin with. I think it comes from food. You eat lots of food, very healthy food, and that makes the egg. But you do have to eat very healthy food, even like 18 broccolis a week...

A substance found in broccoli may limit the damage which leads to serious lung disease, research suggests. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often caused by smoking and kills about 30,000 UK residents a year. US scientists found that sulforapane increases the activity of the NRF2 gene in human lung cells which protects cells from damage caused by toxins. The same broccoli compound was recently found to be protective against damage to blood vessels caused by diabetes. Brassica vegetables such as broccoli have also been linked to a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes. Cell pollutants In the latest...

Professor Paul Thornalley and his team from the University of Warwick have found a broccoli compound called Sulforaphane. This compound can encourage the body to produce more enzymes to protect the vessels, as well as reduce high levels of molecules which cause significant cell damage. Past studies have shown that a diet rich in vegetables – particularly brassica vegetables such as broccoli – is linked to decreased risk of heart disease and stroke. People with diabetes have a particularly high risk of heart disease and stroke and other health impairments, such as kidney disease, are linked to damaged blood vessels....

Eating broccoli could reverse the damage caused by diabetes to heart blood vessels, research suggests.A University of Warwick team believe the key is a compound found in the vegetable, called sulforaphane. It encourages production of enzymes which protect the blood vessels, and a reduction in high levels of molecules which cause significant cell damage. Brassica vegetables such as broccoli have previously been linked to a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes. People with diabetes are up to five times more likely to develop cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes; both are linked to damaged blood vessels. The...

LONDON (Reuters) - Just a few more portions of broccoli each week may protect men from prostate cancer, British researchers reported on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT The researchers believe a chemical in the food sparks hundreds of genetic changes, activating some genes that fight cancer and switching off others that fuel tumors, said Richard Mithen, a biologist at Britain's Institute of Food Research.