Broccoli Sprouts: The Super Food

"Better to eat vegetables and fear no creditors, than eat duck and hide from them." The Talmud

Broccoli is said to be a super food amongst its kind! The King and Queen of all vegetables and one that is able to deliver a multitude of benefits for the consumer of this green plant god. When looking at the nutritional value of food it is important to consider the relationship between the food we eat and how it affects each and every cell in our body, because it is our tiny little cells that need nutrition in order to keep us functioning as healthy, well balanced human beings. Broccoli, as I have always known, is one of those foods that provide a multitude of health benefits in a single serving, but upon further investigation I was to find that broccoli possesses a more concentrated nutritional value in the early stages of growth, as a sprout.

The elusive broccoli sprout has been branded a hero to our health. It has been found to contain so much more than just nutritious food. More like a ‘nutriceutical’ in plant form! After researching what these sprouts can do for our health in a single serving I decided that sprouts should really play a leading role in all our diets on a daily basis. To give you an idea of why broccoli sprouts are so good for us, I will start by outlining what some of the key health benefits of eating broccoli sprouts are.

Broccoli sprouts are jammed packed with ready to eat goodness. Goodness that is said to aid the fight against ALL types of cancer, stomach ulcers, cardiovascular health, arthritis, and cartilage protection. Broccoli sprouts can do this because of their impressive nutritional profile that includes beta carotene, vitamin C, calcium, fibre, and phytochemicals, specifically indoles and aromatic isothiocynates, broccoli sprouts and their kin are responsible for boosting certain enzymes that help to detoxify the body. These enzymes also help to prevent diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and high blood pressure.

According to a recent article on broccoli sprouts in the New Vegetarian and Natural Health magazine, it has been estimated that you would have to eat 1kg of broccoli each week to reduce the risk of colon cancer by 50% but broccoli sprouts have such a concentrated level of anti-cancer components that you need only have around 35g per week to get the same result.

A scientific team at a university in the USA has discovered that broccoli sprouts are rich in substances called isothiocyanates, chemicals shown to stimulate the body’s production of its own cancer-fighting substances, called "phase two enzymes". Phase 2 Enzymes play a role in boosting the body’s natural Phase 2 enzyme antioxidant defense systems and function as powerful indirect antioxidants, detoxifying carcinogens before they can damage cells.

In fact broccoli sprouts have 20 to 50 times more of this Phase 2 protein inducer, glucoraphanin, than mature broccoli.

According to chemist Dr Paul Talalay, these enzymes, in turn, neutralise potential cancer-causing substances before they have a chance to damage the DNA of healthy cells. Talalay and his researchers discovered to their surprise that broccoli sprouts, the week-old seedlings of the mature plant, are exceptionally rich in a form of isothiocyanate called sulforaphane, 10 to 100 times as rich as broccoli itself, in fact.

More scientific research has found that pregnant mothers who eat broccoli sprouts may provide their children with lifelong protection against heart disease according to a research team led by Bernhard Juurlink at the University of Saskatchewan.

So for those of you who don’t actually like broccoli, take heart, you may find that a tasty alternative offering an even greater health benefit is broccoli sprouts. More and more markets now carry the tender shoots, which are delicious on sandwiches and salads.