Broccoli - Potent Health Vegetable

You've probably never heard of sulforaphane - but you will soon. When your mother told you to eat your broccoli as a child not only was she instilling healthy eating habits, she was introducing your body to sulforaphane, a compound that until 1992 ⁽¹⁾ was one of the mysteries behind why green leafy vegetables are good for you. Broccoli is high in sulforaphane, and holds an incredible secret weapon for improving your health, one that helps in the battle against the ravages of aging such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Broccoli might be a secret weapon against degenerative joint disorders like arthritis according to research released in March 2008⁽²⁾ from UCLA Medical School Researchers, which boosts your immune system response to disease and cancer. Broccoli shares this secret with other plants that can help keep your body strong and your mind sharp. That secret kicks on your body's own anti-oxidant capacities, and reinvigorates your immune system.

The secret of broccoli's potent impact on health lies in the compound sulforaphane.

Sulforaphane was discovered in 1992 by researchers at John Hopkins School of Medicine. Sulforaphane is part of a family of chemicals called phytochemicals⁽³⁾, and sulforaphane was discovered to help the body marshal its resources to fight off cancer in that initial research. In 2003, another discovery was made, that showed by combining sulforaphane with selenium, the healthy effects of sulforaphane were increased by 13 times when it came to battling cancer.

In 2007, researchers at the University of California discovered that sulforaphane also causes the body to increase its own natural production of a protein that triggers the body to turn on the immune system, which, as we age, is produced at lower levels.