Broccoli Sprouts May Help Detoxify The Body

Consuming broccoli may significantly aid the body in detoxification of air pollutants, according to a recent study conducted in China.

Air pollution is an expanding global issue that leads to many deaths and causes degenerative disease such as cancer. Researchers believe that a diet filled with cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli) can reduce the risk of cancer by multiplying enzymes that allow the body to purge these pollutants.

To test their theory, researchers conducted a 12-week trial including 62 men (21%) and 229 women (79%), with a median age of 53 years, from a farming community north of Shanghai, China (an area covered heavily by air pollutants).

Participants were divided into 2 groups. The control group consumed a beverage consisting of pineapple juice, lime juice, and sterilized water.  The treatment group drank the same mixture but added a dissolved freeze-dried broccoli sprout powder that contained glucoraphanin and sulforaphane.

To evaluate the excretion of air pollutants, researchers collected blood and urine samples from participants over the course of the trial.

The results showed that the excretion of benzene increased by 61% for the treatment group over the 12 weeks of study. Acrolein excretion progressed by 23% in the same duration.

Sulforaphane, they explained, appeared to activate NRF2, a molecule that allows cells survive numerous environmental toxins.
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Thomas W. Kensler, PhD, one of the study’s authors and a professor of pharmacology and chemical biology at the University of Pittsburgh, suggests that the study highlights a simple, safe, and cost-effective way for individuals to reduce bodily toxins manifested from air pollution.

“However, this strategy is no cure-all for those living in polluted environments. It remains imperative that politicians and regulators work effectively and quickly to reduce emissions of air pollutants,” said Kensler.

“We did not study and do not know the possible protective effects of the broccoli sprout beverage on the actual adverse health effects of air pollution. The answer to that important question will take a larger follow-up study,” he said.

The complete study was published in the June issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

-Michelle Canales

Reference:

Egner PA, Chen JG, Zarth AT, et al. Rapid and sustainable detoxication of airborne pollutants by broccoli sprout beverage: results of a randomized clinical trial. Cancer Preventative Research. 2014 June 9 [epub ahead of print] doi:10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-14-0-103.