The common veggie that can put the kibosh on cancer
When you or someone you love is diagnosed with cancer, you’ll do anything you can to get the upper hand on the disease.
Just think of all the people right now who are suffering through painful surgeries or grueling rounds of chemo and radiation, just to try to keep their cancer from spreading.
But what if the secret to beating cancer… to literally stopping the disease in its tracks… is something you could find in your garden or vegetable crisper right now?
That’s exactly what two new studies have proven. And they just may change the way we look at — and treat — two of the deadliest forms of cancer forever.
Broccoli is one of those veggies that just about everyone has an opinion about (President George Bush, Sr. famously hated the stuff).
But new research is going to earn it a permanent place on your menu.
Because when it comes to surviving a bout with cancer, it looks like a compound in broccoli (and other cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts and cauliflower) can make all the difference in the world.
It’s called sulforaphane, and plants like broccoli actually use it to help heal themselves from damage. And it looks like it can work the same wonders in our bodies, too, especially when it comes to keeping cancer in check.
In a new study out of Oregon State University, researchers divided 54 women scheduled for breast biopsies into two groups.
One was given a supplement containing sulforaphane, equivalent to what you’d get from about a cup of broccoli sprouts a day, and the other group got a placebo.
And once women started taking sulforaphane, the growth of their cancer cells slowed to a crawl.
Can you believe it? It was almost as if their disease was frozen in time — using nothing more than a safe, natural supplement extracted from the same vegetables we eat every day.
And that sounds a whole lot better to me than going under the knife or being strapped to a chemo drip.
Now, of course, the study was small — but it was the first of its type looking at how sulforaphane can disrupt cancer in humans. And according to researcher Emily Ho, a food and cancer specialist at Oregon State, there was clear proof that sulforaphane can “slow the growth of existing tumors.”
And, believe it or not, the good news about sulforaphane (and broccoli) doesn’t end there.
Another study out of the University of Illinois looked at how broccoli and sulforaphane could affect a serious health problem I’ve been telling you a lot about — non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD.
It was once as rare as hen’s teeth, but now NAFLD is being called “America’s silent epidemic,” caused by all the processed carbs and sugars we’re eating.
Worse still, over time NAFLD can progress to an especially deadly type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma.
But once broccoli was added to the diets of laboratory mice, it actually protected them from developing fatty livers. They were also less likely to get cancer, too.
Now you can be sure you’re not going to hear about any of this from the mainstream. Because Big Pharma can’t patent broccoli or sulforaphane (they’d sure try to if they could).
But it looks like the evidence is in, and sulforaphane may be the secret weapon that gives you or someone you love a safe, fighting chance at stopping cancer before it’s too late.
And, as I said, you don’t need to spend your day gorging yourself on broccoli or cauliflower to get the all the sulforaphane you need. A healthy serving a day should do the trick.
But even if you side with President Bush and broccoli isn’t your cup of tea, you can pick up concentrated sulforaphane supplements online or at lots of health stores.
Sources:
“Broccoli may offer protection against liver cancer” Nick Tate, March 4, 2016, NewsMax, newsmax.com
“Worried about breast cancer? Eat your broccoli” Lynne Terry, February 11, 2016, The Oregonian, oregonlive.com
