Study finds horseradish can both fight and prevent cancer

Might a spoonful of horseradish be the best medicine for cancer?

For years it’s been the Holy Grail of medicine.

Drug companies have spent billions trying to develop a cure that could kill cancer cells while leaving your healthy tissue untouched.

Now a group of University of Illinois researchers say they’ve finally found it.

It’s not some pill or IV drip that’s going to cost you an arm and a leg, either. It’s a superfood that may be sitting in your refrigerator right now.

But chances are it hasn’t crossed your mind, let alone your dinner plate, in quite a while.

Like broccoli on steroids

When was the last time you had some horseradish?

That’s right, horseradish.

You probably think of it as just a condiment. Something you use to make hot sauce or spice up an occasional Bloody Mary.

Well, bring that bottle of horseradish to its rightful place in the front of your refrigerator — because it has a lot more going for it than you could ever imagine.

Horseradish is a member of that group of cancer fighters we’ve all been told to eat more of called cruciferous vegetables. But while broccoli and kale — even cabbage — have become superstars of healthy eating, the horseradish root somehow got left at the curb.

What this latest study uncovered, however, is that not only is horseradish right up there with those well-known cancer-fighting vegetables, it’s even more powerful than a bushel of broccoli.

The researchers were able to document how horseradish, which contains ten times the amount of cancer-fighting compounds that broccoli does, works to keep us healthy and cancer-free.

These compounds are called glucosinolates, and they’re the key players in these vegetables that make them such potent weapons against numerous cancers.

But if chugging down kale shakes, boiled turnips or cabbage stew isn’t your idea of a delicious lunch or dinner, there’s more good news here for you.

Mosbah Kushad, a crop scientist at the University of Illinois and lead researcher, said that just a teaspoon of horseradish is enough to give you all the benefits this spicy root has to offer.

This isn’t the first time Kushad has closely examined the health benefits of horseradish. In a previous study he and his team found that those glucosinolates help the liver to detoxify carcinogens as well as to “suppress the growth of existing cancerous tumors.”

That sure sounds like something Pfizer or Merck wish they had created!

On top of that, horseradish actually becomes healthier when processed. That allows for an enzyme it contains to make glucosinolates become even more effective.

And if stopping cancer in its tracks wasn’t enough for you, here are some other health benefits that horseradish has to offer:

A half teaspoon of the grated root is an effective treatment for sinusitis.
Horseradish has potent antibiotic properties, and is especially good at treating UTIs.
Other research has found that those anti-cancer compounds may also protect us from exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment.

With all these benefits, there’s no reason not to start incorporating horseradish into your diet right now.

So how about mixing it with some mayo as a sandwich spread? Or into a salad dressing, cheese dip, a quick steak or fish sauce or even using it as a topping for one of those other healthy veggies like broccoli to give it some pizazz? That would sure make for a cancer-fighting heavyweight!

And last, but certainly not least, Bloody Marys, anyone?

Sources:
“Horseradish may be potent cancer fighter” May 18, 2016, NewsMax, newsmax.com