The Benefits Of Broccoli Can Help Prevent Cancer

EpigeneticsAndNutriton.com is a source for optimal health and wellness! The Benefits of Broccoli, being a cruciferous vegetable, like cabbage, bok choy, cauliflower, and cress, is all of these vegetables inhibits cancer cell growth!

Researchers from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State, have gleaned critical insight into why you should listen to mom and, “eat your broccoli.”

This team of researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute discovered why the “sulforaphane” compound contained in cruciferous vegetables is incredibly valuable in battling cancer through the intricate field of epigenetics.

Epigenetics is the study of gene expression. Our DNA can’t be changed but our epigenome or epigenetic layer,  “epi” meaning over or above can be influenced and the food we put in our mouths is a major contributor to that influence.

Find a way to get the benefits of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables into your diet regimen!

Our epigenetic layer sits above our DNA, so think of it like software and hardware. The better software we use, with better programming of the software, causes the hardware to function and perform at it’s best. This is a breakthrough discovery in the search to understand everything from heart disease to cancer. The benefits of broccoli and their other vegetable family members, has clearly shown us that we need to make an effort to consume them on a regular basis.

As reported by Science Daily, sulforaphane was identified years ago as one of the most vital compounds that account for much of the health benefits in cruciferous vegetables, and scientists also knew that a mechanism involved was histone deacetylases, or HDACs. This family of enzymes can interfere with the normal function of genes that suppress tumors.

HDAC inhibitors, such as sulforaphane, can help provide proper balance and prevent the development and growth of cancer. This is one of the most promising areas of cancer research, couple that with the new Oregon State studies where they have found a second epigenetic mechanism, DNA methylation, which plays a similar role in the battle against cancer.

“It appears that DNA methylation and HDAC inhibition, both of which can be influenced by sulforaphane, work in concert with each other to maintain proper cell function,” said Emily Ho, an associate professor in the Linus Pauling Institute and the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences. “They sort of work as partners and talk to each other.”

This one-two punch, Ho said, is important to cell function and the control of cell division, which, when disrupted, is a hallmark of cancer.

“Cancer is very complex and it’s usually not just one thing that has gone wrong,” Ho said. “It’s increasingly clear that sulforaphane is a real multi-tasker. The more we find out about it, the more benefits it appears to have.”

DNA methylation, Ho said, is a normal process of turning off genes, and it helps control what DNA material gets read as part of genetic communication within cells. In cancer, that process gets mixed up. Researchers are extremely interested in the fact that the same disrupted processes, appear to play a role in other neurodegenerative diseases, including cardiovascular disease, immune function, neurodegenerative disease and even aging.

This research was published in the journal Clinical Epigenetics, which primarily studied the effect on prostate cancer cells. However, the same processes are most likely relevant to many other cancers, researchers said, including colon and breast cancer.

“With these processes, the key is balance,” Ho said. “DNA methylation is a natural process, and when properly controlled is helpful. But when the balance gets mixed up it can cause havoc, and that’s where some of these critical nutrients are involved. They help restore the balance.”

Benefits of Eating Broccoli

Sulforaphane is particularly abundant in broccoli, therefore, the benefits of broccoli are abundant enough to help you get over any feelings of dislike towards this wonderful veggie. Laboratory and clinical studies have proven that higher consumption levels of cruciferous vegetables can aid in cancer prevention.

So, it’s time to get over the whole “I don’t like greens” business or as Newman from Seinfeld called broccoli, “a vile weed”. Don’t let that silliness get in the way of the benefits of broccoli!

There are so many ways to prepare broccoli for your eating enjoyment. Make it a personal challenge that you are going to find a way to get the benefits of broccoli, or cauliflower or bok choy or cress, etc., into your diet. Eat it raw, or blanched or steamed and make healthy dips to enjoy it with or use with soy sauce, yum!

The benefits of broccoli are many, it’s up to you to find a way to make this part of your diet and you will reap the benefits!

Cheers to the benefits of broccoli!

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