Eat your broccoli

Before discussing the study, I want to remind people why broccoli is such a powerhouse of a vegetable. Its list of health benefits is almost endless. Because it’s rich in phytochemicals, vitamins, and things like vitamin c, folic acid, potassium, vitamin k, calcium, beta-carotene, and fiber (both soluble and insoluble), broccoli helps prevent cataracts, helps the body absorb iron, lowers blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, helps aid the digestive system, and helps prevent osteoporosis,  Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, stomach, colon and lung cancers, heart disease and arthritis.  

Talk about a vegetable worth eating!

It’s kind of funny, in the same way as bananas are, because many bodybuilders think broccoli is a “must have” food. Chicken, broccoli, oatmeal, and pb. Sometimes you’ll see broccoli listed at each meal, but their meal plans will contain no other vegetables. When it comes to fruits and veggies, remember to eat the rainbow. That said, as much of a myth as it is that bodybuilders’ diets must contain massive amounts of broccoli, they really couldn’t pick a better food. So if that were the worst of their myths, we’d have some really healthy people.

Some phytochemicals and vitamins like folic acid are better absorbed as a supplement, and others, like vitamin d, are hard to consume enough of via food alone.Emily Ho of Oregon State University and principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute and her fellow researchers thought that compounds that give cruciferous vegetables their health benefits need to come from the food. Thus, they were interested in finding out just what is the case with broccoli and what the best way to consume it is or if they were equal.

They studied people who ate broccoli sprouts and those who took a supplement, both having the same amount of glucosinolate but with only the actual food containing myrosinase. Myroinase helps convert glucosinolates into bioactive isothinocyanates and they wanted to compare the isothiocyanate excretion profiles.

They found that supplements do not cut it. They do not provide the health benefits that the food does. They concluded the lacking myrosinase in supplements. With glucosinalte supplements, far less of two important compounds are absorbed.

Bottom line: Eat broccoli. Eat a lot of it. Do not take a supplement and do not overcook. To reap the most health benefits of broccoli, lightly cook it or steam until it is still a little crunchy. Raw broccoli is good, but steaming it brings out some more of its effects, and overcooking causes it to lose many of the benefits.

randi morse, randi.morse@gmail.com, newton, ma