Broccoli has three benefits and is a good partner in fighting cancer, but nutritionists remind people to be cautious when eating it.

Have you eaten vegetables today? According to the survey on changes in the national nutritional health status from 2013 to 2016, the vegetable and fruit intake of Chinese people is far from the target recommended by the daily dietary guidelines. Among the Chinese people aged 19 to 44 and 45 to 64, the proportion of those who consume three servings of vegetables (raw weight 300g) per day is only 17.3% and 20.9% respectively.

Let’s eat our vegetables! Broccoli is rich in dietary fiber (3.1g dietary fiber/100g), and it is not only imported from abroad, but is also a vegetable that is currently in abundance in Taiwan (November to April)! What else do you know about broccoli? Let’s take a look together!

Broccoli is a very famous member of the cruciferous family. It is rich in glucosinolate, which is catalyzed by myrosinase to produce indole-3-carbinol, isothiocyanates, sulforaphane and other derivatives, which have the following functions:

1. Anti-cancer: inhibit carcinogens from activating enzymes, inhibit the growth of cancer cells and promote apoptosis of cancer cells.

2. Protect cardiovascular system: increase antioxidant, prevent vascular inflammation and prevent thrombosis.

3. Improve blood lipids: A four-week human trial showed that it has the effect of lowering total cholesterol, LDL-c and increasing HDL-c.

Nutritionist's reminder: People who take warfarin should avoid suddenly consuming large amounts of cruciferous vegetables, as they will antagonize warfarin and affect the efficacy of the drug. Vegetables of different colors contain different phytochemicals. In addition to broccoli, it is recommended that you choose more different types of vegetables to pair together!

References

1. Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare – Food Nutrition Information Database

2. Dinkova-Kostova AT, Kostov RV. Glucosinolates and isothiocyanates in health and disease. Trends Mol Med. 2012 Jun;18(6):337-47

3. Francisco Fuentes, et al. Dietary Glucosinolates Sulforaphane, Phenethyl Isothiocyanate, Indole-3-Carbinol/3,3′-Diindolylmethane: Antioxidative Stress/Inflammation, Nrf2, Epigenetics/Epigenomics and In Vivo Cancer Chemopreventive Efficacy. Current Pharmacology Reports volume 1, pages179–196(2015)

4. Marcela A. Vazquez-Prieto, Roberto M. Miatello. Organosulfur compounds and cardiovascular disease. Mol Aspects Med. 2010 Dec;31(6):540-5

5.Bahadoran Z, Mirmiran P, Hosseinpanah F, et al. Broccoli sprouts powder could improve serum triglyceride and oxidized LDL/LDL-cholesterol ratio in type 2 diabetic patients: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2012 Jun;96(3):348-54.