Eat cruciferous vegetables daily, or eat at least five servings per week. Cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, collards, turnips and radishes are among the most common. It is best not to eat them raw, because in their raw form they contain high amounts of goitrogens, thyroid suppression agents that are removes during the cooking process. Since many people with cancer have slightly underactive thyroids, it’s a good idea to avoid goitrogens when possible.
In addition to having special anticancer compounds called indoles and isothiocynates, cruciferous vegetables are also high in vitamins A, C, and E; some contain anticancer minerals, and most are high in fiber. In experiments, indoles were added to the diets of mice before and during the administration of carcinogens; the indoles stopped the growth of tumors developing in the stomach and lungs. In some way not yet clear, indoles deactivate carcinogens or block them from damaging cells, acting at several different stages of carcinogens to stop both cancer promoters and initiators. It may be that indoles buttress the enzymes systems responsible for metabolizing carcinogens, and in all probability, they increase the antioxidant action of glutathione compounds. However this works, cruciferous vegetables have proved to be terrified anticancer nutrients.Another component in broccoli, called sulforaphane, also appears to block tumor formation in animals and presumably in humans as well. Organically grown broccoli produces a much greater amount of sulforaphane than the commercially grown variety. Sulforaphane is a potent inducer of phase II cellular enzyme activity, which is known to deactivate cancer-causing agents though detoxification.
Broccoli sprouts, which taste something like alfalfa sprouts, contain up to one hundred times more sulforaphane than does broccoli itself. Broccoli sprouts are available in some supermarkets and health food stores or you can sprout your own. Sprouting seeds are very nutritious and cost effective and provide a relatively easy way to acquire many vitamins, minerals and important cancer inhibiting phytonutrients. Besides mung bean sprouts, found in many Asian dishes, and the recently popular broccoli sprouts, other seeds and legumes that sprouts well include red clover, buck wheat, chickpea, radish and sunflower.
Diet with Cruciferous Vegetables
