At a mere twenty calories, a cup of broccoli provides 34 milligrams of calcium and 66 milligrams of vitamin C. Phytochemicals in broccoli possess anti-cancer effects, and this sprouts beta-carotene is an exceptional antioxidant and could fortify the immune system. This poor vegetable that children and United States presidents look down upon may also be valuable in the fight against H. pylori, the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers and stomach cancer.

In an experiment that was conducted by scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the French National Scientific Research Center, a component from broccoli sprouts called sulforaphane GS was intensely scrutinized. The compound was assessed against H. pylori in the test tube and against stomach ulcers in lab rats. The outcome of these experiments was heartening indeed.

When the test tube part of the experiment was conducted, the scientists utilized stomach lining cells that were infected with H. pylori bacteria and exposed them to sulforaphane GS found in the broccosprouts. The doctors picked stomach lining cells for the study because H. pylori bacteria are skilled in burrowing deep into these cells and concealing themselves from conventional antibiotics.

Most physicians who deal with ulcer patients prescribe potent combinations of two or three antibiotics because they feel that only a dose that powerful and large can get through to the stomach lining cells and kill the bacteria. In the experiment, sulforaphane GS eliminated forty-eight different strains of H. pylori, including certain strains that have demonstrated themselves as being the most resistant to treatment via antibiotics.

The second half of the study utilized rats that were given a chemical known to cause stomach cancer. The rats that were pretreated with sulforaphane GS has 39% fewer tumors than those who did not receive the broccoli component. Jed Fahey, the Johns Hopkins researcher who conducted the experiment, said that The levels that are effective (in test tubes) are levels that could be achieved by eating a serving or so of broccoli sprouts, based on the chemistry we know. This isnt one of those rat studies in which you need four-hundred times the maximum amount a human could handle.

Unfortunately, we still do not know whether the sulforaphane GS found in broccoli sprouts is as effective against H. pylori as the isolated sulforaphane GS that the Johns Hopkins scientists utilized in their experiment. The highest concentration of sulforaphane GS is located in broccoli sprouts, but is also located in mature broccoli, as well as assorted cruciferous vegetables, including cabbage, kale, and cauliflower. The sprouts have 20-50 times the concentration of sulforaphane GS as mature, cooked broccoli.

In addition, the American Association for Cancer Research, scientists are concentrating on the anti-cancer properties of sulforaphane. They believe that this chemical has the ability to aid cells in fighting oxidants, the highly reactive and toxic molecules that damage DNA and kill cells, leading potentially to cancer.

One researcher, by the name of Albena T. Dinkova-Kostova, Ph.D at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, believes that even the extract of sulforaphane is valuable. In the same lab where Doctor Paul Talalay, M.D., who first told us about the indirect antioxidant properties of sulforaphane, Dinkova-Kostova and her fellow researchers applied broccoli sprout extract to the skin of hairless mice. What they discovered was that it actually counteracted the carcinogenic response to ultraviolet light exposure.

So, should you eat it or where it? If you asked Doctor Kostova, she would probably sayboth!

Broccoli sprouts are becoming very popular, so you can now find them in your local health food stores right next to the alfalfa and bean sprouts. Research shows that eating at least one ounce (half a cup) every other day will be great protection for you and your family. Just in case you are not convinced, here is the nutritional content in comparison to raw and cooked broccoli.