Cruciferous vegetables

If your family isn’t into broccoli, it’s time for a change.

Properly cooked, broccoli—a familiar member of the cabbage family—is delicious. It is also the best known of the cruciferous vegetables, a botanical name. But in recent years, cruciferous has also come to mean cancer fighting: These veggies contain powerful natural compounds that actually protect against cancer.

Consider some of the evidence:

• Bladder cancer:  In one study, people who ate enough cruciferous vegetables to get lots of cancer-fighting compounds called isothiocyanates (ITCs) were 29% less likely to develop bladder cancer than those whose intake of ITCs was low.
• Prostate cancer: A recent study showed that men who ate three or more servings of cruciferous veggies per week had a prostate cancer risk that was 41% lower than men who ate less than one serving per week.
• Lung cancer: Some studies suggest that eating more than three weekly servings of cruciferous veggies protects against lung cancer; in general people with lung cancer consumed less of these vegetables than people who were cancer free. (Keep in mind that eating broccoli won’t cancel out the risks posed by smoking.)
• Colorectal cancer: A small British study found that eating lots of broccoli and Brussels sprouts daily (9 ounces of each) increased excretion (in urine) of a substance found in well-done meat believed to promote colorectal cancer. Other studies haven’t found a strong link between cruciferous vegetables and colon cancer prevention, but if you eat a lot of meat, it might be wise to have a side of broccoli or Brussels sprouts with your burgers and steaks.

In the lab, compounds from cruciferous veggies have stopped the growth of many types of cancer cells, including those from breast, endometrial, lung, colon, liver, and cervical tumors.

There is more evidence, but you get the picture: Eating more cruciferous vegetables could be a major move toward better health. The question is, How much of these cancer-fighting vegetables is enough?

We all should eat five to nine servings per day of all types of fruits and vegetables, but no separate recommendations have been established (yet) for cruciferous veggies. In the absence of an official recommendation, experts at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University in Corvallis have come up with a rule of thumb: five servings of cruciferous vegetables per week. If that sounds like a lot, remember that a single serving amounts to only half a cup, the equivalent of three broccoli florets, raw. That’s just a fraction of the size of the average fast-food serving of French fries!

Try a variety of cruciferous vegetables.  Before you know it, you won’t be thinking about the cancer-protective potential of broccoli, or cauliflower or Brussels sprouts. You’ll be eating them because you like them. Enjoy!