Supplementing the Diet with Broccoli Sprouts May Reduce Risk of Stomach Cancer

A team of American and Japanese pharmacologists has found that supplementing the diet with fresh broccoli sprouts inhibits the growth of Helicobacter pylori, bacteria that cause gastric ulcers and have been implicated as a major cause of stomach cancer.

Broccoli sprouts are a rich source of isothiocyanate sulforaphane (SF), which is known for its anticancer properties. In the current study, which was published in the April 1, 2009, issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research, investigators have shown that SF is powerfully bactericidal against H. pylori infections.

Oral treatment with SF-rich broccoli sprouts of C57BL/6 female mice infected with H. pylori and maintained on a high-salt (7.5% NaCl) diet reduced gastric bacterial colonization and lowered all measurable immunological and biochemical markers of H. pylori infection.

In another study 48 H. pylori-infected Japanese men and women were randomly assigned to eat 70 grams of fresh broccoli sprouts daily for eight weeks or an equivalent amount of alfalfa sprouts (lacking SF). The investigators determined the initial severity of H. pylori infection and again at four and eight weeks using standard breath, serum, and stool tests. Results showed that H. pylori levels were significantly lower at eight weeks on all three measures among those patients who had eaten broccoli sprouts, while they remained the same for patients who had eaten alfalfa sprouts.

"Broccoli has recently entered the public awareness as a preventive dietary agent. This study supports the emerging evidence that broccoli sprouts may be able to prevent cancer in humans, not just in lab animals," said contributing author Dr. Jed Fahey, research associate in pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD, USA).

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