Eat Broccoli for Your Heart’s Sake!

We have known for a long time that vegetables are good for us. But we did not always know why they are necessarily good. Scientists recently discovered from experiments with mice that sulforaphane (a chemical that broccoli and other green leafy vegetables are naturally rich in) is good for your heart. And they can explain why for the first time.

Paul Evans of the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College, London explained that sulforaphane could “turn on” a normally protective protein called Nrf2 that is inactive in slow-flowing or hindered parts of arteries that are susceptible to blockage. I have shown in my book, The Amazing Heart, how such conditions—when allowed to prolong—can lead to inflammation and such problems as heart attacks and so on. Well, Paul Evans and his team of researchers were able to show from their study that sulforaphane helps to activate Nrf2 in endothelial cells by switching it on, thus activating its natural protective mechanism.

More research is being planned to further ascertain the efficacies of sulforaphane in the vegetable form for the heart.

While sulforaphane in its purified form was used in the study, I wouldn’t go to the extent of taking it in its purified form nor in its pill form. I would rather go for the vege form, come whatever scientist who may “prove” that the vegetable form of sulforaphane is “not so effective.”

Meanwhile, while we wait for science to further confirm that which was originally designed by our Creator for our health benefits, don’t wait to add in more ‘cruciferous’ vegetables in your diet. I understand that for some of you, these veges may not so palatable, but remember: Such vegetables will certainly not crucify you, but will definitely go a long way in strengthening your heart!


Meantime, go broccoli or better still, grow broccoli,
Ray Chee