One More Reason to "Eat Your Broccoli"

By Shana Hopkins, MS, CN, WAC Nutritionist

New reports show that the phytochemical sulforaphane found in broccoli kills helicobacter pylori—the primary bacteria which can cause stomach ulcers and is linked to stomach cancer.

This finding was reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The new evidence shows that sulforaphane kills these bacteria both inside and outside of cells, and it is even effective at killing antibiotic resistance strains of helicobacter pylori.

Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable like broccoli. It has been well-known for some time in naturopathic medical circles that cabbage juice is a wonderful healer for ulcers. More research needs to take place to show how much broccoli needs to be eaten to achieve these results, but it appears that it may be a very reasonable amount.