What substance does broccoli contain that scientists believe...

The dinnertime standard is a nutritional multitasker.

New York Times

By Caroline Hopkins Legaspi.

Oct. 14, 2024

        Children may not want to hear this, but broccoli more than deserves its place on our plates. The florets and stems are filled with nutrients that help keep your heart and bones healthy — and may reduce the risk of cancer.

       “Broccoli is a multitasking vegetable,” said Emily Ho, a professor of nutrition and the director of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University: It has a range of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that give your body “a boost.” Along with cauliflower, brussels sprouts and other cruciferous vegetables, broccoli is a source of a sulfur-based nutrient called sulforaphane. It’s the compound behind broccoli’s odor and slightly bitter flavor. It also has anticancer properties, scientists believe.

        Research suggests the sulforaphane in broccoli could help your body produce more of the enzymes that get rid of toxins like air pollution and cigarette smoke, Dr. Ho said.

       In addition, sulforaphane is an antioxidant that can protect your body from inflammation. The theory “is that broccoli is protecting cells from the inflammation that promotes the growth of cancer,” said Ingrid Adams, a registered dietitian and associate professor of medical dietetics at Ohio State University.

       In a recent analysis, 17 out of 23 studies found associations between eating broccoli and having lower risks of common cancers, including lung, colon and breast cancer. Taken together, the studies suggested that people who ate broccoli at least once a week were 36 percent less likely to develop cancer than those who didn’t.

       Still, researchers haven’t definitively proven that broccoli helps prevent cancer, said Trygve Tollefsbol, a distinguished professor of biology at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. People who regularly eat broccoli tend to have other healthy habits, too, Dr. Tollefsbol said, so studies can’t single out broccoli as the reason someone doesn’t develop a disease.

       The vitamin K in broccoli helps your body regulate blood circulation and clotting, said Anna L. Fogel, a registered dietitian at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Dietary guidelines generally recommend that adult women consume around 90 micrograms and men consume around 120 micrograms of vitamin K per day. One cup of chopped raw broccoli has about 93 micrograms.

     That cup of broccoli also contains a decent amount (288 milligrams) of potassium. Potassium can help lower high blood pressure, Dr. Adams said.

        Broccoli is high in fiber, as well, which can lower your bad cholesterol levels and risk of coronary heart disease.

      Those high levels of vitamin K could also benefit your bones, Dr. Ho said. The vitamin plays a key role in activating several of the proteins that form your bones and keep them strong.

     The vitamin C in broccoli is also important here. Vitamin C helps with bone mineralization, which keeps bones from becoming brittle, in part by stimulating collagen production. One cup of raw broccoli contains more vitamin C than a cup of grapefruit.

        Is there a best way to eat broccoli?

       Just avoid boiling or overcooking it, the experts said.

      Broccoli contains an active enzyme, called myrosinase, that’s released when you chew and digest it. Myrosinase activates the broccoli’s sulforaphane — but if you cook broccoli too long, you risk losing much of its myrosinase.

      You’re fine as long as there’s still a slight crunch to the vegetable, Dr. Ho said. “If it’s not fully mushy, you still have some live cell walls, which means you still have some active enzyme.”

       There’s another reason that boiling broccoli isn’t the first choice of experts: Some of broccoli’s water-soluble vitamins, like vitamin C, can leach out during the boiling process, Ms. Fogel said.