Broccoli The "B" in Beating Cancer

Many people see broccoli as nothing more than another green vegetable that they are supposed to consume as part of the eat five a day regieme.

Well people that is where you are wrong. Broccoli is not just another vegetable broccoli is in fact a super vegetable that can help fight against and prevent cancer. So lets look at broccoli a little closer.

Broccoli contains life-enhancing, health-enhancing phytochemicals that protect all ten of the body's healing zones and broccoli is also among the foods that are richest in these agents. Broccoli's phytochemicals help protect the body from Cancer, cardiovaascular disorders and premature aging but in this article we are focusing on Cancer.

Broccoli has been recognised as the number one vegetable by the National Cancer Institute and if you want to prevent your body from getting cancer it is suggested that one half cup of broccoli a day will do just that.

A half a cup of broccoli per day can provide the body with protection from various types of cancer including cancer of the oesophagus, lungs, larynx, stomach, colon, prostate and mouth. So what is the magic ingrediant? Sulforaphane, an antioxidant that works by bonding with toxins it encounters and then flushes these toxic substances from the body.

The antioxidants in broccoli also inactivate oestrogens that are known as 16 alphahydroxyestrone. These oestrogens promote cancer of the ovaries, breasts and cervix.

Broccoli also contains both the beta and alphacarotenes and this is what accounts for broccoli's ability to both resist and even help to reverse lung cancer and also slow the growth rate of tumours.

That's not all broccoli also contains high chlorophyll levels and this helps to block pre-cancerous cell mutations.

One serving of broccoli will also provide you with 125% more vitamin C than that of a glass of orange juice and together with the anticancer antioxidant beta-carotene broccoli helps to reduce the risk of respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tumours.

So as you can see broccoli really is the B when it comes to beating cancer. Don't you think it's time you started eating more broccoli.

Amanda Evans SNHS (Nutrition) is a qualified Nutritional Therapist and freelance writer. Amanda is also the webmaster of http://www.qualityfreelanceservice.squarespace.com a website dedicated to helping others achieve their dreams of becoming writers.