Originally published November 10 2005
Japanese researcher believes broccoli can prevent stomach cancer
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Akinori Yanaka of the University of Tsukuba presented research that suggests broccoli could fight a bacteria that previous studies have linked to the development of stomach cancer.
In 2002, Dr Jed Fahey and his team demonstrated in a mouse model that sulforaphane can inhibit Helicobacter infections and block the formation of gastric tumors.
H. pylori, is known to cause gastritis and is believed to be a major factor in peptic ulcers and stomach cancer.
Nonetheless, in all but 15 to 20 percent of cases it can be tackled with antibiotics.
Unfortunately, in parts of the world where H. pylori is most rampant -- such as parts of Central and South America, Africa and Asia, where as much as 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the population may be infected -- antibiotics are also in short supply.
"If future clinical studies show that a food can relieve or prevent diseases associated with this bacterium in people, it could have significant public health implications in the United States and around the world," said Fahey, when his study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2002 May 28;99(11):7610-5).
The findings of the new study, led by Akinori Yanaka of the University of Tsukuba, were presented yesterday at the American Association for Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Baltimore.
Over a two-month period, 20 of them received 100g of two- to three- day old broccoli sprouts with their food each day.
The rationale for testing broccoli sprouts against alfalfa was that the chemical constituents are very similar.
However while broccoli sprouts contain 250mg of sulforaphane glucosinolate per 100g, alfalfa sprouts contain neither sulforaphane nor sulforaphane glucosinolate.
Yanaka and his team measured the presence of H. pylori before the intervention and at one and two months after the intervention had begun through urea breath tests and by evaluating H. pylori-specific stool antigen.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml