Afraid of Prostate Cancer? Eat Your Broccoli!

Fitness enthusiasts know: Broccoli is among the no.1 foods for health conscious dieters. It is low in calories, high in vitamins and minerals and it is said to exhibit anti-estrogenic and (probably related) anti-cancerous effects. A few days ago, Trakka et.al. published a study (Trakka. 13 Jul 2010) which found a possible explanation of the beneficial effect of broccoli consumption on cancerous growth of the prostate (and hypothetically other organs as well).

The scientist demonstrated, that sulforaphane, a dietary isothiocyanate derived from broccoli, keeps phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), a tumor-suppressor gen, intact. With PTEN being responsible for programmed cell-death, its conservation by broccoli isothiocyanate prevents cells from growing and dividing too rapidly and may thus be a corner-stone in cancer prevention.