Broccoli Sprouts May Be Germ Fighters

Broccoli Sprouts Image by KatieL366 via Flickr

From Cancer Prevention Research comes something interesting: eating your way to health as opposed to just taking drugs that are not always as effective.

Apparently, there is a particular germ called Helicobactor pylori that is responsible for most peptic ulcers and strongly associated with stomach cancer.

It was a very small study of only 50 people already infected with the germ and they were studied over an eight week period. Divided into two groups, each dined on two and one half ounces of sprouts, one group ate broccoli sprouts and the other ate alfalfa sprouts.

What the study found through the usual blood and fecal tests is that the broccoli diners had significantly lowered the levels of their infection. Sadly, the alfalfa crowd was left out in the cold as unimproved on the infection front.

Dr. Fahey, a co-author of this small study and a researcher at Johns Hopkins, notes that there are antibiotic drugs available for this infection but they have most unpleasant side effects.

While this is too small a study to draw big conclusions, the researchers are hopeful to later prove the same reduction in levels of infection in larger trials.

In summary, what positive and helpful conclusion that can be draw from this small study is it is wise to shift our dietary habits. Any time through diet that we can reduce inflammation in the body as this study did prove because the infection levels went down, we can go a long way to help improve chronic disease.

Conclusion? Eat your cruciferous vegetables! Besides, broccoli has a lot of calcium in it too, even more than milk. Changing your diet never tasted so good and with such little effort for maximum benefits.

Written by Denny Lyon