It has always been known that a chemical in broccoli, cauliflower, and other related vegetables contained a chemical called isothiocyanate to reduce the risk of cancer, however, there was no definite answer as to how.
According to Discovery News, recent research at Georgetown University found that isothiocyanate sticks to a defective protein found in cancerous cells. The broccoli-born chemical only binds to the protein when it is defective. The normal version is left alone.
The gene p53 is in control of the production of the defective protein found in cancerous cells. When functioning normally, p53 helps stop cells from uncontrollably replicating, however, when it becomes mutated, the protein becomes defective. Research also indicates that the mutated p53 genes are more resistant to chemical cancer treatments.
Eating broccoli may help reduce cancer risks because the presence of isothiocyanate was seen to increase the death rate of cancer cells with the p53 mutation. Cauliflower is also great to eat because the isothiocyanate has been found to kill breast cancer cells.
I found this article simple and to the point. I think it’s funny how our parents always told us, “Eat your broccoli!” I even told my mom to read this article and she just laughed and said, “I told you so.” I think it’s great that a common vegetable such as broccoli or cauliflower can reduce the risk of certain cancers. Hopefully they can find cancer-reducing agents in foods such as cookies, cakes, etc. :)
Well i guess now it will be easier to convince people to eat broccoli and other vegetables. Not getting cancer is deffiantly a good motivator for eating your broccoli at the dinner table.
ReplyDeleteWell ill be eating my broccoli from now on, even though i can't stand the taste of it lol. I rather decrease my chances of getting cancer, then skip eating broccoli at the dinner table. This was a great article.
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