Broccoli Sprouts Proven to Protect Skin Better than Sunscreen

(OrganicJar) An extract made from broccoli sprouts boosts the body's natural ability to defend against the ultraviolet solar rays that cause skin cancer, reveals a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. If a product could be developed from the extract, it could provide key advantages over typical sunscreens lotions, which contain numerous cancer-causing chemicals. "If you apply an extract of broccoli sprouts that contains high levels of sulforaphane to regions of human skin, you can protect them very substantially," said Paul Talalay. "We believe, to the best of our knowledge, that this is the first demonstration of protection against a known human carcinogen in humans." Broccoli is also known to be high in nutrients, including A, B and C vitamins, calcium, magnesium, potassium, dietary fiber and folic acid, and is widely accepted to have cancer-fighting benefits when consumed as part of the diet. Sulforaphane has the effect of activating cells' production of what are known as "phase 2 enzymes." One such enzyme, glutathione S-transferase, has been shown to neutralize the DNA-damaging compounds produced by the skin produces when struck by ultraviolet radiation, and appears to reduce inflammation, which can cause precancerous growths to transform into full-blown cancerous tumors. Sulforaphane also encourages the production of tumor-suppressing proteins. Source: pnas john hopkins