WANTED: volunteers to eat a plate of raw broccoli every day for week. If
you鈥檙e willing to submit to this unusual diet, Brian Ratcliffe wants to hear
from you.
Ratcliffe, a food scientist at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, heads a
team investigating whether broccoli can prevent colon cancer. So far, his
experiments, suggest that the vegetable loses its potency if cooked. Only pigs
eating raw broccoli appeared to reap any protective benefit, as measured by the
amount of DNA damage in colon cells taken from the animals. 鈥淭he level of damage
was around half that in pigs eating cooked broccoli,鈥� says Ratcliffe.
This suggests that cooking destroys chemicals called glucosinolates, which
are metabolised in the colon to substances called isothiocyanates. These
stimulate the production of enzymes that mop up free radicals that can damage
DNA.
Advertisement
Ratcliffe is now looking for people to continue the research. But even if
cooked broccoli doesn鈥檛 protect against colon cancer, Ratcliffe says it contains
other beneficial ingredients such as vitamins A and C. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not saying
everyone should eat only raw broccoli,鈥� he says.