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Brocoli Sulphorophane Cooked
Brocoli Sulphorophane Cooked
When I used to teach medical students at Tufts, I gave a lecture about this amazing
new therapeutic called “iloccor-B.” I’d talk about all the new science, all the things it
could do, its excellent safety profile. Just as they were all scrambling to buy stock in
the company and prescribe it to all their patients, I’d do the big reveal. Apologizing
for my “dyslexia,” I would admit that I’d got it backwards. All this time I had been
talking about broccoli.
There is a strategy to get the benefits of raw in cooked form. In raw broccoli, the
sulforaphane precursor, called glucoraphanin, mixes with the enzyme (myrosinase)
when you chew or chop it. If given enough time—such as when sitting in your upper
stomach waiting to get digested—sulforaphane is born. The precursor and
sulforaphane are resistant to heat and therefore cooking, but the enzyme is
destroyed. No enzyme = no sulforaphane.
That’s why I described the “hack and hold” technique—if we chop the broccoli,
Brussels sprouts, kale, collards, or cauliflower first and then wait 40 minutes, we can
cook them all we want. The sulforaphane is already made; the enzyme has already
done its job, so we don’t need it anymore.
When most people make broccoli soup, for example, they’re doing it wrong. Most
people cook the broccoli first, then blend it. We now know it should be done the
exact opposite way. Blend it first, wait, and then cook it.
So, if we forget to chop our greens in the morning for the day, or are using frozen,
we can just sprinkle some mustard powder on top at the dinner table and we’re all
set. Daikon radish, horseradish, or wasabi—all cruciferous vegetables packed with
the enzyme—work as well. Just a quarter teaspoon of Daikon radish root for seven
cups of broccoli worked—just a tiny pinch can do it. Or you can add a small amount
of fresh greens to your cooked greens, because the fresh greens have myrosinase
enzyme that can go to work on the cooked greens.
I love kitchen chemistry—it totally revolutionized my daily greens prep. One of the
first things I used to do in the morning is chop my greens for the day, so when lunch
and supper rolls around they’d be good to go. But now with the mustard powder
plan, I don’t have to pre-chop.
This helps explain the results I presented in Raw Broccoli and Bladder Cancer
Survival.
OK, but what’s so great about this sulforaphane stuff? For a taste, see: