Sulforaphane from Broccoli Sprouts is Better than Tablets? (study says yes)

[Bolt_Upright]

I am a simple man. I eat a bowl of broccoli sprouts every morning. I sprout my own and it is cheap and easy. Over 2 years and I have never had a jar not sprout.

But they have these capsules and whatnot. Are they good? I don't know. This paper says plain sprouts are better. You get more sulforaphane AND there are other things in broccoli sprouts that provide benefits also.

One more note (from my high school educated brain): Eating sprouts is much cheaper and easier than making broccoli seed tea. If you search for studies on the benefits of sulforaphane you will find that almost all of the studies use plain broccoli sprouts or drinks made by blending up broccoli sprouts. I hate to see people miss out on broccoli sprouts because they think the tea may be better (which it may, or may not be) and end up with neither.

Like I said, I have a high school degree. Maybe broccoli sprouts do nothing but provide me a good breakfast salad every morning.

Dietary intake of sulforaphane-rich broccoli sprouts decreases fecal calprotectin levels in patients with ulcerative colitis 2024 - ffhdj.com/index.php/ffhd/ar...

"Instead of using glucoraphanin tablets, we used raw BS in our study. It has been reported that glucoraphanin, a precursor of SFN, included in BS, is biologically inactive [24]. However, once administered orally into the gastrointestinal tract, most of the glucoraphanin in BS is converted to biologically active SFN by myrosinase activity in the raw BS during chewing BS in the oral cavity [24]. The rest of the glucoraphanin is converted into biological active SFN by myrosinase activity in the intestinal microbiota. The oral intake of BS induces much higher concentrations of systemic SFN compared to taking the same amount of oral glucoraphanin tablet, which was confirmed by an increase in urinary levels of dithiocarbamate, a metabolite of SFN [9,25]. These results indicate that the better bioavailability of SFN can be obtained by chewing raw BS ratherthan taking glucoraphanin tablets orally.

Furthermore, a recent study suggests that polysulfides, such as cysteine hydropersulfide and glutathione hydropersulfide,are included abundantly in BS and also demonstrate potent antioxidant effects via the nrf2-mediated system [26]. This supports our conclusion that taking raw BS orally provides more potent action than taking a glucoraphanin tablet in terms of amelioration of chronic oxidative stress in the colonic mucosa in UC patients."

[dvoranel]

Wonderful! Thank you!

[MarkPrana]

For those of us who have never sprouted broccoli seeds and aren't sure how to go about this, are there any tips or 'how to' guides to help with getting started?

I've been taking the capsules from Jarrow as I've always assume sprouting would be complex and time-consuming, particularly for someone with very limited cooking and food preparation experience.

Interestingly, the product I use does state that:

"Jarrow Formulas® BroccoMax® broccoli seed extract is manufactured using a patented process that preserves active myrosinase, the enzyme in broccoli that metabolizes SGS (Sulforaphane Glucosinolate, a.k.a. glucoraphanin) in the small intestine into sulforaphane."

I guess we just don't know how much it really preserves and how much of the enzyme activity is lost...

The time pressures are probably the most challenging aspect of doing it myself, as I am juggling quite an intensive job, whilst trying to maintain a daily high-intensity exercise program, with the demands of a young family that includes two daughters aged 3 and 5.

[Bolt_Upright in reply to MarkPrana]

Sprouting is easy and cheap. I may spend 20 minutes a day messing with it. I have a blog with instructions:

Broccoli Sprouting Instructions rbd-pd-protocols.blogspot.c...

If you watch these two videos and read my instructions, you should have a pretty good handle on sprouting broccoli seeds!

I am happy to set up a Zoom call to cover this. We can steal 10 minutes from one of Marc's Zoom calls and cover this I am sure.