Detox with Broccoli

Broccoli is one of the best foods to stimulate the detox pathways in the liver.  It’s also one of the most effective cancer-preventing vegetables you can eat because it’s rich in two top cancer-fighting phytonutrients—indole 3-carbinol and sulphoraphane.

Raw, Cooked, Steamed or Microwaved?

What is the best way to eat broccoli to get the most nutrition?

• Raw is excellent because you get enzymes and biophotons, which are destroyed with cooking, except light steaming. Raw broccoli is excellent for detoxing. You can juice the hard stems that you would normally throw away.
• Lightly steamed is even more effective  in fighting cancer than raw when it comes to indole 3-carbinol and sulphoraphane. Dr. Elizabeth Jeffrey did a study on broccoli at the University of Illinois and found that lightly steaming for 3 or 4 minutes released an enzyme that releases sulforaphane without destroying it.
• Do not boil or microwave broccoli.  These methods of cooking destroy sulforaphane within one minute.  Plus microwaving adds toxic byproducts to your food.  It’s not a good method to cook anything.

Is Frozen Broccoli Good?

Dr. Jeffrey found that people get almost no indole 3-carbinol or sulphoraphane from frozen broccoli from the varieties of frozen broccoli they have studied at the university.  She thinks this is because all across the food industry, frozen veggies are blanched before freezing.  This is a necessary process, but it appears that they have a harsher process of blanching than necessary, which destroys the enzyme that releases the phytonutrients.

Eat a Side Dish with Radishes or Wasabi and Tomatoes

Both radishes and wasabi release sulphoraphane in broccoli.  And add tomatoes to the meal. In her studies, Dr. Jeffrey found that tomatoes combined with broccoli were the most effective in inhibiting cancer growth—an impressive 52%.  Tomatoes can be cooked and still keep their lycopene.  So you can use tomato sauce, boiled, broiled, or baked tomatoes and still get the lycopene, although enzymes and photons get destroyed. And don’t forget—lycopene is lipid (fat) soluble so add some olive or coconut oil to your tomato sauce or your salad dressing.