Broccoli has always had a "superfood" status, but its stellar reputation is growing by the day. It has been known to reduce the risk of prostate, colon, and breast cancers, and now it's been to another.
According to the researchers at the University of Illinois, eating broccoli three to five times a week can reduce the risk of liver cancer. Furthermore, the vegetable has also been found to counter the development of fatty liver, both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic types. Fatty liver, when in an advanced state, can cause cirrhosis, a potentially life-threatening condition causing liver cells to be replaced with scar tissue.
The researchers came to this conclusion through working with mice which became obese due to diet and activity. They did not experiment on mice that were predisposed or genetically susceptible to it. This is so mainly because they believed most people are not genetically prone to becoming obese, but rather, it was due to the "Westernized diet" that has led to 3/4 of Americans becoming obese.
'We decided that liver cancer needed to be studied particularly because of the obesity epidemic," said Prof. Elizabeth Jeffery, one of the study's proponents. "It is already in the literature that obesity enhances the risk for liver cancer and this is particularly true for men. They have almost a five-fold greater risk for liver cancer if they are obese".
The researchers studied four groups of mice, ones who have been obese the same way humans do. Mice who were eating a Westernized diet had an increase in both the size and number of cancer nodules. However, when broccoli was added into the diet, the number of cancer nodules decreased.
Moreover, the mice did not lose weight when broccoli was added in the diet, but their livers notably became healthier.
"I think it's very difficult, particularly given the choices in fast food restaurants, for everybody to eat a lower fat diet," Jeffery said. "But more and more now you can get broccoli almost everywhere you go. Most restaurants will offer broccoli, and it's really a good idea to have it with your meal."
The study has been posted in the Journal of Nutrition, and can be accessed here.
