By Chioma Umeha
A new study from the University of Illinois in the
US has shown that eating broccoli three or four times a week may be associated
with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, asthma and
several types of cancer.
Researchers identified candidate genes controlling
the accumulation of phenolic compounds in broccoli. Consumption of phenolic
compounds, including certain flavonoids, is linked with a lower risk of
coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, asthma, and several types of cancer.
“Phenolic compounds have good antioxidant
activity, and there is increasing evidence that this antioxidant activity
affects biochemical pathways affiliated with inflammation in mammals,” said
Jack Juvik.
We need inflammation because it is a response to
disease or damage, but it is also associated with initiation of a number of
degenerative diseases. People whose diets consist of a certain level of these
compounds will have a lesser risk of contracting these diseases,” Juvik added.
Researchers crossed two broccoli lines and tested
their progeny in terms of total phenolic content and their ability to
neutralise oxygen radicals in cellular assays.
They then used a genetic technique called quantitative
trait locus analysis to search for the genes involved in generating phenolics
in the most promising progeny.
By identifying the genes involved in accumulating
these compounds, researchers say they are one step closer to breeding broccoli
and related Brassica vegetables like kale and cabbage with mega-doses of
phenolic compounds.
Phenolic compounds are flavourless and stable,
meaning the vegetables can be cooked without losing health-promoting qualities,
researchers said. Once these vegetables are consumed, the phenolic compounds
are absorbed and targeted to certain areas of the body or concentrated in the
liver, they said.
Flavonoids spread through the bloodstream,
reducing inflammation through their antioxidant activity. “These are things we
cannot make ourselves, so we have to get them from our diets,” said Juvik.
“The compounds do not stick around forever, so we
need to eat broccoli or some other Brassica vegetable every three or four days
to lower the risk of cancers and other degenerative diseases,” he added.
