Eating broccoli really can lower bowel cancer risk

Eating broccoli can lower your risk of bowel cancer, even if it is overcooked, according to a new study.

It is well known that broccoli is a super-food that helps fight cancer, but it was always feared that cooking the vegetable for too long could prevent us from getting the full benefit.

But now researchers have discovered that eating three helpings a week could reduce your risk of bowel cancer, even if the broccoli is overcooked.

The findings showed that the body could still absorb the powerful cancer-fighting compound sulforaphane, using bacteria in the gut to release it from its parent chemical.

"Many people overcook their broccoli, unwittingly destroying the plant enzyme that gives us sulforaphane," The Daily Mail quoted Professor Elizabeth Jeffery as saying.

"Now we know that microbiota in our digestive tract can salvage some of this important cancer-preventive agent even if that happens."

Scientists had suspected that microbes in the intestines could perform this trick, but no one knew for certain.

But after a trial on rats at the University of Illinois, Professor Jeffery said: "The presence of sulforaphane in measurable amounts showed that it was being converted in the lower intestine and was available for absorption in the body.

"This discovery raises the possibility that we will be able to enhance the activity of these bacteria in the colon, increasing broccoli's cancer-preventive power," she added.

Further, the discovery could lead to new treatments for bowel cancer.

The findings were published the journal Food and Function.