Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

A new study in the journal Cancer Prevention Research discovered eating just 2.5 ounces of broccoli each day helped reduce Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) a bacterium closely tied to stomach damage and gastric cancer. Broccoli sprouts provide sulforaphane, a known cancer-fighter, which acts as an antibiotic against H. pylori. The experiment involved 48 people infected with H. pylori with half the participants eating broccoli sprouts each day. The others ate alfalfa sprouts, which do not contain sulforaphane. After 8 weeks the broccoli group had significantly lower levels of H. pylori. No change was observed in the alfalfa group; HealthDay News reports.

Sulforaphane has also been linked to undoing cell damage associated with hyperglycaemia and diabetes, but all fruits and vegetables are health-protective, such reducing risk of colon, prostate and pancreatic cancer. Other research has revealed populations eating an additional 20% more cruciferous vegetables have 40% less cancer.

Last week, a report showed vitamin K, found in leafy greens like spinach and broccoli, had a lower risk of prostate cancer. Broccoli has also been shown to protect against respiratory inflammation.

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This is definitely one acid trip you don’t want to go on. New findings in the European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology reveal foods fortified with folic acid may increase colon cancer rates. In 2000, the Chilean government instituted a mandatory folic acid fortification in wheat flour in order to help prevent spina bifida. Since that time, reported cases of colon cancer have jumped 162% in people ages 35 to 64 and 190% in people 65 to 79 and there was a slight increase in breast cancer rates too. Chile uses a higher dose of folic acid than other countries; from Medical News Today.

In 2007, a similar study reported 15,000 more cases of colon cancer with folic acid enrichment and another report showed folic acid harms the heart. In general, enriched foods are pretty silly. Food producers strip all the nutrients out of food and then put something back in and call it healthy? Pretty kooky.

In the past, folic acid supplements have been shown to heighten men’s risk of prostate cancer, 9.7% after 10 years. That why supplements, like Gentle Care, don’t contain folic acid.

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