Ever since the detox diet trend hit big, nutritionists have generally given the thumbs-down to the idea that certain foods can rid your body of harmful chemicals (ah, that’s what your liver is for). But a new study demonstrates that one green veggie really might have legitimate detoxing cred: broccoli sprouts. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that these little green buds helped excrete air pollutants at an accelerated rate.
Researchers writing in Cancer Prevention Research focused on about 300 study subjects living in a Chinese city with a high air pollution rate. One group was given a daily drink made with freeze-dried broccoli sprout powder, while the other group consumed a daily placebo beverage sans sprouts. After 12 weeks, the researchers tested the urine and blood of the study subjects. Their findings: the pollutant excretion level among the sprout drinkers was substantially higher than that of the placebo group. The detox rate of one cancer-causing pollutant, benzene, shot up 61 percent, while the rate for another carcinogen, acrolein, increased 23 percent.
What’s so special about broccoli sprouts? In the study, researchers wrote that a compound found in these veggies and other cruciferous greens, called glucoraphanin, has previously been shown to have anti-cancer properties in animal studies—suggesting that this compound might have something to do with the study results. Though much more research needs to be done before broccoli sprouts or similar veggies are proven to remove pollutants from the body, it can’t hurt to pick some of these up in the produce aisle and add them to a salad or blend them into your next green smoothie. Start with these healthy smoothie recipes here.
More like this from Women's Health:
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The One Thing You Should Eat When You Want to Freshen Your Breath
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