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Scientists who really understand and care about holistic and homeopathic medicine are always researching to find alternatives to Big Pharma and mainstream health treatments that really don’t do much of anything except fill the bank accounts of corporate medicine. Part of their research has been to examine whether and how certain foods – especially those deemed “superfoods” – can fight some of most prevalent and deadly diseases.

Cancer, of course, qualifies as one such disease, and it just so happens that a growing body of research shows that one superfood in particular, broccoli, a species of cruciferous vegetable, can resist or impede the growth of cancer cells.

As we’ve reported in the past, broccoli – and, to a lesser extent other cruciferous veggies like Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage and cauliflower – is one superfood that consistently demonstrates anti-cancer benefits during testing.

Researchers have learned a great day about this superfood and its effect on cancerous cells – so much so that they know the type of broccoli you grow and how you prepare it after harvest determine to a great extent its anti-cancer abilities. To be sure the amount of broccoli that needs to be consumed for maximum anti-cancer power may be too much for some, but the benefits would definitely be worth the effort to dramatically increase consumption of this wonderful, nutritious vegetable.

That said, as we noted in 2013, recently a more accessible variation of broccoli has proven to be so potent in its anti-cancer properties that one group even tried to patent it. Fortunately, however, they were not successful.

As an added bonus, the same cancer-fighting compound in broccoli has also appeared to have helped prevent or alleviate osteoarthritis and degenerative joint disease, which are very common, and painful, debilitating condition suffered by about 20 million people in the U.S. alone, many of them older Americans who are living their twilight years, when quality of life is extremely important.

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The cancer-battling compound in broccoli is sulforaphane, and while it doesn’t occur naturally in the veggie, glucoraphanin – which created sulforaphane – does occur naturally in broccoli. Therefore, it is the glucoraphanin content that varies with different species of broccoli, for the production of solforaphane is dependent on it to release Phase-2 enzymes that can neutralize reactive forms of cancer-causing chemicals before they are allowed to damage DNA and promote cancer.

A few years ago research involving sulforaphane creation by broccoli and its activity focused specifically on osteoarthritis instead of cancer. The University of East Anglia in the UK conducted a study showing that sulforaphane blocked a key enzyme that caused inflammation, which is the root cause of osteoarthritis.

The study, published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism, also involved mice who were fed a diet high in glucoraphanin-producing sulforaphane; the results were that mice fed such diets had significantly less joint cartilage than mice fed less sulforaphane.

A separate study – which was actually a meta analysis of several studies – in 2010 found that a reduction in cancer rates was directly tied to better nutrition, and specifically mentioned broccoli-generated sulforaphane:

It has been estimated that 30–40 percent of all cancers can be prevented by lifestyle and dietary measures alone. … Intake of flax seed, especially its lignan fraction, and abundant portions of fruits and vegetables will lower cancer risk. Allium and cruciferous vegetables are especially beneficial, with broccoli sprouts being the densest source of sulforophane. …When a diet is compiled according to the guidelines here it is likely that there would be at least a 60–70 percent decrease in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers, and even a 40–50 percent decrease in lung cancer, along with similar reductions in cancers at other sites.

If much of this is new to you, you’re certainly not alone. Scores of Americans who want to better protect themselves from cancer, but simply don’t know all the facts. If you’re one of them, you can change that by signing up for the FREE online Natural Cancer Prevention Summit now. Don’t become one of the 14 million new cancer victims this year.