How to get the most sulforaphane out of broccoli

Broccoli is considered a powerful anti-cancer food because of its sulforaphane, a chemical compound that can target cancer stem cells and stop them from growing, dividing, and spreading¹.

To get the most amount of sulforaphane from broccoli, it’s best to do one of the following:

1. Eat it raw and chew it well.
2. Cut it up and wait 40 minutes before you cook it.
3. Sprinkle on it, after it’s cooked, some ground mustard seed.

That’s because, to make sulforaphane, you need to have a reaction between two other compounds found in broccoli:

1. Myrosinase – an enzyme which unfortunately gets destroyed by heat
2. Glucoraphanin – a heat resistant compound

Myrosinase and glucoraphanin combine when there’s damage to the broccoli (such as from chewing or cutting up), or when add back some myrosinase after cooking. That’s where ground mustard seeds come into play: they are a great source of active myrosinase. When you sprinkle some of cooked broccoli, you’re making it possible to sulforaphane to be created again.

I eat steamed broccoli daily. I started adding ground mustard seeds to them. A few dashes to a regular soup bowl. It made the meal just a tiniest bit spicy. Other than that, I enjoyed the taste. It’s become the new way I’m eating broccoli (and steamed cauliflower too.)

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¹ I first learned this from the book How Not to Die by Michael Greger. Then, after some research, I found several studies that showed the benefits of sulforaphane. I can’t understand all of the information from those reports (yet 😊) but I feel confident enough to write about the benefits of sulforaphane.

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Disclaimer: I’m not a health professional. I’m just a regular person who wants to be healthy but is confused by the contradicting information I read all the time. I decided to educate myself and try to make the best decision based on a combination of available data, critical thinking, and gut feeling. 🙂

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