Broccoli juice can ward off cancer

The vegetable juice is found to boost the production of enzymes that protect cells against the risk of skin cancer.

Most people know that eating broccoli is good for health. Now, just add sunscreen to the list of the vegetable's benefits. Yes, researchers in the United States have carried out a study and found that broccoli juice is more effective in blocking out the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun, thereby preventing skin cancer to a large extent. "Ultraviolet radiation is probably the most universal and abundant carcinogen in the world. The study demonstrates direct protection against that carcinogen," according to lead researcher Paul Talalay.

In fact, Talalay and his team at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore came to the conclusion after conducting tests on six volunteers - three men and three women aged between 28 and 53 - who were exposed to pulses of ultraviolet radiation.

The researchers found a green smear of broccoli-sprout extract reduced sunburn symptoms by up to 78 per cent while conventional sunscreens used in the same experiment proved to be ineffective. According to the findings, unlike a normal sunscreen, the extract did not absorb ultraviolet light to prevent it entering the skin.

Instead, it worked inside the body by boosting the production of enzymes that protected cells against ultraviolet damage and the risk of skin cancer. "The treatment could decrease the long-term risk of developing cancer," Talalay wrote in the latest edition of the

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

journal.