For Smokers, Broccoli could be the Cancer Protective Veggie!

Researchers have found that eating broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables reduce a smoker’s risk of developing lung cancer. This research was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. The study is first of its kind to show that cruciferous vegetables have a protective benefit against lung cancer that could hugely benefit smokers.

Cruciferous vegetables include cauliflower, mustard greens, collard greens, cabbage, kale, turnip greens, and broccoli. Li Tang, a post doctoral fellow at Roswell Park Cancer Institute believes, “Broccoli is not a therapeutic drug, but for smokers who believe they cannot quit or do anything about their risk, this is something positive.” He further added, “People who quit smoking will definitely benefit more from intake of cruciferous vegetables.”

A case-controlled hospital-based study of 948 lung cancer patients, and 1,743 people without lung cancer was conducted by researchers. The research included study of smoking status along with consumption of cruciferous vegetables both in cooked as well as raw form. It was found that those people who ate raw cruciferous vegetables had lower risk of cancer.

Although this study was only observational, previous research studies have shown that compounds called isothiocyanates from cruciferous vegetables could be linked to fighting lung cancer. Li said, “These findings are not strong enough to make a public recommendation yet. However, strong biological evidence supports this observation.” He further added, “These findings along with others indicate cruciferous vegetables may play a more important role in cancer prevention among people exposed to cigarette-smoking.”

I have always been a fan of vegetables and a proud carnivorous homo-sapien at the same time. But for those smokers, who just can’t quit smoking and yet they are concerned about their health, I believe there is no harm eating some broccoli every now and then. After all, if one is ready to risk contracting lung cancer with persistent smoking, why not develop taste for some cruciferous veggies to counter the unhealthy effects of smoking?!