Summary
Optimal sulforaphane intake is 5-60mg daily for health benefits, with broccoli sprouts containing 10-100x more than mature plants. The myrosinase enzyme needed for conversion is heat-sensitive, so add ground mustard seed to cooked broccoli as a workaround. A 12-week study confirmed no adverse thyroid effects at therapeutic doses.
Key Points
- Research suggests a daily range of 5-60 milligrams of sulforaphane produces the greatest health effects
- Broccoli seeds contain 10-100 times more glucoraphanin than mature plants, but sprouted forms are preferable to avoid erucic acid in seeds
- Myrosinase enzyme is heat-sensitive; adding ground mustard seed to cooked vegetables provides a workaround for enzyme loss during cooking
- Sulforaphane enhances glutathione production, enabling the body to excrete toxins like pesticides and air pollutants
- Evidence indicates sulforaphane increases glutathione levels in brain tissue and may protect against neurodegenerative conditions
- A 12-week clinical study demonstrated sulforaphane produces no adverse effects on thyroid function
- Current evidence supports sulforaphane for cancer prevention rather than treatment of existing cancers
Key Moments
Sulforaphane: Cancer
Hello friends, today's episode is the recorded two-hour Q&A I hosted with Dr. Jed Fahey on November 7, 2020.
"So it all depends on the amount of glucoraphanin, the precursor of sulforaphane that is in broccoli or sprouts."
Gut Microbiome Discussion
I'm going to avoid a long diatribe on glucoraphanin and myrosinase and sulforaphane because I have the feeling that if you've listened to Rhonda at all or gone to our podcast, the podcast that she...
"So it all depends on the amount of glucoraphanin, the precursor of sulforaphane that is in broccoli or sprouts."
Sulforaphane: Cancer
Would consuming them every day be better than every other day or once a week? This is an easy question for me to answer, but it's, as with most everything else, it's shades of gray.
"So they've been doing postmortem studies looking in the brain of unfortunately infants and children and young adolescents that have died for whatever reason."
Liver Support: How To
Glutathione is the body's most predominant detoxification mechanism. It's present at very high levels in things like the macula of the eye, the back of the eye, in the retina.
"And indeed, it's pretty widespread because this is probably involved in a subsequent question. But a lot of this is because of the upregulation of glutathione. Glutathione is the body's most predominant detoxification mechanism."
Alzheimer Prevention: Prevention
You empty your bladder and immediately it starts filling back up again. Certainly the prostate cancer is another example where mechanistically, or I should say evidentially, there's evidence.
"So bladder cancer, I still think, is the ultimate target for isothiocyanates because you're bathing that tissue in these protective compounds essentially all the time. You empty your bladder and immediately it starts filling back up again."
Protein Aggregation: Benefits
You empty your bladder and immediately it starts filling back up again. Certainly the prostate cancer is another example where mechanistically, or I should say evidentially, there's evidence.
"So bladder cancer, I still think, is the ultimate target for isothiocyanates because you're bathing that tissue in these protective compounds essentially all the time. You empty your bladder and immediately it starts filling back up again."
Sulforaphane: Nrf2
I'm definitely going to continue following that literature as well. I mean, I just keep seeing animal study after animal study showing, you know, a positive effect on sulforaphane, with sulforaphane on Alzheimer's disease.
"And so you'd exceed the calculated exposure limit for erucic acid. So I didn't dig into that and research their, your listeners facts, but I'm assuming that they're correct. And yeah, I think you might get too much."
Cold Exposure: Benefits
We've done some, there's a company in England that has something that's a non-natural synthetic sulforaphane that they've stabilized.
"We've actually done some experiments with that type of sulforaphane and found that there are some adverse side effects. So I certainly wouldn't recommend that."
Sauna: Heat Shock
We've done some, there's a company in England that has something that's a non-natural synthetic sulforaphane that they've stabilized.
"We've actually done some experiments with that type of sulforaphane and found that there are some adverse side effects. So I certainly wouldn't recommend that."
Sulforaphane: Cancer
Maybe not sulforaphane itself, but yeah, a certain isothiocyanate. Yeah, so it's not, and nor are broccoli sprouts when eaten in moderation, nor are glucoraphanin-rich supplements.
"Maybe not sulforaphane itself, but yeah, a certain isothiocyanate. Yeah, so it's not, and nor are broccoli sprouts when eaten in moderation, nor are glucoraphanin-rich supplements."
Thyroid Health Discussion
Maybe not sulforaphane itself, but yeah, a certain isothiocyanate. Yeah, so it's not, and nor are broccoli sprouts when eaten in moderation, nor are glucoraphanin-rich supplements.
"Maybe not sulforaphane itself, but yeah, a certain isothiocyanate. Yeah, so it's not, and nor are broccoli sprouts when eaten in moderation, nor are glucoraphanin-rich supplements."
