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Sulforaphane is a phytonutrient, which is a fancy word for “nutrient found in
a plant.” It functions as a powerful antioxidant, meaning it fights against and repairs the damage that occurs all the time in every cell in your body. It’s also an isothiocyanate — a type of compound that’s synthesized from a precursor found in cruciferous vegetables, which are a part of the Brassica family. If you have a decent chemistry lab, and you want to make it at home, the chemical formulation is C6H11NOS2.When we say that broccoli or some other Brassica contains sulforaphane, that’s actually a slightly misleading statement. The vegetable technically contains the precursor, an isothiocyanate, that then converts to sulforaphane. But how does that work?
The isothiocyanate found in the sulforaphane-generating vegetables is called glucoraphanin, a biologically active, sulfur-containing glucosinolate compound that gives them that strong smell and taste. In nature, one of its main functions is to repel pests. The glucoraphanin remains stable until the plant is broken, such as by the cutting or chewing of an insect or animal. Once that happens, the glucoraphanin comes in contact with an enzyme called myrosinase, which is stored in another compartment of the cell. Spurred on by access to myrosinase, our gut bacteria then convert glucoraphanin to sulforaphane.
You can think about it a little like those heat packs that you have to shake to activate. Shaking, or in this case chewing, brings compounds together to create new and potent effects. Sulforaphane then goes to work keeping you healthy.
7 Health Benefits of Sulforaphane
So what exactly can sulforaphane do for you? Below are seven potential health benefits of sulforaphane with the most evidence behind them.
1. It may have anti-inflammatory properties.
Unchecked and chronic inflammation can increase your risk for a variety of unwanted health conditions and even chronic diseases. The World Health Organization estimates that 70% of all deaths globally can be attributed to chronic inflammatory conditions. That’s one reason why eating a largely anti-inflammatory diet can be so beneficial for overall health outcomes. Sulforaphane appears to inhibit inflammation in conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, gouty arthritis, type 1 and 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and some autoimmune disorders. It may also have a potential application in helping to treat some chronic inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, respiratory conditions, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.
Think of broccoli as nature’s fire hose, dousing inflammation in your cells and giving your tissues a chance to cool down and recover.
2. It may boost liver function and help with natural detoxification.
In a 2019 study published in Experimental Hematology (a journal that sadly missed the chance to be called “Messing Around with Blood”), sulforaphane was found to help reduce liver damage among rats with sickle cell disease, playing a role in the detoxification of heme released from lysed (ruptured) red blood cells.
In another study, sulforaphane from a broccoli sprout extract protected the liver and induced detoxification by triggering enzymes and the creation of glutathione. Glutathione is an all-star antioxidant (wouldn’t that be a great name for a sports team: The Antioxidants?) composed of three amino acids: glutamine, glycine, and cysteine. It works by fighting against free radicals that can cause cell damage and cancer. Just about all of life’s stresses can deplete our glutathione reserves, which is hard for the body to access in supplement form. So it’s good news that we can get it from broccoli and broccoli sprouts!
Neutralizing Benzene
And in a 2019 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers looked at the detoxification effects of sulforaphane in humans related to the carcinogen benzene found in air pollutants. Benzene may sound exotic, but if you’ve ever smelled gasoline while filling your tank, or got a little clumsy filling a lawnmower or weed whacker, you have ingested a fair amount of the stuff. Even second-hand cigarette smoke and car exhaust will give you a dose of benzene that should make you run, not walk, to the nearest McBroccoli’s restaurant. (What? That doesn’t exist yet? I sense a great business opportunity!)
In the study, 170 participants were assigned randomly to either drink a placebo beverage or one of three graded concentrations of a broccoli sprout beverage for 10 consecutive days. Concentrations of SPMA, a biomarker that rises in urine as a result of enhanced detoxification, were measured. In the end, it was found that drinking the full-strength broccoli sprout beverage (but not the dilutions) boosted the detoxification of benzene.
3. It may protect your brain.
Sulforaphane may have protective effects on cognition and brain function, or as we say when we’re not pretending to be neurologists, it may keep you smarter longer. In a 2016 study published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, after some very unfortunate rats were put into a state of hyperammonemia (characterized by high levels of ammonia in their blood), sulforaphane was found to reverse cognitive disruption. Sulforaphane may also have the potential to prevent neuronal disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease by enhancing the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF, also known as “brain fertilizer,” helps protect existing neurons and supports the growth and differentiation of new ones in the brain. And a 2018 study concluded that sulforaphane can be protective against brain diseases largely due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties.
4. It may have anticancer properties.
If you know someone who’s gone through chemotherapy to fight their cancer, you’ve seen how uncomfortable and taxing a process that can be. Imagine food that could mimic the positive effects of chemotherapy without the harmful and debilitating side effects.
Sulforaphane appears to have chemopreventive properties and the capacity to be selectively toxic to malignant cells. It seems to know which cells are naughty and nice (kind of like a smelly Santa Claus) and treats them accordingly. The effects are so potent that researchers suggest it may have clinical applications on its own as well as in combination with current therapeutic and management strategies for cancer. Additionally, sulforaphane may have cancer-preventing properties for specific types of cancer, particularly pancreatic and prostate, either on its own or used with other treatment approaches.
5. It may promote healthy weight loss and help prevent obesity.
Leptin is a hormone primarily made by cells in the small intestine and fat tissues, which help regulate hunger/fullness cues and manage fat storage. When your leptin levels are high, your brain gets the message that you’re full and should stop eating. It also gets informed that you have plenty of fat stored, so you don’t need to store anymore.
If you are leptin-resistant, though, your brain never gets that message, and you’re more likely to become obese because your body will not be able to register satiety. In a 2018 study published in the European Journal of Pharmacology, researchers found that treating high-fat, high-sucrose-fed obese mice with sulforaphane for 23 days induced a better response to leptin compared to those mice not treated with sulforaphane. Those who received it ate significantly less food overall and experienced significantly less weight gain. Another study found that the sulforaphane precursor glucoraphanin (a glucosinolate) could protect against obesity-related inflammation by enhancing energy expenditure and browning of white adipose tissue.
6. It may protect your heart from damage.
Doxorubicin is an antitumor drug used in chemotherapy. But its use is limited because it tends to damage the heart and can even lead to heart failure. In one animal study, an unfortunate group of male rats were given doxorubicin to induce heart damage. But when they were also given sulforaphane, it significantly protected them from that damage. Other research supports this finding, as studies have shown that sulforaphane protects against cardiovascular disease and related conditions, largely due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
7. It may have antimicrobial properties.
Sulforaphane appears to have antimicrobial properties that can protect against gut pathogens. This was demonstrated in a 2020 study, in which participants who consumed sulforaphane-enriched broccoli soup saw inhibited bacterial growth in their stomach and upper small intestine compared to the group who consumed broccoli soup that had not been enriched with additional sulforaphane.
In another study, researchers found that sulforaphane helped to eradicate H. pylori infections in the gut. In fact, the sulforaphane was able to kill the forms of H. pylori responsible for full-blown infections within just 24 hours. While more targeted human research is needed, there’s promise that sulforaphane could have clinical applications in antibacterial treatments. Given the rise of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs,” it’s great to know that nature provides us with foods that can help bacterial infections at bay.
Sulforaphane-Rich Foods
Sulforaphane is synthesized only from cruciferous vegetables. The highest amounts of glucosinolates — sulforaphane’s precursor — are found in raw, uncooked crucifers. Interestingly, domesticated varieties have less glucosinolates than wild-grown varieties. (For you music-loving gardeners out there: No, blasting “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf will not increase the glucosinolate levels of your plants.) Glucosinolates are most abundant in the flower buds and seeds of these veggies, and the levels vary between species.
Below are the glucosinolate levels of some popular cruciferous vegetables:
- Kale, 34 gram (½ cup) serving: 34 mg
- Bok Choy, 70 gram (½ cup) serving: 19 mg
- Red Cabbage, 45 gram (½ cup) serving: 29 mg
- Brussels Sprouts, 44 gram (½ cup) serving: 104 mg
- Garden Cress, 25 gram (½ cup) serving: 98 mg
- Cauliflower, 50 gram (½ cup) serving: 22 mg
- Mustard Greens, 28 gram (½ cup): 79 mg
- Turnips, 65 gram (½ cup): 60 mg
- Broccoli, 44 gram (½ cup): 27 mg
Broccoli Sprouts
If there was ever to be some sort of a glucosinolate olympics, though, broccoli sprouts would win gold. They offer the highest amount of glucosinolate per serving out of all vegetables. A mere 1-ounce serving of broccoli sprouts provides 73 mg of glucosinolates (that’s 292 mg in ½ cup!). Because they’re so impressive, broccoli sprouts — and their extracts, in the forms of powders or supplements — have been the focus of much of the research on sulforaphane. When compared to regular broccoli, broccoli sprouts have 10-100 times the power of regular broccoli in terms of glucosinolate concentration per serving.
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