Now, a super broccoli that protects heart, prevents cancers

British scientists have developed what they claim is a “super broccoli” which can protect people against heart disease and cancers.

A team at the Institute of Food Research and John Innes Centre in Norwich says the new strain called Beneforte looks like normal broccoli, but it contains three times as much of a health-boosting nutrient called glucoraphanin.

Research has shown that glucoraphanin can help protect against heart disease and cancers which include those of the bowel and prostate. The nutrient is converted in the gut into a compound, sulphoraphane.

That apparently reduces inflammation which can cause heart attacks, stops uncontrolled cell division associated with early stage cancer and boosts disease-fighting anti-oxidants, say the scientists.

The super broccoli raises sulphoraphane levels to two to four times that of normal broccoli, say the scientists who developed it by breeding -- and not by genetic engineering