Sulforaphane is one of those compounds that almost sounds too good to be true. A quick search on Pubmed, a biomedical literature search engine, throws up more than 2500 scientific papers on the health benefits of sulforaphane. Dig a bit deeper and you quickly understand why: this plant-derived compound has numerous health promoting properties and has been studied for its therapeutic use in a wide variety of health conditions, ranging from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia to diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.
While it is not “the” magic bullet (unfortunately there never is one), including a high quality sulforaphane supplement in your regimen may be a great way to support your health. I personally take it for its ability to upregulate my body’s detoxification systems, which is even more relevant for me now that I am spending a lot of time in New Delhi, where air pollution levels are often dangerously high. Studies done in China found a significant increase of urinary excretion of the air pollutants benzene and acrolein after supplementation with sulforaphane.
So, let’s have a quick look at sulforaphane: what it is, its actions in the body, who should consider taking sulforaphane, and things to look out for when buying a sulforaphane supplement.
What is sulforaphane?
Sulforaphane is a phyto (aka plant-based) chemical, belonging to the isothiocyanate family. It is found in many cruciferous vegetables, like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and kale with the highest concentration found in broccoli sprouts.
Before you double up on your intake of these vegetables to boost your sulforaphane intake, there are a few things you should know. Sulforaphane is derived from a precursor compound called glucoraphanin through conversion by an enzyme called myrosinase. Cooking and heating vegetables destroys this enzyme, whereas chewing, chopping, juicing or blending can increase the enzyme activity. Members of our gastrointestinal gut microbiobe community can support the enzymatic conversion as well, however not everyone’s gut hosts the necessary microbes for this.
To obtain an effective (read therapeutic) amount of sulforaphane it is estimated that you would need to consume 100 to 140 grams of broccoli sprouts daily. While this is technically doable there are several challenges associated with this approach: you would have to do a lot of sprouting with organic broccoli seeds that have a known sulforaphane content as levels can vary quite a bit. Power to you if you can do this, I simply have too many other things on my plate (pun intended). Taking a sulforaphane supplement can be a wonderful alternative. More on that later.
Having said that, cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli sprouts have many other health benefits and I encourage including these wonderful vegetables in your diet if they work for you (remember everything is personal!).
What does sulforaphane do in the body?
Research has shown that sulforaphane has anti-diabetic, cholesterol lowering, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, neuro protective, cardio protective, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial activities. These actions have been shown in-vitro, in animal studies and some human clinical trials.
Nerd alert: For the science enthusiasts amongst us (feel free to skip to the next section if you’re not!): one of sulforaphane’s top benefits is its ability to activate Nrf2, a protein that regulates the expression of genes involved in the anti-oxidant defense – and detoxification systems. Furthermore, besides its powerful anti-inflammatory action, it also modifies key signaling pathways and genes involved in the induction of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and angiogenesis inhibition, all of which are important anti-cancer mechanisms. It has also been shown to inhibit H Pylori and other pathogenic bacterial strains.
Who could potentially benefit from taking sulforaphane?
Given the above-mentioned properties of sulforaphane, supplementing would be beneficial if:
- You are exposed to toxins (aren’t we all to some extent?!). This could be air pollution, pesticides, or other environmental pollutants.
- You are dealing with an inflammatory condition: anything that ends in “itis” (arthritis, spondylitis, sinusitis, etc.), autoimmune conditions, irritable bowel syndrome, high blood sugar, diabetes, chronic pain, fatigue, obesity, etc.
- You are experiencing cognitive issues, like brain fog, lack of concentration, reduced focus or memory, anxiety, depression.
- You are worried about neurodegeneration: Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons, dementia.
- You are at high risk for cardiovascular disease.
- You are trying to rebalance your gut microbiome.
- You are dealing with an H Pylori infection.
- You have had cancer or want to be proactive in preventing cancer.
If you have a diagnosed health condition, you should first consult your physician before starting any new supplement.
What to look for in a sulforaphane supplement?
There are quite a few sulforaphane supplements available but not all are of the same quality or potency. Here’s what to look out for.
First of all, sulforaphane is a very unstable molecule, which is why many sulforaphane supplements contain the precursor glucoraphanin with or without the enzyme myrosinase that is needed to convert it into the active sulforaphane compound. If choosing this form of supplement, it is important to choose a high-quality brand that is tested for a standardized content of glucoraphanin with myrosinase (unfortunately not all supplements contain what they say they contain). Some of the better brands to look for are Thorne, Orthomolecular, Xymogen, Jarrow or Avmacol.
There are also supplements that contain the actual stabilized sulforaphane, extracted from organic broccoli seeds, which is in my opinion the best option. Based on my own research, I have chosen to take BrocElite from Mara Labs (no affiliation, I’m just a fan). It ticks all the boxes: it has stabilized sulforaphane along with some other phenolic compounds that work synergistically with sulforaphane. The content is tested and therefore reliable. The company uses organic broccoli seeds and uses a non-toxic water-based extraction process and there are no fillers or dubious ingredients in the mix.
As always, I will conclude by saying this: all the supplements in the world are not going to make a difference if your foundation is not solid. And by that, I mean: eating and living in alignment with what your unique body-mind needs to function at its best. If you need help to figure that out: schedule a quick, free, 15 minute call with me here to see if I can help. And keep your eye out for my upcoming book Unlock Your Health, which outlines the roadmap for finding your unique approach to optimal health and wellbeing.
Be well.
Monique
References:
Efficacy of Sulforaphane in Neurodegenerative diseases (Schepici et al., 2020)
Sulforaphane: A review of its therapeutic potentials, advances in its nanodelivery, recent patents, and clinical trials (Mangla et al., 2021)
Broccoli or Sulforaphane: is it the source or dose that matters? (Yagishita et al., 2019)
Anti-cancer activity of sulforaphane: the Epigenetic mechanisms and the Nrf2 Signaling Pathway (Su et al., 2018)
