"Yes, it's good for you! No, it's bad for you!" said about so many things

celebrate life said...
Allen,
I will get the sulphoraphane. That's quite a word. Will I be able to get it over the counter? Gary refuses to put anything green in his mouth, unless it's on fire. ;) Jalapenos count.
I am also going to quit the vitamin D. I get my blood monitored every three months because I'm on methotrexate and prednisone, so I can keep an eye on the D levels. Sun sounds good. We are going to HI next week ! PSA results tomorrow.
I appreciate all the information TA!
Beth
S

Probably doesn't matter if he refuses to eat anything green, but keep in mind(for yourself maybe) what I have just read: heat destroys the enzyme needed for broccoli to release the sulphoraphane. It was claimed (might have been in Dr. Greger's book ) that chopping broccoli up and letting it sit for 45 minutes before cooking activated the enzyme so it could do it's work, and that the sulphoraphane itself was heat resistant. The enzyme is also released by eating uncooked. Also by sprinkling with some mustard powder beforehand. A problem with frozen broccoli and this enzyme might be some sort of flash heating that is done to the broccoli before freezing(to make it last longer) which is also enough to destroy this enzyme. Which means the sulphoraphane will not be released. I think the mustard powder served the same purpose as the enzyme, but I need to go back and reread that section.

Just something to keep in mind if you are eating broccoli for it's health benefits and you want to get all you can out of it.

halbert said...


My takeaway is to try to do the moderation thing. Eat a healthy and balanced diet, and I'll live out my life span.

All this talk about healthy foods is giving me a headache. I think Halbert is right -- except for chocolate of course which should be consumed in large amounts around any holiday period!

Jim

Here's the one RCT of sulforaphane. It's small and needs more study, but at least there is no evidence of harm associated with it:

Effect of Sulforaphane in Men with Biochemical Recurrence after Radical Prostatectomy

Beth, I know it's available on the internet.


The data on mixed soy isolates is mixed.
A meta-analysis of 8 RCTs found 2 where it reduced PC diagnosis by about half. Among men already diagnosed, it did not affect PSA in the short term, but the effect on long-term survival remains to be determined.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bju.12435/full

Although PSA and hormone levels were not affected, at least in the short term, there was an effect on certain regulatory genes in this RCT, suggesting a long term benefit:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3710024/

There were two RCTs that showed no effect on PSA of short term supplementation. Mark Moyad objected to the way the one study was conducted, and others claim it will take much longer to discern an effect because it slowly concentrates in prostatic tissue. Others have shown that any salubrious effect it may have is dependent on its conversion by gut bacteria into a more bioactive substance (equol).

journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0068331
jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1710457
jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1787401
jn.nutrition.org/content/135/6/1400.long
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2734961/

Some small single arm studies show an effect on PSA, others don't. Some lab studies suggest it may radiosensitize prostate cancer while radioprotecting healthy tissue. There do not seem to be any harms associated with supplementation. So that's why I give it a "maybe."

- Allen