You’ve heard me say for years that when it comes to vegetables, more bitter often means more better. And that is exactly why I’m such a big believer in cruciferous vegetables, especially broccoli. Now, broccoli is not just another green vegetable. The cruciferous family of vegetables are unique for actually several reasons. First of all, they are sulfur containing vegetables. So what? Well, sulfur is actually really important for making cellular function work. In fact, there is speculation that there probably are sulfur-based life forms out in the universe. We’re a carbon-based life form, but sulfur actually is in the kind of same line of the periodic table. And so sulfur is actually very important constituent of many of the enzymes, many of the cellular functions that we use. And so sulfur needs to be consumed from the diet. One of the most interesting parts about sulfur is that it is part of the rotten egg smell that you smell.

(01:51)
It is part of making hydrogen sulfide gas. Now, in extreme amounts, hydrogen sulfide gas or swamp gas or sewer gas is actually lethal to human beings. In fact, there was a recent hydrogen sulfide poisoning that you may have seen on TV. On the other hand, it just the right amount, and I’ve written about this in my last two books. Hydrogen sulfide is actually incredibly good for the wall of your gut is incredibly protective to the lining of your blood vessels and is actually really good for your brain. So getting that happy medium of sulfur into you promotes good health. And one of the best ways to get it is actually from cruciferous vegetables. Now, broccoli has an additional benefit in that broccoli has a compound called sulfaraphane. And it’s really good for protecting your liver. It’s really good as an anti-aging agent, but the problem is you could eat all the broccoli in the world, but you’ll never get any sulforaphane.

(03:14)
How do you get it? Well, here’s a crazy tric. You actually have to cut broccoli before you cook it. The cutting produces an enzyme called mirosinase, which is the way you activate turning broccoli into the active ingredient. If you cook it first and then cut it up, it doesn’t happen. So as strange as it may seem, cut your broccoli before you cook it. Cut your broccoli before you grill it, cut your broccoli before you do anything with it, or eat your broccoli raw. The process of chewing activates the marisonase and so you’ll get the best of both worlds. If you remember, President George Bush Sr. Actually hated broccoli. Well, there are other ways of getting broccoli than the traditional broccoli. A lot of people who don’t like broccoli do very well with broccolini and it’ll have the same compounds. It’s more tender and it doesn’t taste as strong as broccoli.

(04:36)
So this is a great way to start off. This is available in a lot of restaurants now, uh, and it’s certainly in your grocery store. One of my favorites and what I see all the time, particularly in Italy, is broccoli rab or rapini. Now, technically, it’s a different plant but it’s still a cruciferous vegetable. It’s really bitter. It’s very assertive and a lot of times you’ll actually see small kind of broccoli flarets in that. This is everywhere in Italy and it’s on almost every restaurant menu. It’s often sauteed with garlic, another showstopper. And broccoli stems also have this good stuff. So don’t throw them away. Chop them and cook them and get the whole benefit of all the broccoli parts. Now, there’s a couple others that I don’t have here in front of me. Chinese broccoli, it’s leafer, it has a deeper flavor and it’s another great way to get cruciferous benefits without eating the exact same vegetable every time.

(05:54)
How about purple sprouting broccoli? Now, it’s a little more delicate, a little more interesting and proof that broccoli is not just that one green crown people grew up with. Now, as you also know, and some of my patients find at least once a month, even good things can be overdone. I see patients who take my advice to eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables very seriously. And they eat tons of cruciferous vegetables. Uh, let me just name off a few, see if it rings a bell. Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable. Mok choy is a cruciferous vegetable. Broccoli family, cauliflower. Here’s one that’ll surprise you. Orugula is a cruciferous vegetable. When people really go to town on cruciferous vegetables, they’re eating sauerkraut all the time, for instance. We see that their thyroid function actually gets suppressed. Now, I’ve seen this thyroid stimulating hormone drift up in patients who go overboard.

(07:05)
Yes, they make enough thyroid hormones, but their thyroid is working overtime to produce those hormones. So when I ask them to back off and substitute, say, other vegetables like the chicory family of vegetables like Velginendive or Radicchio or Frise or asparagus or artichokes and back off on their cruciferous vegetables, their thyroid goes right back to normal. The other thing that’s important is, particularly for my female patients who are really devoted to healthy eating, they’re often told that they have hypothyroidism and that it’s Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. I can assure you that for the most part, if you’re a big time cruciferous vegetable eater, you don’t have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, something I test for in all my patients, but you’re just eating a little too much of a good thing. So broccoli has great benefits, but chop it before you cook it, rotate it with other cruciferous vegetables, but don’t overdo it.

(08:26)
That’s a wrap on today’s episode. And before you go, I wanna leave you with one task. If anything you heard today made you think made you wanna dig deeper or gave you something you’re going to pass along to someone you care about, please take 15 seconds and leave a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. I know that sounds small, but those reviews are how Apple and Spotify decide which shows to surface to new listeners and this show only grows when people who’ve never heard of it suddenly find it. That person finding this podcast today could hear something that genuinely improves their life or the life of someone they love, maybe even saves one. Everything I share here comes from my research when writing my next book and my clinics where I’ve been seeing patients six days a week for over 25 years working with nutrition and supplements as the primary treatment.

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This is real world medicine. Help me get it to more people and thank you. Truly thank you. I’m Dr. G and I’m always looking out for you.