H. Pylori and Broccoli Sprouts - Why You Need to Know about Them

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H. Pylori and Broccoli Sprouts - Why You Need to Know about Them

Friday, September 11th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

Here’s a bacterium you should know about: Heliobacter pylori (also called H. pylori). Most bacteria can’t survive in the acid of the stomach. This one can. Infection with Heliobacter pylori causes a lot of problems, from minor ones like stomach irritation to extremely serious ones such as stomach cancer.

I learned about this unique bacterium when I read an article written by one of my favorite health writers Dr. Joseph F. McCaffrey (his site is: www.JFMcCaffreyMD.com).

Getting rid of H. pylori reduces the risk of recurrent ulcers as well as the risk of stomach cancers.

But it’s not easy to get rid of H. pylori. Doctors typically prescribe at least to antibiotics as well as acid suppression drugs for as long as a month at a time. Despite this aggressive treatment, the infection often persists. At least 20% of people require additional courses of therapy.

What if you could eliminate H. pylori just by adding some sprouts to your diet? A lot of recent studies suggest you can.

This “magic” sprout is from broccoli.

We all know we’re supposed to eat more vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, are especially beneficial. It has many beneficial nutrients but one that has been studied extensively is sulforaphane.

Sulforaphane is a phytonutrient that triggers the production of beneficial enzymes in the stomach. These enzymes protect against inflammation, free radicals and DNA damage.

Multiple studies show that eating a diet sulforaphane containing vegetables reduces the risk of developing heart disease arthritis and even cancer.

Broccoli sprouts contain much higher levels of this beneficial chemical then mature plants do. In fact, researchers have developed a special strain that has levels 50 times higher.

In addition to the benefits I just mentioned,research now shows that broccoli sprouts can reduce or even eliminate H pylori infections.

In a study in mice infected with H. pylori, over 70% percent of the infections were cleared in the treated group while none were cleared in the placebo group.

In laboratory studies, sulforaphane kills over 90% of tested strains of H. pylori, even those resistant to antibiotics.

A study in humans infected with H. pylori showed significant suppression of H. pylori infection, if not complete eradication, in people who ate about 2 ounces of broccoli sprouts a day.

You can make your own sprouts, but you can probably find them in your local grocery store.

Even if you don’t have stomach problems, including broccoli sprouts in your diet regularly has a lot of other health benefits. It’s another example of why we all should emphasize a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in our diets.

By the way, there’s an interesting “inside story” about the Australian researcher who first recognized importance of H. pylori. It seems he was a crazy guy that his colleagues ignored at first. You can read all about it on the Another Reason to Eat Your Broccoli page on Dr. McCaffrey’s site.

And since you’re interested healthy eating you may want to check out:

Healthy Eating in 10 Easy Steps

You’ll learn a simple way to painlessly transform the quality of your diet.

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