Broccoli, the Natural Antioxidants

By Kyle J. Norton

Antioxidants are stable atom that plays a critical role in protecting the body against the attack of free radicals.

In other words, antioxidants inhibited the onset of free radical before they can cause a chain reaction in facilitating the protein, lipid and cell damage.

Antioxidants can either produced by the liver or intake from dietary sources. Under normal conditions, antioxidant enzymes produced by the body in a healthy individual are good enough to counter the bombardment of free radical attacks.

However, in people with a weakened immune system, intake dietary sources of antioxidants may be necessary.

There are 3 main types of antioxidants found in nature, including
* Antioxidant enzymes produced by the host, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and catalases.

* Antioxidants vitamins, that may be injected from the dietary sources such as fruits and vegetables, including vitamins A, C, D, and E. Most antioxidant vitamins are considered free radical scavengers that gobble up free radicals before they can induce a cascade of damage.

* Antioxidant Phytochemicals found in the plant including second metabolites.

Antioxidants keep our bodies functioning properly by reducing the risk of diseases associated with oxidative stress.

Free radicals are highly reactive molecules with an unpaired electron on the outer ring of the atom.
Due to its nature to become stable, free radicals readily to donate or steal an electron from other molecules, leading to the chain of domino's effect that can not be stopped until either the electrons are paired or inhibited by antioxidants.

This chain of reaction is the cause of oxidative stress, a condition is associated with either overexpression of free radicals or depletion of antioxidant enzymes produced by the host organs.

Overexpression of free radicals is known to cause damage in contributing to the etiology of many chronic health problems such as cardiovascular and inflammatory disease, cataracts, and cancer.

Broccoli is a mustard/cabbage plant, belongings to the family Brassicaceae. The veggie has large flower heads, usually green in color with a mass of flower heads surrounded by leaves and evolved from a wild cabbage plant from the continent of Europe.

With an aim to find a natural food for the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress, researchers examined the phytochemical composition of 3 different purple sprouting broccoli varieties according to with their production cycle: EEP (Extra Early), EP (Early), and LP (Late) antioxidant activity.

The leaves of EP variety seems the richest in total phenolic acids, whereas the number of anthocyanins was higher in LP variety.

The levels of glucosinolates were higher in purple broccoli than in green cultivars and also higher than other purple broccolis grown under different climate conditions.

Additionally, EEP, EP, and LP purple sprouting broccoli varieties grown under the Mediterranean climate. showed a number of health-promoting nutrients and natural antioxidants.

The vitamin C, phenolic compounds, and glucosinolates in these purple varieties were higher than in traditionally grown green broccoli and other purple broccolis grown under different climate conditions.

Taken altogether, broccoli varieties may be considered antioxidant supplements for the prevention of oxidative stress disease, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.


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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Natural antioxidants in purple sprouting broccoli under Mediterranean climate by Rodríguez-Hernández Mdel C1, Moreno DA, Carvajal M, García-Viguera C, Martínez-Ballesta Mdel C. (PubMed)