6,000 cups of broccoli a year is probably too much.
Liver Toxicity Due to Broccoli Juice?
4.5/5 - (24 votes)
Targeting cancer stem cells and protecting DNA doesn’t even scratch the surface of what broccoli and broccoli sprouts appear capable of. Here’s a sampling published just in one random month: anticarcinogenic; anti-inflammatory; another anti-inflammatory; may protect against colorectal cancer; help fight cervical cancer; may protect against sunburn, for goodness sake; and protect cartilage. And that’s just one month in the medical journals.
What’s the catch? There has to be a downside.
Well, in Turkey, recently, a report of liver toxicity, thought due to juiced broccoli. 56-year-old woman, drinking about three and a half cups of pure broccoli juice a day, for a month.
A commentator balked at the assumption that that the broccoli juice per se was responsible for liver toxicity, suggesting that a more likely possibility is that the pesticide residue levels in such a large daily quantity of the vegetable were such that they adversely affected her liver cells.
Three and a half cups of juice is equivalent to eating about 18 cups of broccoli a day. 18 cups a day for four weeks; that’s 500 cups of broccoli. Even if it were organic broccoli, 500 cups a month is a lot of broccoli.
This was just a case report. Thankfully, formal human toxicity studies have been done. Here, for example, they gave some volunteers a week of broccoli sprout extract, equaling the sulforaphane content of about two dozen cups of broccoli a day, and no problems were found.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Saw CL, Huang MT, Liu Y, Khor TO, Conney AH, Kong AN. Impact of Nrf2 on UVB-induced skin inflammation/photoprotection and photoprotective effect of sulforaphane. Mol Carcinog. 2011 Jun;50(6):479-86. doi: 10.1002/mc.20725.
- Facchini A, Stanic I, Cetrullo S, Borzì RM, Filardo G, Flamigni F. Sulforaphane protects human chondrocytes against cell death induced by various stimuli. J Cell Physiol. 2011 Jul;226(7):1771-9. doi: 10.1002/jcp.22506.
- Wang X, Govind S, Sajankila SP, Mi L, Roy R, Chung FL. Phenethyl isothiocyanate sensitizes human cervical cancer cells to apoptosis induced by cisplatin. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2011 Oct;55(10):1572-81. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201000560.
- Healy ZR, Liu H, Holtzclaw WD, Talalay P. Inactivation of tautomerase activity of macrophage migration inhibitory factor by sulforaphane: a potential biomarker for anti-inflammatory intervention. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Jul;20(7):1516-23.
- Kaminski BM, Weigert A, Brüne B, Schumacher M, Wenzel U, Steinhilber D, Stein J, Ulrich S. Sulforaphane potentiates oxaliplatin-induced cell growth inhibition in colorectal cancer cells via induction of different modes of cell death. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2011 May;67(5):1167-78.
- Sharma C, Sadrieh L, Priyani A, Ahmed M, Hassan AH, Hussain A. Anti-carcinogenic effects of sulforaphane in association with its apoptosis-inducing and anti-inflammatory properties in human cervical cancer cells. Cancer Epidemiol. 2011 Jun;35(3):272-8.
- Ekiz F, Yuksel I, Kertmen N, Yuksel O. Liver toxicity due to broccoli juice. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2010 Jul;22(7):898.
- Shapiro TA, Fahey JW, Dinkova-Kostova AT, et al. Safety, tolerance, and metabolism of broccoli sprout glucosinolates and isothiocyanates: a clinical phase I study. Nutr Cancer. 2006;55(1):53-62.
Image thanks to joannaverdan / flickr
Targeting cancer stem cells and protecting DNA doesn’t even scratch the surface of what broccoli and broccoli sprouts appear capable of. Here’s a sampling published just in one random month: anticarcinogenic; anti-inflammatory; another anti-inflammatory; may protect against colorectal cancer; help fight cervical cancer; may protect against sunburn, for goodness sake; and protect cartilage. And that’s just one month in the medical journals.
What’s the catch? There has to be a downside.
Well, in Turkey, recently, a report of liver toxicity, thought due to juiced broccoli. 56-year-old woman, drinking about three and a half cups of pure broccoli juice a day, for a month.
A commentator balked at the assumption that that the broccoli juice per se was responsible for liver toxicity, suggesting that a more likely possibility is that the pesticide residue levels in such a large daily quantity of the vegetable were such that they adversely affected her liver cells.
Three and a half cups of juice is equivalent to eating about 18 cups of broccoli a day. 18 cups a day for four weeks; that’s 500 cups of broccoli. Even if it were organic broccoli, 500 cups a month is a lot of broccoli.
This was just a case report. Thankfully, formal human toxicity studies have been done. Here, for example, they gave some volunteers a week of broccoli sprout extract, equaling the sulforaphane content of about two dozen cups of broccoli a day, and no problems were found.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Saw CL, Huang MT, Liu Y, Khor TO, Conney AH, Kong AN. Impact of Nrf2 on UVB-induced skin inflammation/photoprotection and photoprotective effect of sulforaphane. Mol Carcinog. 2011 Jun;50(6):479-86. doi: 10.1002/mc.20725.
- Facchini A, Stanic I, Cetrullo S, Borzì RM, Filardo G, Flamigni F. Sulforaphane protects human chondrocytes against cell death induced by various stimuli. J Cell Physiol. 2011 Jul;226(7):1771-9. doi: 10.1002/jcp.22506.
- Wang X, Govind S, Sajankila SP, Mi L, Roy R, Chung FL. Phenethyl isothiocyanate sensitizes human cervical cancer cells to apoptosis induced by cisplatin. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2011 Oct;55(10):1572-81. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201000560.
- Healy ZR, Liu H, Holtzclaw WD, Talalay P. Inactivation of tautomerase activity of macrophage migration inhibitory factor by sulforaphane: a potential biomarker for anti-inflammatory intervention. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Jul;20(7):1516-23.
- Kaminski BM, Weigert A, Brüne B, Schumacher M, Wenzel U, Steinhilber D, Stein J, Ulrich S. Sulforaphane potentiates oxaliplatin-induced cell growth inhibition in colorectal cancer cells via induction of different modes of cell death. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2011 May;67(5):1167-78.
- Sharma C, Sadrieh L, Priyani A, Ahmed M, Hassan AH, Hussain A. Anti-carcinogenic effects of sulforaphane in association with its apoptosis-inducing and anti-inflammatory properties in human cervical cancer cells. Cancer Epidemiol. 2011 Jun;35(3):272-8.
- Ekiz F, Yuksel I, Kertmen N, Yuksel O. Liver toxicity due to broccoli juice. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2010 Jul;22(7):898.
- Shapiro TA, Fahey JW, Dinkova-Kostova AT, et al. Safety, tolerance, and metabolism of broccoli sprout glucosinolates and isothiocyanates: a clinical phase I study. Nutr Cancer. 2006;55(1):53-62.
Image thanks to joannaverdan / flickr
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Liver Toxicity Due to Broccoli Juice?
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Content URLDoctor's Note
There’s also the issue of the goitrogenic compounds in raw cruciferous. See my video, Overdosing on Greens. We can also eat too much of the seaweed kelp (see Too Much Iodine Can Be as Bad as Too Little); and overdo coffee when pregnant (see Caffeine During Pregnancy).
For more context, check out my associated blog posts: The Best Detox, and Broccoli Boosts Liver Detox Enzymes.
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