# Cruciferous Vegetable Intake Is Inversely Correlated with Circulating Levels of Proinflammatory Markers in Women



## un800 (Aug 29, 2010)

http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S2212-2672(13)01891-1/abstract

This study suggests that the previously observed health benefits of cruciferous vegetable consumption may be partly associated with the anti-inflammatory effects of these vegetables.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

thanks! very helpful article.


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## Nojokeibs (Apr 14, 2014)

Score 1 for the babushkas (who I picture eating cabbage and turnips regularly). My grandmother was one of these.

TNF, interestingly, is a drug target for Crohn's disease. Another thing that lowers it, though it must be used with care, is DHEA supplements. As a sufferer of IBS-C myself, I finding that DHEA stops the agony of bloating if bloating does occur (even though I watch my diet, mistakes happen). I do feel, however, that I'm using a sledgehammer by using DHEA, and should find a gentler method, until I'm at least a decade older, so lately I've been testing the broccoli sprouts extract supplement (sulforaphane) which gives me a similar feeling of well being, and works as instantly as DHEA. Now I know why.

Thanks for the article. I tolerate cauliflower well as a food. I make "low carb cauli rice" and other low carb substitutes out of it. It also doesn't give me fiber type trouble. I discovered that if you have the blanching water infused with crushed caraway seeds, the cauliflower florets come out tasting sweet. Truly one of the best foods ever. Perhaps it is also time to re-learn how to make sauerkraut too. I love that stuff if it's homemade, but not so much the vinegary products sold in stores.

How to maximize the sulforaphane when cooking broccoli (or other crucifers):

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050326114810.htm

"the best way to prepare broccoli is to steam it lightly about 3 or 4 minutes--until the broccoli is tough-tender"


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## tummyrumbles (Aug 14, 2005)

A lot of studies also show that cruciferous vegetables have a high sulfur content which leads to hydrogen sulphide gas and this inhibits the production of butyrate, the main short chain fatty acid that is so beneficial for the colon. Cruciferous vegetables are also high FODMAPs - so either way they cause a lot of gas. The question is whether cruciferous veges and other high FODMAPs cause more harm than good, especially for people with IBS with a bacterial imbalance who can't digest these foods well.

It could be that bacterial dysbiosis is a primary cause of IBS. So many studies implicate a poor highly refined western diet, sugars, refined flours etc that poor diet is almost certainly the main reason for the overabundance of bad over good bacteria.

Most people with IBS find their symptoms are much worse if they eat high FODMAPs like cruciferous vegetables or a lot of fibre. This could be because they lack a healthy population of the good bacteria necessary to digest these foods. But good bacteria can repopulate and bad bacteria can die off if we change our diet.

A gradual reintroduction of cruciferous and other high FODMAPs is possibly the best way to improve IBS symptoms. The low FODMAP, low residue diet is only meant as a short term measure to reduce immediate symptoms of gas, and gas always increases colonic distress whatever your IBS type.

The trick is to gradually introduce the least harmful high FODMAPs and this is more trial and error but generally I've found that initially at least, the oligosaccharides (legumes) create a lot more gas than certain fructans like wheat and certain cooking techniques like mashing, toasting etc can reduce the indigestible gasses even further.

Natural enzymes like paw-paw and natural probiotics like yoghurt seem to be fairly well tolerated by IBS sufferers.

The biggest problem foods are white, refined flours and sweets, which feed the bad bacteria and there's no reason to eat these at all. We do need to be able to get back to eating the prebiotics, the high FODMAPs that cause so much trouble for IBSers but this can't be hurried and slow and gradual seems to be best.


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## Nojokeibs (Apr 14, 2014)

Cauliflower, which is a traditional ancestral food for me, is only moderate in mannitol per serving. Yet I'm perfectly fine eating even larger amounts of it. I'm NOT fine if I eat any amount of sorbitol though, and they're both polyols. This just goes to prove that the fancy charts humans make don't reflect the digestive reality of each individual gut.

The only thing I can imagine is that maybe I am better able to absorb it, or I have exactly the right bacteria needed to breakdown and then absorb the mannitol without gas. But not sorbitol. This is lucky because I can have "cauli rice" and "cauli mashed potatoes."


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