Broccoli sprouts have been shown to posses 20 times more antioxidant protection that adult plants.

You never would have thought that something as small as broccoli sprouts would have such powerful healthy qualities. Research from 1992 by Paul Talalay, M.D., and colleagues at John Hopkins found that there are special cancer preventing phytochemicals in broccoli called sulfpraphanes. The interesting discovery was that 3 day old sprouts had 20 times the concentration of this antioxidant. They did follow up studies on mice and it was shown that these phytochemicals played a preventive role in breast and colon cancer. Who would have know these baby sprouts could be so important.

Lets pretend you do not have access to sprouted broccoli. Just how much of the mature plant would you need to eat? Well, to get the same amount of sulfpraphane in the adult plant as in a serving of sprouts, you would have to eat over a pound. Now that's a big difference. So, you can grow the sprouts and enjoy them in a salad or sandwich or you can go for a pound of adult broccoli. We still need to eat the adult plants of course. We need the fiber in our diets. But if you have access to organic seeds and a sprouting tray, or a sprouting kit, than it certainly makes sense to grow the sprouts yourself.

Of course, the best idea is to eat your broccoli raw (sprouts or mature plant), but you can get away with heating them as the sulfpraphane is not destroyed by heat. However, if they are cooked in water, the liquid should be consumed for maximum effect. Getting your family to eat more broccoli is challenging. By using sprouted broccoli, you can add them to sandwiches, salads, and even soups.