Broccoli Extract Autism Study Low down

I read the autism study that looked into broccoli extract today. Given how many people are affected by autism I thought some people might also be interested in my layman synopsis.

Basically they extracted 50–150 μmol sulforaphane (a phytochemical) and gave it to some autistic men for 18 weeks and then stopped for a month. They found very significant positive behaviour changes. They also found side effects of some weight gain and 12-19% had vomiting, headaches, fever and two had seizures. When they stopped the treatment the gains started to regress.

So I thought I would look into broccoli sprouts and sulforaphane. Sulforaphane is a lovely phytochemical which is made by mixing glucoraphanin and myroxsinase when we chew. These are found in things like broccoli. Broccoli maybe has more nutrition than broccoli sprouts, but three day old sprouts have much more glucoraphanin than the average mature broccoli (73 mg v. 11 mg per serving, respectively).

Prepared extracts tend to lose their myrosinase activity. The glucoraphanin remains, but you need to mix the two to make the bioactive sulforaphane.

I am all for getting the nutrition from the whole food. Broccoli fights cancer. There is definitely a lot of fibre in broccoli that will help feed the happy bacteria in our gut as well as sweep away toxins. Broccoli will never make you fat. Have you seen how low it is in calories?

So I am interested in adding some servings of broccoli sprouts to our weekly meal plan. Keeping it in moderation and hoping for some of those payoffs, without the 12-19% risk of side effects.

Here is a sensible overview on the awesome power of broccoli sprouts!