Let me introduce you to the concept of “neuritogenic” compounds: molecules that are known to regenerate nerve tissue and help repair damaged brains.
The Green Med Info website has a great database for published papers on different topics.
When using the search term “neuritogenic” some of the compounds that come up include:
- Ubiquinol – CoQ 10
- EGCG – as from green tea
- Puerarin
- Cannabinoids
- Green Coffee Bean
- Jujube
- Lion’s Mane
- Gensenosides
- Curcumin
One key neuritogenic compound is sulforaphane with broccoli sprouts being the best source.
Part of the content for this article comes from an article published on the Natural News website
Further from the Natural News article:
Green Med Info has also published an overview of sulforaphane and its brain repair mechanisms as documented in published science. From that story:
The researchers determined the optimal concentration range of sulforaphane in promoting neural stem cell (NSC) growth without harming neurons. The researchers determined that “Concentrations of less than 5 mM did not induce cytotoxic e?ects, but rather potentially promote the growth of NSCs.”
Green Med Info has also published an overview of sulforaphane and its brain repair mechanisms as documented in published science. From that story:
The researchers determined the optimal concentration range of sulforaphane in promoting neural stem cell (NSC) growth without harming neurons. The researchers determined that “Concentrations of less than 5 mM did not induce cytotoxic e?ects, but rather potentially promote the growth of NSCs.” The term 5 mM means 5 milli-molar which is a reference to the concentration of sulforaphane in blood. 5 milli-molar is 5 thousands of a Mole. A Mole is a set number of molecules in one liter of a solution, regardless of molecular weight.
Although this depends a lot on body weight, we think it wouldn’t require much consumption of broccoli sprouts to achieve 5 mM concentrations in the blood of a person.
When neural stem cells were exposed to sulforaphane, they transformed into neurons
From the Green Med Info article:
…exposing NSCs to sulforaphane resulted in their differentiation [into] neurons, lending powerful support to the hypothesis that sulforaphane could stimulate brain repair.
This means that sulforaphane is a kind of molecular “activator” that causes neural stem cells to become neurons. This is how damaged brain cells are regrown.
How to grow your own sulforaphane for mere pennies
Because God and Mother Nature gave us all the medicine we need, you can “manufacture” your own sulforaphane for mere pennies and literally transform air into sulforaphane through the use of broccoli sprouts.
- Buy broccoli sprouts, a mason jar and a sprouting lid (see image below).
- Put about a tablespoon of broccoli spouting seeds into a mason jar, rinse with water, affix the sprouting lid and turn it upside to drain the water.
- Keep the sprouting jar upside down. Once a day, rinse with water and drain.
- In a few days, you have broccoli sprouts with loads of sulforaphane.
You can then eat the sprouts, use them in salads, blend them into smoothies, drop them into soups or whatever you want to do. Sulforaphane is a very robust molecule and it’s somewhat difficult to destroy, so don’t think you have to treat it like a delicate, fragile substance. Blending sprouts does not destroy their molecules. That’s because these molecules are very, very small.
Many grocery stores that offer sprouts typically also offer broccoli sprouts.
Other benefits of sulforaphane
Sulforaphane also exhibits powerful anti-cancer properties. GreenMedInfo lists the best properties of this molecule as reflected in published medical literature. It shows that sulforaphane is documented to help with:
- oxidative stress
- inflammation
- prostate cancer
- breast cancer
- colon cancer
- autism
- pancreatic cancer
- diabetes type-2
- DNA damage
- bladder cancer
- insulin resistance
… and many other conditions.
Brain function is of course a key concern for many people these days and consuming foods which contain sulforaphane can help to maintain brain health.
