Absorption and metabolism of isothiocyanates formed from broccoli glucosinolates: effects of BMI and daily consumption in a randomised clinical trial

Charron CS, Vinyard BT, Ross SA, Seifried HE, Jeffery EH, Novotny JA · The British Journal of Nutrition

How much sulforaphane a person gets from the same broccoli depends on the person. Plasma exposure and urinary excretion of isothiocyanate metabolites diverged by BMI: above a BMI of 26, daily broccoli lowered exposure relative to no habitual broccoli; below it, daily broccoli raised exposure. GSTM1 genotype did not explain the difference.

Population

Adults balanced for BMI and GSTM1 genotype

Intervention

200 g cooked broccoli plus 20 g raw daikon radish daily for 15 days

Comparator

The same diet with no broccoli

Limitations

n=18, healthy adults, cancer-prevention framing, no joint endpoint, and the study was not powered for the BMI interaction it reports. The broccoli was commercially frozen and blanched, with raw daikon radish supplying the myrosinase. Funded by the USDA and the National Cancer Institute. Registered NCT02346812.