When consumed, the beverage helps eliminate pollutants inside a person's body

Jun 17, 2014 14:34 GMT  ·  By
Reseachers find dietary changes can help people fight back the effects of exposure to air pollution
   Reseachers find dietary changes can help people fight back the effects of exposure to air pollution

A recent paper in the journal Cancer Prevention Research brings new hope to people living in regions where air pollution levels are off the charts. Thus, the paper documents the use of a broccoli sprout beverage to fight back the effects of exposure to airborne pollutants.

The researchers who authored the paper explain that, looking to determine whether or not something as simple as a beverage could protect people against air pollution, they carried out a series of experiments in China.

As reported on several occasions, this country is currently dealing with a major air pollution crisis and chiefly has its intense use of coal and other dirty fuels to thank for it. In fact, the situation is so bad that some have likened it to a nuclear winter.

Hence, if it is indeed true that a simple broccoli sprout beverage has the potential to combat the effects of breathing in one too many harmful compounds, there is little doubt that folks in China should be among the first in the world to gulp it down.

As part of their experiments, scientists with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, together with fellow researchers in both the United States and China, asked nearly 300 volunteers to consume half a cup of broccoli sprout beverage on a daily basis.

As detailed in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, this change in their diet caused the volunteers, both women and men, to experience an increase in the amount of benzene and acrolein that their bodies excreted daily.

Specialists say that, according to previous studies, benzene is a harmful compound that can cause people who are exposed to it on a regular basis to develop cancer. Acrolein, on the other hand, has been shown to act as a lung irritant and is, therefore, considered a threat to public health.

Having discovered that just half a cup of broccoli sprout beverage has the potential to help a person's organism get rid of these two harmful chemical compounds more easily, researchers recommend that efforts to combat air pollution and its effects also take into account people's diet.

“This study points to a frugal, simple and safe means that can be taken by individuals to possibly reduce some of the long-term health risks associated with air pollution,” Thomas Kensler, PhD, says in a statement, as cited by EurekAlert.

“Air pollution is a complex and pervasive public health problem. To address this problem comprehensively, we need to translate our basic science into strategies to protect individuals from these exposures,” adds specialist John Groopman.