Could cruciferous vegetables such as maca, watercress, and broccoli prevent prostate cancer?
A researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) has received a $1.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study prostate cancer prevention by phytochemicals found in cruciferous plants. Maca, watercress and broccoli are in the same family, maca and watercress being the most closely related. Shivendra Singh, a professor of pharmacology and urology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, has previously shown that plant chemicals called isothiocyanates (ITCs) are highly effective in suppressing the growth of human prostate cancer cells, even at concentrations achieved through eating cruciferous vegetables such as watercress. Note: While broccoli is a crucifer, the same family as maca, watercress is even more closely related to maca, both being in the genus Lepidium. “Clearly, what we eat has an effect on the development of diseases such as cancer,” said Dr. Singh, also co-leader of UPCI’s cancer biochemoprevention program. “However, we know l
