In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the sulforaphane, found in five cents worth of broccoli sprouts, was shown to promote autism in ways no drug has ever done.
You may remember my video series, which is one of them Prevent Cancer From Going On TORabout the target of rapamycin (TOR), the enzyme of the aging engine. Children with autism tend having higher TOR activity in their body, and this hyperactive TOR signaling may play a role in cause Autism, making TOR a potential target for treating autism, or even in theory turning back It would be if we could target downstream TOR signals, like between TOR and S6K1 as you can see in my video at 0:29 Best foods for autism. In fact, this is one of the ways sulforaphane, a compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, kills prostate cancer cells inhibiting the signal transmission between TOR and S6K1. Sulforaphane is also “a potent inhibitor” of breast cancer cells because “it aims downstream elements of the [TOR] Path.”
So if broccoli blocks TOR and we give it to people with autism, maybe it would block Some of the synaptic dysfunction that contribute to the characteristics of autism – in addition to blocking autism pathways in four other ways: oxidative stress, lower antioxidant capacity, mitochondrial dysfunction, and encephalitis. In addition, this does not only occur in a petri dish. “It is important that sulforaphane can cross the blood-brain barrier.” So when you eat broccoli, sulforaphane quickly reaches your brain “to exert its protective effect” – at least in theory. Of course, you don’t know until you’ve put it to the test.
You can understand why such a study could attract researchers from leading institutions like Harvard and Johns Hopkins and get published in one of our most prestigious journals, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. What did you find? What did you do first? “A placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized study examined young men (aged 13 to 27 years) with moderate to severe ASD [autism] receive” Sulforaphane made from broccoli sprouts or an indistinguishable sugar pill. They were dosed by body weight: those under 100 pounds were given about a tablespoon of broccoli sprouts worth sulforaphane per day, which is about a cup of broccoli, those who weighed between 100 and 200 pounds were given about the equivalent of two cups of broccoli, or two tablespoons fresh broccoli sprouts, and those over 200 pounds got three cups worth a day, or a little less than a quarter cup of broccoli sprouts. Why didn’t the researchers use real broccoli or real sprouts? If they did, it wouldn’t have been a blinded study. The patients, doctors and parents would know who was receiving the special treatment and who was not, which could lead to a bias from the placebo effect. Instead, with this study structure, nobody knew who was getting the sulforaphane and who was getting the placebo until the end.
The researchers chose dietary sulforaphane because it can reverse oxidation, dysfunction, and inflammation. But when it was put to the test, did it actually work? The placebo didn’t. Don’t give anything to people with autism and not much will happen. But some broccoli actually sneaked in secretly, and significant improvements in behavior, social interaction, and verbal communication occurred. However, it all disappeared when the broccoli was stopped. As you can see in mine at 3:25 Videoon the deviant behavior checklist, which includes things like repetitive behaviors was Not much of a change in the placebo group from what you’d expect, but the abnormal behavior in the sulforaphane group – the group who found the sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts worth only about five cents a day. The study ended on week 18, however, and a month later things returned to where they had started.
There were similar results on a social responsiveness scale: significant improvements were seen until treatment was discontinued, and then participants started functioning as poorly as those in the placebo group continued to function. And it wasn’t just scores on one page. “The essential improvements … were noticeable” – the doctors, parents and carers could see the improvements. No drug has ever been shown to have these types of effects. In addition, these were young men from the age of 13. One can imagine it Work also, or even better, with younger children, because their brains are still developing. And is there any downside? “Broccoli sprouts are consumed as food by a very large number of people around the world with no reported side effects.” – Remember, however, that these are whole foods, not sulforaphane supplements.
Indeed, broccoli are sprouting job, but commercial broccoli sprout supplements hardly work. As you can see in mine at 4:55 Video, Broccoli have Sulforaphane, with the florets more than the stems, and broccoli sprouts have about ten times more sulforaphane. In comparison, broccoli pills, powders, and supplements have little or no. So broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables are for all children, whether or not they have autism, and possibly pregnant women as well, to help prevent prenatal autism.
This article covers the grand finale of my first three-part video series on autism. Information on the backgrounds that led researchers on this path of clues can be found here Fever Benefits For Autism In One Food and Fight Autism Encephalitis With Food. You can also check: Flashback Friday: The Best Foods to Fight Autism and Brain Inflammation.
We know there can be a myriad of challenges when it comes to catering for picky palates, sensory and texture sensitive responses, or children reluctant to try new foods, and we hope this evidence-based article provides some useful information to parents and health Health information can be provided by practitioners. For more tips and tricks, see How to get kids to eat their vegetables.
For more information on autism, visit:
My video Broccoli: Sprouts Against Supplements highlights the importance of plants over pills and Biggest food bang for your buck tells you how to grow your own.
In health,
Michael Greger, MD
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