Doctor Rhonda Patrick here today. I want to tell you a little bit about how to increase the bioavailability of a beneficial type of isothiocyanate called sulforaphane. Based on a very important study published in 2004. Sulforaphane is formed when we eat cruciferous vegetables and especially broccoli sprouts which contain a higher concentration of the precursor to sulforaphane called glucoraphanin. Sulforaphane is one of the most potent food derived anti carcinogens. It is formed from glucoraphanin by the action of an enzyme called myrosinase. This happens when the broccoli sprout tissue is crushed or chewed. However, glucoraphanin not only forms sulforaphane, it can also form sulforaphane nitriles which do not contain the anti carcinogenic properties that sulforaphane has.

A key determinant of whether the myrosinase enzyme will form Sulforaphane vs Sulforaphane Nitriles is the epithiospecifer protein which is a non catalytic cofactor of myrosinase. The epithiospecifer protein shifts the pathway towards sulforaphane nitriles which which is not what we want. The good news is that the epithiospecifer protein can be deactivated with heat, but so can the myrosinase enzyme itself. The trick is to heat your broccoli sprouts up to the point that they disable the epithiospecifer protein while not getting the sprouts so hot that they disable the myrosinase enzyme that is responsible for creating sulforaphane from the precursor glucoraphanin. If you do this just right, you can approximately triple the bioavailability of sulforaphane in your sprouts.

If you go too hot for too long, however, you run the risk of disabling myrosinase. So as it turns out, the best protocol for your sprouts is about 10 minutes at 70 degrees Celsius or 60 degrees Celsius if you're doing this to mature broccoli florets where the myrosinase enzyme is a little more heat sensitive. The way I decided to go about doing this is pretty straightforward. I picked up a cooking thermometer that beeps when it gets to just the right temperature and suspended in my tea kettle. So I know when to turn the tea kettle off. Once the water is hot enough, I pour it on the sprouts and wait 10 minutes. When I'm done, I either rinse them off to cool them and save them for later for a salad, or I put them into the blender with just enough ice and water to make a cup I can drink down.

Okay, so there you have it. There's a quick way to dramatically increase sulforaphane bioavailability in your broccoli sprouts with a few cheap things that you may already have lying around your kitchen. Thanks for watching. Catch you next time