Broccoli could be as good as a vaccine to beat Covid

Broccoli could prove to be as effective as a vaccine against a Covid-19 infection.

A compound found in the vegetable—and in other cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts—makes a Covid infection milder.

The compound, a phytochemical known as sulforaphane, halves the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to replicate in the body, and it’s as effective as the antiviral remdesivir, which is given to Covid patients to reduce the number of days of hospital treatment.

Using sulforaphane with the drug is even more effective, say researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.  

They have tested the effectiveness of sulforaphane in laboratory tests and mouse trials. They gave the mice 30 milligrams per kilogram of body weight before infecting them with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and discovered that the phytochemical reduced the amount of the virus—the viral load—in the lungs by 17 percent, and reduced injury to the lungs by 29 percent, compared to the infected mice that weren’t given sulforaphane.

The phytochemical also reduced inflammation in the lungs, and helps control the immune system response, the ‘cytokine storm’ that can make Covid lethal. 

Sulforaphane is a ‘promising’ therapy that is less expensive and safer than vaccines and other drugs that can have dangerous—and sometimes lethal—side effects, the researchers say.  It could also prove to be a more effective treatment against new Covid variants.

The phytochemical also has cancer-fighting qualities, as earlier Johns Hopkins studies have demonstrated.

(Source: Communications Biology, 2022; 5; doi: 10.1038/s42003-022-03189-z)

What do you think? Start a conversation over on the... WDDTY Community