Research reveals a broccoli boost for arteries

Research reveals a broccoli boost for arteries. Discovery could explain evidence behind Mums? mantra ?eat your greens? British Heart Foundation News Release For immediate release - Friday 4 September 2009 New British Heart Foundation (BHF) research from Imperial College London may have revealed why vegetables are good for the heart. The findings suggest that a chemical found in vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, can boost a natural defence mechanism to protect arteries from disease. Arteries don't clog up in a uniform way. Bends and branches of blood vessels - where blood flow is disrupted and can be sluggish - are much more prone to the build-up of fatty plaques known as atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis can lead to angina, heart attack and stroke. BHF-funded researchers from Imperial College London have discovered that a normally-protective protein called Nrf2 is inactive in areas of arteries that are susceptible to disease.