Eating Cabbage, Broccoli Lowers Inflammation: Study

In a study of more than 1,000 Chinese women, those who ate the most cruciferous vegetables had substantially less inflammation than those who ate the fewest.

Cruciferous vegetables include cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, kale and cauliflower, and eating them is often encouraged as a way to lower risk for heart disease and cancer.

Based on their findings, the study authors say the health benefits of these vegetables may be at least partly a result of their anti-inflammatory effects.

"Our group and others have found that consumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly cruciferous vegetables, was associated with lower total mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality - however, the potential mechanisms behind this association are not well understood," Dr. Gong Yang told Reuters Health by email.

Yang is a researcher at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and senior author of the study.

"Chronic inflammation is implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases - we therefore examined whether cruciferous vegetable intake may relate to inflammation," he said.

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