Heliobacter Pylori – A Weird Bacterium You Should Know About
There’s a bacterium called Heliobacter pylori – H. pylori for short. It’s a unique bug because it can survive in the acid of the stomach. Even though you may not have heard about it, it’s the cause of a lot of common stomach problems.
I learned about this potentially dangerous bacterium when I read an article written by one of my favorite health writers Dr. Joseph F. McCaffrey (his site is: www.JFMcCaffreyMD.com).
Treating H. pylori has become an important part of maintaining G.I. health.
But it’s not easy to get rid of H. pylori. Doctors typically treat the infection with at least three drugs for 2 or sometimes 4 weeks. Even with that aggressive treatment, the success rate is only around 80%.
Now there’s good evidence that a simple green sprout added to your diet can reduce or eliminate H. pylori.
The sprouts is question are broccoli sprouts.
You’ve undoubtedly heard the advice to eat more vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, are especially good to include. It contains many important vitamin and nutrients but one that has been studied extensively is sulforaphane.
Sulforaphane is a phytonutrient that triggers the production of beneficial enzymes in the stomach. These enzymes protect against inflammation, free radicals and DNA damage.
Multiple studies show that eating a diet sulforaphane containing vegetables reduces the risk of developing heart disease arthritis and even cancer.
Broccoli sprouts contain much higher levels of this beneficial chemical then mature plants do. In fact, researchers have developed a special strain that has levels 50 times higher.
Now there’s evidence that broccoli sprouts are active against H. pylori.
An experiment mice showed that over 70% percent of the infections were cleared in the treated group while none were cleared in the placebo group.
Additional studies have shown that sulforaphane is effective against even antibiotic-resistant strains of H. pylori.
A study in humans infected with H. pylori showed significant suppression of H. pylori infection, if not complete eradication, in people who ate about 2 ounces of broccoli sprouts a day.
You can make your own sprouts, but you can probably find them in your local grocery store.
Even if you don’t have stomach problems, including broccoli sprouts in your diet regularly is still a great idea. They should definitely be part of the 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables we need to include in our diet every day.
By the way, there’s an interesting “inside story” about the Australian researcher who first recognized importance of H. pylori. It seems he was a crazy guy that his colleagues ignored at first. You can read all about it on the Another Reason to Eat Your Broccoli page on Dr. McCaffrey’s site.
When I was on that site I discovered an easy system that I’m using to improve my diet steadily. Check it out on this page:
Healthy Eating in 10 Easy Steps
I like things that are simple and easy to do yet effective. This is definitely one of them.
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