NaturalSociety October 29 2013
Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower have a wealth of health benefits. But like all plant foods, we are just beginning to understand the many benefits they offer. Researchers have recently discovered that a compound within these vegetables could protect against radiation sickness and the death that usually follows.
The study published in PNAS, looked at the protective qualities of 3,3’-diindolylmethane, or DIM and found it to protect mice and rats from otherwise lethal doses of radiation.
According to a press release from Georgetown Medical Center (GUMC), the researchers suggest DIM could protect normal tissues during radiation therapy (a destructive form of cancer treatment) or protect them in any case of radiation exposure.
“DIM has been studied as a cancer prevention agent for years, but this is the first indication that DIM can also act as a radiation protector,” said Eliot Rosen, the study’s corresponding author.