The Brassica Growers Association is using Father’s Day on Sunday to promote the benefits to men of eating broccoli.
Part of the Eat Your Greens campaign run for the BGA by Pam Lloyd pr, the BGA is asking: “What better gift is there than the gift of health?”
The initiative draws on mounting research evidence that suggests men including broccoli in their diet can reduce their risk of prostate cancer. The disease has overtaken lung cancer as the most common cancer in men and affects almost 35,000 every year in the UK alone.
This month as well as being the start of the broccoli season is also Everyman male cancer awareness month.
It also coincides with the release of encouraging information from the Institute of Food Research on the nutritional properties of broccoli.
Professor Richard Mithen of the IFR said: “Epidemiological studies have consistently reported that men who consume a diet relatively rich in brassica vegetables either have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer, or have a lower risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer. In our research we have been trying to find out how vegetables such as broccoli can reduce the risk of prostate cancer. We have discovered that in men who eat between three or four portions of broccoli (80g each) a week there are changes in the expression of particular genes in their prostate gland that are consistent with a reduced risk of cancer.”
Phillip Effingham, of the Brassica Growers’ Association said: “As part of the BGA's ongoing Love your Greens campaign, we hope this initiative will raise the profile of broccoli with male consumers. The work undertaken by Professor Mithen gives us an excellent opportunity to highlight key benefits of consuming broccoli over and above what is currently understood. There is a significant amount of similar research being undertaken and I am sure this will be the start of many more good news stories surrounding our greens.”
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