Broccoli is a vegetable loved by some, hated by others and regarded as especially healthy – and a new blue-tinged variety is even healthier, researchers have reported.
A study of the Beneforte variety of broccoli has found it reduces levels of unhealthy cholesterol in the blood by around 6%.
The new variety has up to three times as much of the natural compound glucoraphin as the normal vegetable.
Some 130 volunteers took part in a study at the Institute of Food Research, Norwich, UK, eating 400g of the new variety for 12 weeks.
Researchers measured levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol, a kind of cholesterol linked to poor heart health.
A spokesman for the project said: "Although the reduction seen in these trials is small, at a population level, a 1% reduction in LDL-cholesterol has been associated with a 1-2% reduction in risk of coronary artery disease.
"Glucoraphanin is thought to work by helping our bodies retune cellular metabolism. Mitochondria, the energy centres of the cell, convert sugars and fats into energy.
"But if they aren’t working efficiently, or if we overload them with too much fat or sugar, one response is to channel excess into cholesterol."
A diet rich in high glucoraphanin broccoli reduces plasma LDL cholesterol: evidence from randomised controlled trials Molecular Nutrition and Food Research April 2015; doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201400863
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