Author: Leticia Celentano
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Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
A substance in broccoli helps to clear harmful substances from the lungs that accumulate during smoking.
A substance in broccoli helps clear harmful substances from the lungs that accumulate in smoking, according to a study by scientists from Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA.
The useful substance is sulforaphane. It has the ability to reactivate the activity of macrophages - white blood cells that eliminate bacteria and other particles of them in the lungs.
What is special about smokers' lungs is that this system of cleaning the respiratory organs is disrupted, as the chemicals ingested by the cigarette path break the chain of processes started by macrophages. The same problem is reported in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
According to an article by New Scientist, the ingredient in broccoli can be successfully used against lung disease. Scientists suggest that sulforaphane will improve lung function in people with COPD.