Climate change is having harmful effects not only on the planet, but also on the human organism. The increase in skin cancer is a consequence. Let's see how damage to the skin can be prevented with a vegetable rich in beneficial properties: broccoli.
Broccoli and sulforaphane
We can find in the crucifers (the cabbage family) a great ally in the fight against skin cancer : sulforaphane . It is a histiocyanate with high antioxidant qualities, able to last long in the human body.
The primary source of sulforaphane are the broccoli sprouts, followed to a lesser extent by those of cabbage, brussel sprouts, Chinese cabbage, kale, turnips, cavolorapa, mustard, radishes, rocket and watercress .
Recent studies have shown a preventive effect on skin cancers after only three consecutive days of taking broccoli extract.
Broccoli extracts and broccoli sprouts are considered by an increasing number of scientific researchers, especially oncologists, to be one of the best cytoprotective strategies, starting from the treatment of erythema and eczema to the fight against carcinomas.
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How to eat broccoli
In order to take full advantage of the active ingredients of broccoli, it is essential to chew the vegetable well for a long time in order to remove the anti-tumor protective substances and other healthy active ingredients from the plant tissue.
The cooking should be done very lightly so as not to lose the beneficial properties of the broccoli and therefore it is recommended to steam them for a short time.
The simplest and lightest dressing can be made with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil which also allows a better intestinal absorption of the nutritional principles. A pinch of salt helps to bring out the flavor, the important thing is not to overdo the cooking sodium.
A good recipe is to cook the dry pasta in a little water and towards the end of cooking add the broccoli sprouts, thus giving a vegetable scald and then serving it all on the table with a drizzle of olive oil.
Effects of climate change on the skin
In recent years global warming has begun to show its full-blown effects on various aspects of terrestrial life: oceans are more acidic, permafrost and glaciers are significantly shrinking, subtropical deserts are spreading, the frequency and intensity of destructive phenomena like hurricanes and tsunamis is on the rise.
But the changes cannot be found only on a large scale, in the macrocosm; also the microcosm of the human body undergoes great and small upheavals caused by the greenhouse effect .
Specifically, there are increasing cases of carcinoma and skin cancers other than melanoma; the incidence of ultraviolet radiation has reached a level of intensity such as to cause alarm; such radiations are able to seriously damage the genetic make-up (mutagen), to trigger oxidative processes at the lipidic level capable of damaging different parts of the cell, of giving way to inflammations that break down the response of the immune system.
It seems that in recent years not only has the number of cancer cases linked to excessive UV exposure increased, but also the number of people suffering from a genetic weakness probably due to a UV-induced mutation: it seems that ultraviolet radiation are able to suppress the genetic transmission of a gene essential to develop a full capacity to repair damaged cells. So in addition to increasing the amount of UV rays, the ability to protect yourself from them would also decrease.
