A €700 incentive is being offered to people willing to drink a special ‘super broccoli’ soup once a week for six months. This is part of a major study to see if the vegetable can reduce the risk of diabetes. Cork-based nutrition research company Atlantia Food Clinical Trials Ltd wants to investigate its potential power to naturally lower blood glucose levels and thereby reduce the risk of diabetes. The company plans to use a variety of ‘super’ broccoli, one packed with nine times the level of the powerful antioxidant, glucoraphanin, found in regular supermarket broccoli, in the trial.
The fact that this compound in broccoli might impact blood sugar levels was first identified during research into treatments for early-stage prostate cancer when participants were given a concentrated broccoli soup weekly for three months, and their blood sugar levels dropped.
Atlantia, which specialises in food and supplement studies with a focus on health and disease prevention, now wants to explore these findings further. It hopes to recruit up to 40 people in Cork to participate in their pre-diabetes broccoli study over nine months. Selected participants, who will be paid €700 to take part, will be asked to consume one portion of concentrated broccoli soup – by mixing water to the contents of a sachet – once a week for 12 weeks.
