Hello,
I am curious why cruciferous vegetables (therapeutically in larger amounts) are associated with liver support when they contain goitrogenic glucosinolates, which in larger amounts lead to liver damage?
Thank you for the explanation.

When evaluating the health impact of food consumption, it is important to consider it holistically rather than pharmacologically. Every food contains a wide spectrum of different substances with significantly different impacts on metabolism. Some of these are beneficial, while others are harmful. The situation is further complicated by the fact that one substance can positively affect a particular organ or system while simultaneously burdening another organ.

It is also necessary to properly understand the meaning of "greater amounts" of substance intake. The effect of any substance depends on its concentration and the amount ingested—any substance can act as either a poison or a "medicine" in the same situation.

For these reasons, it is not possible to view food in a pharmacological way, where the effect of one substance is monitored instead of an innumerable mixture, which we are not even able to thoroughly analyze. Among other things, these reasons have led to legislation prohibiting the association of foods with any medicinal effects...

In practice, therefore, the approach is to limit the amount of foods with higher concentrations of certain substances on the daily plate concerning specific diseases (typically cruciferous vegetables in hypothyroidism, foods with a higher proportion of histamine in histamine intolerance, etc.).

In the case of cruciferous vegetables, the influence of glucosinolate breakdown products on increased liver bleeding is most often cited. However, consider this as general information since the extent of glucosinolate effects varies among individual mammals (it does not mean that regular consumption of cabbage or broccoli would destroy the liver). On the contrary, these types of vegetables contain a range of other substances with a positive impact on the behavior of liver cells.

Themes:  Weight loss   Cruciferous vegetables   Liver