These well-known vegetables that can be eaten either cooked or raw make the good list of foods that contribute to preemptive aging for the benefit of seniors. The vegetables that qualify include broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. They belongs to the same family popularly known as cruciferous vegetables, which are members of the genus Brassica. Earlier epidemiological research indicated that consuming at least one serving a week of these vegetables would help reduce the risk of prostate cancer. The researchers suspected that the compounds found in these vegetables known as isothiocyantes were responsible for this cancer risk reduction effect, but they were not able to reach a firm conclusion.
More recent studies with men who volunteered for a 12 month study did a comparison of the effects of a broccoli-rich diet versus a pea-rich diet. The volunteers on the broccoli rich diet showed beneficial anti-cancer changes in their medical tests on their prostates following the 12 month study compared with their medical tests performed prior to the study. The volunteers on the pea-rich diet did not show any beneficial anti-cancer changes in their medical tests following the 12 month study. The consumption of a broccoli-rich diet had a preemptive effect on the processes that allow inflammation and carcinogenesis to be initiated. The results of this study supported the conclusion that a diet that is rich in cruciferous vegetables may lower the risk of prostate cancer.