Research

Looking for reliable information on the health benefits of microgreens? You're in the right place.

Microgreens are harvested at the peak of nutritional density. Super packed with vitamins, minerals, and unique phytonutrients, they are one of the healthiest foods on the planet. 

For example, to get the same nutrients from eating 1 ounce of broccoli microgreens, you need to eat a whopping 1.5 pounds of fully-grown broccoli. Not only that, fully grown broccoli is almost always cooked, which reduces glucoraphanin and myrosinase - the key elements that constitute sulforaphane.

A few reasons we love microgreens:

• Microgreens are a highly concentrated and easily digestible source of nutrients in a small serving size. Therefore, you don't need to eat nearly the same amount of fully-grown vegetables as you do microgreens to get the same concentrations of vitamins and minerals. This makes microgreens a super easy way to get your recommended 7-10 daily cups of vegetables.

• Microgreens (particularly those in the brassica family, such as broccoli) contain a phytonutrient called sulforaphane, with concentrations of up to 100 x more than fully-grown broccoli. 

• Sulforaphane has been researched more than 2,000 times due to its powerful health benefits. 

In God we trust; everyone else, show us the data. To discover the scientific evidence supporting the incredible nutritional benefits of microgreens, explore our growing list of peer-reviewed scientific research, below.

Aging

• Sulforaphane - role in aging and neurodegeneration - GeroScience

Autism & Brain Health

• Sulforaphane from Broccoli Reduces Symptoms of Autism: A Follow-up Case Series from a Randomized Double-blind Study - Global Advances in Health and Medicine

• Efficacy of Sulforaphane in Neurodegenerative Diseases - International Journal of Molecular Science

• Sulforaphane treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

• Sulforaphane produces antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects in adult mice - Behavioural Brain Research

• Sulforaphane Reverses the Amyloid-β Oligomers Induced Depressive-Like Behavior - Journal of Alzheimer's Disease

• Clinical Trial of Sulforaphane in Autism - Chemoprotection Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

• Chemical Derived from Broccoli Sprouts Shows Promise in Treating Autism - Johns Hopkins Medicine

• Sulforaphane produces antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects in adult mice - Behavioral Brain Research

• Cognition Enhancing Activity of Sulforaphane Against Scopolamine Induced Cognitive Impairment in Zebra Fish (Danio rerio) - Neurochemistry Research

• Nrf2 participates in depressive disorders through an anti-inflammatory mechanism - Psychoneuroendocrinology

• Prophylactic effects of sulforaphane on depression-like behavior and dendritic changes in mice after inflammation - Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry

• The use of ascorbigen in the treatment of fibromyalgia patients: a preliminary trial - Alternative Medicine Review

• Effects of sulforaphane on neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation - Genesis

• KEAP1 inhibition is neuroprotective and suppresses the development of epilepsy - Brain

• Sulforaphane Augments Glutathione and Influences Brain Metabolites in Human Subjects: A Clinical Pilot Study - Complex Psychiatry

In The News

• Broccoli compound shows promise for treating autism - CNN

• Sulforaphane and Epilepsy - Chemoprotection Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

• New Study from Korea: Sulforaphane Has Positive Effects in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease - Chemoprotection Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

• New study indicates ability of oral sulforaphane to boost antioxidant response in the human brain - Chemoprotection Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

• More Public Interest in Sulforaphane - Chemoprotection Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

• Dr. Fahey Talks about Sulforaphane on a New Podcast - Chemoprotection Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Cancer

• Targeting cancer stem cells with sulforaphane, a dietary component from broccoli and broccoli sprouts - Future Oncology

• Sulforaphane, a Dietary Component of Broccoli/Broccoli Sprouts, Inhibits Breast Cancer Stem Cells - Clinical Cancer Research

• Sulforaphane mobilizes cellular defenses that protect skin against damage by UV radiation - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

• Antioxidant capacity of broccoli sprouts subjected to gastrointestinal digestion - Journal of Science and Food Agriculture

• Dietary sulforaphane-rich broccoli sprouts reduce colonization and attenuate gastritis in Helicobacter pylori-infected mice and humans - Cancer Prevention Research

• Microgreens: Functional Food with Antiproliferative Cancer Properties Influenced by Light - Foods

• Inhibition of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced skin tumorigenesis in C57BL/6 mice by sulforaphane is mediated by nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 - Cancer Research

• Sulforaphane prevents mouse skin tumorigenesis during the stage of promotion - Cancer Letters

• Broccoli sprout extract may protect against oral cancer recurrence - University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

• Inhibition of AP-1 by Sulforaphane Involves Interaction with Cysteine in the cFos DNA-Binding Domain; Implications for Chemoprevention of UVB-Induced Skin Cancer - Cancer Research

• Intake of Cruciferous Vegetables Modifies Bladder Cancer Survival - Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention

• Protection against UV-light-induced skin carcinogenesis in SKH-1 high-risk mice by sulforaphane-containing broccoli sprout extracts - Cancer Letters

• Chemoprevention of pancreatic cancer using solid-lipid nanoparticulate delivery of a novel aspirin, curcumin and sulforaphane drug combination regimen - International Journal of Oncology

• Dietary Sulforaphane in Cancer Chemoprevention: The Role of Epigenetic Regulation and HDAC Inhibition - Antioxident Redox Signal

• Effect of 10-day broccoli consumption on inflammatory status of young healthy smokers - International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition

In The News

• A Fascination with Enzymes: The Journey Not the Arrival Matters - Journal of Biological Chemistry

Diabetes

• Antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant activity of phenolic rich extract of Brassica oleraceae var gongylodes on streptozotocin induced Wistar rats - SpringerPlus

• Red Cabbage Microgreens Lower Circulating Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL), Liver Cholesterol, and Inflammatory Cytokines in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet - Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry

• Effect of broccoli sprouts on insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic patients: a randomized double-blind clinical trial - International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition

• The dietary phase 2 protein inducer sulforaphane can normalize the kidney epigenome and improve blood pressure in hypertensive rats - American Journal of Hypertension

• Sulforaphane prevention of diabetes-induced aortic damage was associated with the up-regulation of Nrf2 and its down-stream antioxidants - Nutrition & Metabolism

General Nutrition & Functional Foods

• Microgreens as a Component of Space Life Support Systems: A Cornucopia of Functional Food - Frontiers in Plant Science

• The Science behind Microgreens as an Exciting New Food for the 21st Century - Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

• Assessment of Vitamin and Carotenoid Concentrations of Emerging Food Products: Edible Microgreens  - Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

• Nutritional quality and health benefits of microgreens, a crop of modern agriculture - Journal of Future Foods

• Vegetable microgreens: The gleam of next generation super foods, their genetic enhancement, health benefits and processing approaches - Food Research International

• Broccoli Microgreens: A Mineral-Rich Crop That Can Diversify Food Systems - Frontiers in Nutrition

• Sulforaphane promotes ER stress, autophagy, and cell death: implications for cataract surgery - Journal of Molecular Medicine (Berlin)

• Microgreens of Brassicaceae: Mineral composition and content of 30 varieties - Journal of Food Composition and Analysis

• Nutrient composition, oxalate content and nutritional ranking of ten culinary microgreens - Journal of Food Composition and Analysis

• Comparison between the mineral profile and nitrate content of microgreens and mature lettuces - Journal of Food Composition and Analysis

• Efficacy of sulforaphane in eradicating Helicobacter pylori in human gastric xenografts implanted in nude mice - Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

• Sulforaphane, an activator of Nrf2, suppresses cellular accumulation of arsenic and its cytotoxicity in primary mouse hepatocytes - FEBS Letters (Federation of European Biochemical Societies)

• Cruciferous Vegetables Have Variable Effects on Biomarkers of Systemic Inflammation in a Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Young Adults -The  Journal of Nutrition

• The beneficial effects of Brassica vegetables on human health - Roczniki Państwowego Zakładu Higieny

• Dietary approaches to positively influence fetal determinants of adult health - FASEB Journal (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) 

• Broccoli sprouts in analgesia - preclinical in vivo studies - Food & Function Journal

• Dose-dependent detoxication of the airborne pollutant benzene in a randomized trial of broccoli sprout beverage in Qidong, China - The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

• Sulforaphane exhibits antiviral activity against pandemic SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal HCoV-OC43 coronaviruses in vitro and in mice - Communications Biology

• Rapid and sustainable detoxication of airborne pollutants by broccoli sprout beverage: results of a randomized clinical trial in China - Cancer Prevention Research

• Sulforaphane Protects against Cardiovascular Disease via Nrf2 Activation - Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity

• Bioavailability and kinetics of sulforaphane in humans after consumption of cooked versus raw broccoli - Journal of Agricultural Food Chemicals

• A novel antithrombotic effect of sulforaphane via activation of platelet adenylate cyclase: ex vivo and in vivo studies - Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry

In The News

• From Farm to Pharmacy - Tufts University

• AGNR researchers discover huge health benefit in tiny, immature greens - University of Maryland

• Functional Foods for Health  - Colorado State University Extension

• Microgreens Pack a Macro Nutritional Punch - Discover Magazine

• Dose matters: New research demonstrates that sulforaphane from broccoli sprouts combats a cause of air pollution injury in a dose-dependent manner - Chemoprotection Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine