You have a very wide choice of plant-based foods, and you are urged to explore the many varieties of delicious plant-based foods that do not include brassica vegetables.
You fight cancer by avoiding obesity and by minimizing free-radical molecules inside the body. And you minimize free-radicals by reducing harmful stress in your life and by eating a wholly nutritious diet rich in anti-oxidants and bereft of junk food. There are plenty of plant-based foods full of anti-oxidants and healthy nutrients that do not include BV's.
For example, many types of fruit, sprouted seeds, baby shoots, fresh nuts and seeds and many healthy starchy vegetables are high in anti-oxidants and chock-a-block with micronutrients, enzymes, plant sterols & stanols, vitamins and minerals. You simply don't need BV's in your life.
Researchers at 'Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s Molecular Immunology Division' (USA) have discovered that a gene, called T-bet, which is essential for producing critical immune cells in your gut, responds to the food you eat—specifically to green leafy vegetables:
“The immune cells, named innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), are found in the lining of the digestive system and protect the body from ‘bad’ bacteria in the intestine. They are also believed to play an important role in controlling food allergies, inflammatory diseases and obesity, and may even prevent the development of bowel cancers.... T-bet is the key gene that instructs precursor cells to develop into ILCs, which it does in response to signals in the food we eat and to bacteria in the gut. Source: Lucille C Rankin, et al, The transcription factor T-bet is essential for the development of NKp46+ innate lymphocytes via the Notch pathway, Nature Immunology 14, 389–395 (2013)
So when you eat edible green leafy plant-foods, this triggers T-bet in the body to produce ILC's (innate lymphoid cells) that keep us healthy. Green leafy plant-foods do not have to include BV's.
ILC's are thought to be essential for good immunity, avoiding inflammation, protection against harmful bacteria, promoting beneficial bacteria, and fighting cancer. Quite apart from BV's such as collard greens, there are hundreds of species of plants with edible green leaves. Just think of the many types of sprouted seeds. Also baby shoots under three weeks old are super healthy. Germinated sprouted seeds and baby shoots have much less antinutrients than their mature counterparts, and offer a much higher nutritional profile.
They contain an array of antioxidants and other disease-fighting compounds that are very difficult to find in other foods. Plant chemicals called phytochemicals can reduce inflammation and eliminate carcinogens, while others regulate the rate at which your cells reproduce, get rid of old cells and maintain DNA.
Sprouted seeds and baby shoots are rich in antioxidants that help fight cancer, without giving you any of the harmful feminizing effects derived from BV's. They are the true super-foods that can be eaten raw so that nothing is lost from cooking.
Sprouted seeds can contain up to 100 times more enzymes than raw fruits and vegetables, allowing your body to extract more vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fats from the foods you eat
Both the quality of the protein and the soluble fiber content of beans, nuts, seeds and grains increases exponentially when sprouted.
Should you eat sprouted seeds from brassica vegetables? The answer is yes. They contain much less antinutrients and glucosinolates (weight for weight) compared to fully grown BV's, and they provide good nutrition just like other sprouted seeds. But eat them sparingly because unlike other sprouted seeds, they will contain a low level of glucosinolates. At this level, glucosinolates will not be harmful and some of them may even play a role in fighting cancer, however little.
Wheat and soy sprouted seeds should be avoided altogether because of their high content of antinutrients.
The content of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids increase dramatically during the sprouting process. For example, depending on the type of germinated sprout, the nutrient content can increase as much as 30 times the original value within just a few days of sprouting. Sunflower and pea sprouts tend to top the list of all the seeds that you can sprout and are typically each about 30 times more nutritious than organic or brassica vegetables.
During sprouting minerals such as calcium and magnesium bind to protein, making them more bio-available to the body. Sprouts are the ultimate locally-grown food, and can easily be grown in your own kitchen, so you know exactly what you’re eating. And since they’re very inexpensive, cost is no excuse for avoiding them. If you cannot buy them locally consider growing your own.
The website 'sprouts-as-medicine.com' is a good source for things relating to sprouts; they cover the health benefits of sprouted seeds, recipes, and how to grow your own. The British 'verticalveg.org' is another. The latter gives helpful growing tips for each month of the year. You also have a good choice of books on sprouting from sources such as Amazon.com.
For a list of green leafy plant-foods that you can eat raw/cooked go to Wikipedia.org and search for the phrase "List of leaf vegetables". There you will find a list of hundreds of green leafy (and not so leafy) vegetables, 18 of which are brassica vegetables which you can ignore. The 18 brassica vegetables all start with the word 'brassica'. All others are non-brassica vegetables.
When you see health professionals extolling the virtues of 'dark leafy greens' this does not necessarily refer to brassica greens. Think of the hundreds of non-brassica leaf vegetables and the many types of sprouted seeds. They all provide the kind of health benefits extolled by those who recommend 'dark leafy greens'.
One of the benefits of sprouted seeds is that you can grow them year-round, even when it’s cold and dark. While you can sprout a variety of different beans, nuts, seeds and grains, sprouts in general have the following beneficial attributes:
A. Support for cell regeneration.
B. Powerful sources of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins and enzymes that protect against free radical damage.
C. Alkalinizing effect on your body, which is thought to protect against disease, including cancer (as many tumors are acidic).
D. Abundantly rich in oxygen, which can also help protect against abnormal cell growth, viruses and bacteria that cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment.
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