There is a study by a group in London that says, "a chemical called AITC is released when brassica vegetables are prepared. This chemical can kill colon cancer cells and is able to stop the disease from spreading." I found this in a news story on Google Health News. It attracted my attention because the list of vegetables in the first article I read included lots of Type O avoids, while kale seemed to be the only beneficial.

Kale was my least favorite when I was trying all the beneficial greens. In fairness to kale, the first bunch I bought had a lot of yellow leaves, and the stems were thick and tough. Last week my produce department had some really fresh looking kale. I chopped it in smaller pieces than I did the first time, and it tasted much better.

Further reading on Goggle expanded the list of vegetables containing the cancer fighting chemical to include mustard, broccoli, cabbage, horseradish, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and Swede (rutabaga). Broccoli and horseradish are also Type O beneficials; but cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are avoids.

The other thing interesting in the study was that they didn't recommend eating the vegetables raw. "AITC is created when brassica vegetables are chopped, chewed, cooked, processed and digested." Another article recommended the vegetables be, "chopped and lightly cooked in a little water…stewing the vegetables would kill the chemical."

I fix broccoli once a week because everyone in the family likes it. My grandmother, and my husband's uncle both had colon cancer, and my mom had a precancerous polyp removed. Because of that I will probably buy kale more often as well.