Cardiovascular Support

Researchers have looked at a variety of cardiovascular problemsincluding heart attack, ischemic heart disease, and atherosclerosisand found preliminary evidence of an ability on the part of cruciferous vegetables to lower our risk of these health problems. Yet regardless of the specific cardiovascular problem, it is one particular type of cardiovascular benefit that has most interested researchers, and that benefit is the antiinflammatory nature of turnip greens and their fellow cruciferous vegetables. Scientists have not always viewed cardiovascular problems as having a central inflammatory component, but the role of unwanted inflammation in creating problems for our blood vessels and circulation has become increasingly fundamental to an understanding of cardiovascular diseases. While glucoraphanin (a glucosinolate found in many cruciferous vegetables, and the precursor for sulforaphane, an isothiocyanate with important antiinflammatory properties) does not appear to be present in turnip greens in significant amounts, other glucosinolates present in turnip greens may provide important antiinflammatory benefits and are the subject of current research.