Antioxidant in broccoli may protect eyes from light damage

An antioxidant found in broccoli may help protect the retina from light damage that can lead to macular degeneration, a lab study suggests.

Paul Talalay, MD, and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore showed that sulforaphane and other phase 2 enzyme inducers protected human retinal cells from photo-oxidative damage in the laboratory. The protection afforded was dose-dependent, the researchers found.

They noted that the protective effect was seen with both mature broccoli and broccoli sprouts (3-day old broccoli plants).

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.