Daily helping of sprouts ‘may prevent arthritis’

Eating seven brussels sprouts a day could stave off arthritis, heart disease and cancer, scientists have said. The superfood protects against stomach complaints that can lead to serious illness.

In experiments, mice fed vitamin-packed cruciferous vegetables were better able to tolerate digestive problems similar to leaky gut and colitis.

Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage – but sprouts may be the best bet, as only a few need to be eaten to benefit from the effect.

Professor Gary Perdew, an agricultural scientist at Pennsylvania State University, who was involved with the research, said: “There are a lot of reasons we want to explore helping with gastrointestinal health and one reason is if you have problems, like a leaky gut, and start to suffer inflammation, that may then lead to other conditions, like arthritis and heart disease.”

Arthritis affects ten million Britons, while coronary heart disease remains the country’s number one killer, claiming 160,000 lives a year.

Prof Perdew added: “Keeping your gut healthy and making sure you have good barrier functions so you are not getting this ‘leaky’ effect would be really big.”