What Lucia Aronica has said about Sulforaphane

Aronica says sulforaphane keeps protective genes active for up to three days, so eating cruciferous vegetables two or three times a week suffices.

“So it's enough to eat cruciferous veggies two, three times a week to keep your antioxidant genes switched on”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: Stanford Nutrition Researcher: Eat THIS to Transform Your Health, Stay Young, and Live Longer (Apr 30, 2026) · Listen from 31:39

Aronica warns that blanching frozen broccoli destroys the enzyme myrosinase needed to form sulforaphane.

“most people buy frozen broccoli, and frozen broccoli is quickly blanched, so quickly boiled before freezing, and this destroys myrosinase”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: Stanford Nutrition Researcher: Eat THIS to Transform Your Health, Stay Young, and Live Longer (Apr 30, 2026) · Listen from 34:05

Aronica recommends chopping fresh broccoli 40 minutes before cooking to maximize sulforaphane.

“So here are the three tricks. For fresh broccoli, yes, chop it 40 minutes before cooking”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: Stanford Nutrition Researcher: Eat THIS to Transform Your Health, Stay Young, and Live Longer (Apr 30, 2026) · Listen from 35:01

Aronica recommends adding mustard to cooked frozen broccoli to restore the myrosinase enzyme.

“you can rescue that with mustard. Add like a teaspoon of mustard powder or a tablespoon of prepared mustard, every like three ounces of cooked broccoli”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: Stanford Nutrition Researcher: Eat THIS to Transform Your Health, Stay Young, and Live Longer (Apr 30, 2026) · Listen from 36:09