The effect of indirect antioxidants is longer lasting than direct antioxidants. Research at Raymond Hopkins School of Medicine, in the USA, discovered that sulphoraphanes, substances found in high concentrations in broccoli, help maintain the body free from cancer. PCOs are among the few antioxidants that hillard the blood brain barrier, and they are very easily absorbed.

Antioxidants From Plants Some of the most potent free radical scavengers are found in our food. The active phyto-nutrient in green tea are polyphenols called catechins. Sulphoraphanes act as indirect antioxidants. They boost what are called Phase 2 detoxification enzymes, which trigger broad-spectrum antioxidant activity. Researchers found that 3 day old broccoli sprouts contain 20 to 50 times more than the mature cooked vegetable.

Grape seeds contain compounds called procyanidolic oligomers, known as PCOs or pycnogenol, long thought to be some of the most powerful phyto-antioxidants. As the broccoli plant grows older sulphoraphane levels drop. As antioxidants, they are around 50 times stronger than vitamin E.

Not only do PCOs neutralise free radicals, they also synergistically with vitamins C and E.