Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we will make a small commission at no cost to you.
Whether you love it or not, you know broccoli is good for you. It is loaded with fiber, nutrients, and antioxidants that benefit heart and eye health, may help prevent cancer, and support the immune system. Broccoli has antimicrobial properties, meaning it can help you fight off infections so you stay healthy.
While I always recommend eating healthy food before taking any supplement, I was recently introduced to Mara Labs, which has a product called BrocElite® that piqued my interest. BrocElite® contains a stabilized form of sulforaphane, the powerful phytonutrient responsible for broccoli’s health benefits.
Since it is often a challenge for me to eat enough green leafies, like broccoli, I thought I would take a deeper look at BrocElite® and some of the other Mara Labs products to learn more about what they are all about.
What is Mara Labs?
Mara Labs was founded by a group of scientists and researchers inspired to create a sulforaphane supplement after one of the founder’s wives, Mara, was diagnosed with breast cancer. They discovered in the lab that when the cancer cells were exposed to sulforaphane, they died off.
So the founder thought, let’s get more sulforaphane into her to see if it can help. But when he looked around for a supplement, there were no products available on the market that contained the activated form of this powerful phytonutrient because it is not stable when put into supplements.
Unfortunately, Mara ended up passing away, but her passing inspired the founder to create a product that he knew could help others improve their health and BrocElite® was born.
Disclaimer: While this is a powerful testimony and inspirational story of the founder of Mara Labs, there is no supplement or specific food that will cure or prevent cancer. Cancer is a complex and multi-causal illness that cannot be cured or prevented by taking a supplement.
Mara Labs is a hand-processed supplement company, meaning they process, package, and ship broccoli supplements all in-house. This is different from many other supplement companies who often hire third-party companies to formulate their product. Everything is handled in-house at Mara Labs.
Being scientists themselves, the founders test the products in-house to ensure the best quality and that each bottle contains what it says on the label. None of the products have fillers or unnecessary ingredients. They are truly committed to using their scientific understanding to create a quality product.
Mara Labs carries a line of other products beyond BrocElite®, all of which contain broccoli in addition to other ingredients. Their products include:
- BerbElite®: a berberine supplement
- CurcElite®: a curcumin supplement
- ResverElite™: a resveratrol supplement
- SleepElite®: a blend of ingredients meant to support restful sleep
- QuercElite®: a quercetin supplement
- BrocElite® Kids: a formulation meant for kids
- Broccoli and radish seeds
Visit their site to learn more about the different products they offer.
What is BrocElite®?
BrocElite® is the only naturally derived stabilized sulforaphane supplement available on the market. Most products contain sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGS) an inactive precursor of sulforophane. SGS is unstable and requires specific enzymes to be converted into active sulforaphane, which is where the benefits are found.
Stabilized sulforaphane is the active form of the phytonutrients, produced via an enzymatic reaction by an enzyme called myrosinase. Products containing SGS simply add myrosinase to their product, hoping it will activate it. But, the stomach degrades myrosinase and the sulforaphane is unable to be active.
When stabilized (active) sulforaphane is used instead it maintains its bioavailability and potency over time, unlike SGS. The stabilized form is what you will find in BrocElite® making it a unique product compared to others on the market.
Benefits of sulforaphane
So why would you consider a sulforaphane product? There are several potential benefits identified in over 2,000 research papers since the compound’s discovery in 1992. It has been found to:
- Have a protective effect against oxidative stress, one of the leading causes of aging and disease.
- Help protect cells against environmental damage that may trigger the proliferation of cancer.
- Reduce antioxidant and mitochondrial dysfunction related to autism spectrum disorder.
- Have benefits for brain health possibly helping prevent neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
- Support the health of the central nervous system, which may be particularly beneficial for illnesses like multiple sclerosis or epilepsy.
How does it do all of this? It activates different inflammatory, antioxidant, and detoxification pathways, particularly Nrf-2 and BDNF. Once these pathways are turned on, they get to work helping reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, promoting cellular repair.
One thing to note about all of these “benefits” is that an ideal dose of sulforaphane has not been established. Many of the 2,000 studies demonstrating the benefits, use different forms or doses of sulforaphane. Many are lab or animal studies, making it challenging to determine the strength of the effect on humans living in the real world, particularly for disease prevention or treatment.
It is not clear whether the benefits of sulforaphane are found in just eating the broccoli itself or if getting it in supplement form works just as well. More research is needed to determine whether a product like BrocElite® has additional benefits beyond what you might get from just eating your green vegetables a few times a week.
In terms of safety, for most healthy people there is no significant concern with this product since it is made from broccoli powder. My only concern would be the vitamin K content of the product, for people on certain medications who need to limit vitamin K. Always speak to your doctor before taking any supplement to ensure it is right for you.
Bottom Line
Mara Labs has an interesting line of quality products optimized for absorption and unique to the market. To make their claims more compelling, I would love to see research conducted by the company on the specific benefits of their product. Relying on the “2,000 studies” on the benefits of sulforaphane to translate to a unique product, doesn’t provide enough evidence that the product will do the same thing as the studies have discovered.
Maybe evaluating the use of the product and its effect on cellular health, inflammation, and cardiac markers, versus just eating more broccoli.
If you want to boost your sulforaphane intake without taking any supplements, the best way to do so is to eat more cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc). To optimize sulforaphane these should be lightly steamed and not overcooked, which damages this delicate nutrient.
Overall, if you don’t eat many leafy green vegetables or are at a high genetic risk of illnesses where extra sulforaphane may help, such as cancer or neurodegenerative diseases, this product may be worth a shot.
