In experiments with mice, Marc Veldhoen and his colleagues at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge have found that, after feeding healthy rodents a diet low in these vegetables for two to three weeks, the number of protective cells of the immune system called intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs for its acronym in English) , which are present in the stomach and on the skin, is reduced by up to 80% . These cells are located under the epithelium that covers our body on the outside and inside, and they constitute an important first line of defense against possible attacks . The number of IELs depends on a protein known by the acronym AhR, whose levels are regulated through the diet by the intake of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, watercress, Brussels sprouts, arugula, radish or cabbage .
When the number of lymphocytes of this type is insufficient, animals develop more infections, have a more active immune system fighting aggressions and take longer to repair the damage they suffer to the walls of the digestive system.
