Could broccoli be the new sunblock?

Some day in the not so distant future, getting ready for a day in the sun may mean smearing on a cream not made from titanium dioxide or other common sunscreen ingredients, but instead a lotion made from broccoli. Researchers recently found that when broccoli sprout extract was applied to the skin of people and hairless mice, it protected their skin from sun damage.

Unlike sunscreen, the broccoli extract doesn't block the suns harmful rays, but instead helps the body fight off cancer-causing changes on its own. This gives broccoli an advantage over sunscreen. Many people worry about negative effects to the body from chemical sunscreens, and all sunscreens block out vital vitamin D. In addition, the effects of the protection may last days, which could mean that instead of slathering sunscreen on every few hours while you're in the sun, you only have to apply it a few times a week.

This finding is still in the earliest of stages, but because the sun is both friend and enemy to our bodies, it's a promising one.