High fibre diets, like those that include broccoli sprouts or other cruciferous vegetables, may reduce disease symptoms and improve quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study conducted in mice.

In the study, published in the journal mSystems, the researchers used a popular interleukin-10-knockout (IL-10-KO) mouse model of Crohn`s to investigate the interactions between mice and their immune systems, as well as the broccoli sprout diet, microbes within the Crohn`s-afflicted gut, and how those microbes would use an inactive compound in the broccoli sprouts to make an anti-inflammatory compound in the gut.