Japanese researchers say that broccoli sprouts may help in preventing an infection linked to the development of stomach cancer.

Over a two-month period, they followed men and women with h. pylori, a common bacterial infection that may cause stomach cancer.

Those who augmented their diet with broccoli were able to significantly reduce the incidence of h. pylori over a variety of detection methods when compared to those who supplemented their diet with alfafa sprouts, the authors reported.

Broccoli’s role as a "preventive dietary agent" has been enhanced by this study, says Dr Jed Fahey, adding that the evidence supports the vegetable’s role in possibly reducing cancer risk "in humans, not just in lab animals."

Broccoli may provide cancer-fighting benefits in another male organ as well, according to a study released by the Institute of Food Research.

Lead author Richard Mithen found that men who supplemented their diet with broccoli over the year-long study, rather than peas, were able to reduce the number of biomarkers linked with prostate cancer.

More than 60,000 Americans suffer from stomach cancer, according to statistics from the National Cancer Institute.