Flawed Study Using Company Employees Disqualifies Brolico

Brolico was given a 0 rating because it is not even a fucoidan product, though it tries to attach itself to fucoidan’s benefits. It’s a brand that uses scavenger-like marketing.

Brolico states that they have a patented extract from broccoli that activates “crucial white blood cells, such as NK (natural killer) cells and neutrophils” to fight cancer cells. They say their patented formula increases NK cell activity approximately 6 times more than fucoidan. That’s a  bold claim and one they can’t back up with independent studies. They base their claims on one study that followed 16 people taking a “secret” broccoli extract for four weeks. I recommend reading the whole report: http://brolico.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/brolico_jpn_pharmacol_ther_journal_article.pdf

The study is flawed for the following reasons:

• The group Imagine Global Care Co., Ltd who sponsored the study is the group who is selling Bolico.
• The group Imagine Global Care Co., Ltd who authored the trial protocol was the same group who sells Brolico. The report states, ““The trial protocol, with approval from the ethical review committee of Imagine Global Care Co., Ltd.”
• Finally, the employees of Imagine Global Care Co., Ltd. recruited the test subjects. The report states, “Subjects were recruited by employees of Imagine Global Care Co., Ltd.” This is equivalent to having a thief select his/her own jurors for a trial.

Does something seem fishy here? It’s certainly isn’t because Brolico is a fucoidan source.

The gist of the study is that silk worm muscle contraction happens in the presence of certain chemicals that also show immuno-stimulatory properties.  The patent for this technique states that the “substance having the action of activating/suppressing the innate immune mechanism can be screened efficiently and simply using the muscular contraction in the organism such as silkworm larva having the innate immune mechanism as an indicator.”

Because β-glucan causes a silk worms muscles to contract and it has immuno-stimulating properties, their logic is that the new self-named substance Brolico also has immuno-stimulating properties because it also makes a silkworm’s muscle contract. Brolico says it is 50 times stronger than β-Glucans.

The method of obtaining the broccoli extract is under lock and key. However, they do say they use cold water from Mt. Fuji as a solvent to extract the “substance” from the Broccoli. The report states, “unpublished studies of the molecular structure of the extracted broccoli component responsible for the immuno-stimulatory action by researchers at the University of Tokyo have revealed that it is a novel substance, and it has been named Brolico.” However, to date, there are no studies anywhere, and especially not in reputable scientific journal.

Why mess around with shotty science and poor study design? Independent articles on fucoidan’s benefits are appearing in many authoritative medical journals. You will find over 1,400 studies demonstrating the powerful health benefits of this natural supplement. No such research exists for Brolico, with the exception of one self-promoting study that they designed themselves.

Research shows that fucoidan’s therapeutic properties include healthy modulation of immune function, cell-to-cell communication, and tissue maintenance. However, you will get none of this with Brolico as it contains no fucoidan!

Conclusion: Warning, my research tells me this is nothing more than a sugar pill which contains no fucoidan or active ingredients to produce the healthy results that fucoidan does. There may be some placebo effect here, but it’s not worth the price.