EATING broccoli every could be a new treatment to overcome asthma, University of Melbourne research reveals.

Two steamed cups a day of the green vegetable have been found to allow asthmatics to breathe normally and prevent their condition from worsening, providing a potential alternative treatment for those who do not respond to existing medication.

Laboratory testing by the university revealed eating vegetables from the cruciferous family — which also includes kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and bok choy — could even reverse lung damage.

The research, led by honours student Nadia Mazarakis and supervisor Dr Tom Karagiannis, revealed a daily dose the equivalent of two cups of broccoli switched anti-inflammatory genes

and could cause changes the formation of airways.

“Blockages in the airway were reversed almost entirely,” Ms Mazarakis said.

“People with asthma have damaged linings in their airways and we have found this can actually reverse that process and also help with the reversal of the narrowing of the airways, make those airways clearer so the can breath more easily.

“It is more for the sub set of people that are resistant to the current medication of corticosteroids ... where hospitalisation is one of their only sustainable options to get relief when they have an asthma attack.”

Initial findings of the study, which is still its early stages, will be presented at the 2014 Undergraduate Research Conference about Food Safety in Shanghai next month.