Dimethyl fumarate vs Sulforaphane
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
An approved multiple sclerosis drug that is the cleanest way to switch on NRF2, next to the supplement version of the same idea. Dimethyl fumarate did not make mice live longer, and the paper reports the mice got on average only 35 percent of the planned dose.
- Dimethyl fumarate people
- 54
- Dimethyl fumarate nulls
- 1
- Sulforaphane people
- 423
- Sulforaphane nulls
- 1
Dose
Approved medicine. No human dose established for unlabelled uses
Labeled amounts sit on the prescribing information. This page records what trials measured, not a personal dose.
FDA-approved as Tecfidera for relapsing multiple sclerosis, the kind that flares up and then settles. Not approved for any ageing use.
Dose
No human dose established
Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose.
7 completed trials, 423 people given it
First-hand reports are counted on each profile and never added together. This page sets two published records side by side. It does not pick a winner.
Column A
Dimethyl fumarateDimethyl fumarate (Tecfidera), NRF2 pathway activator
An approved multiple sclerosis drug, and the cleanest drug we have for switching on NRF2. In mice, it did not extend lifespan. But the mice only got about 35 percent of the planned dose, and the authors say that may explain it.
Column B
SulforaphaneSulforaphane, an isothiocyanate released from broccoli glucoraphanin
Three studies set a main goal in advance, and all three missed it. They tested a prostate cancer blood marker (PSA) in 78 men after surgery, fasting blood sugar in 74 adults with prediabetes, and autism again in 45 children. The clearest win in people is a urine marker. In Qidong, China, the top dose raised how much of a benzene breakdown product people flushed out by 63.2 percent.
Side by side, on the facts we can check
| What we compare | Dimethyl fumarate | Sulforaphane |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Antioxidant | Antioxidant |
| FDA status | FDA-approved as Tecfidera for relapsing multiple sclerosis, the kind that flares up and then settles. Not approved for any ageing use. | Not an approved drug for any use. Sold as a dietary supplement, usually as broccoli seed or sprout extract. The label amount is usually for glucoraphanin, the inactive starting material, not for sulforaphane itself. |
| Half-life | Very short as the parent compound, which is rapidly hydrolysed to monomethyl fumarate, the active metabolite, with a half-life of roughly one hour. | Roughly 2 hours in plasma after an oral dose, with most urinary metabolite excretion complete within about a day. |
| Molecular weight | 144.1 Da. A small molecule, not a peptide. | 177.3 Da. An isothiocyanate, not a peptide. |
| How it works | Dimethyl fumarate is a reactive chemical that grabs onto KEAP1, the protein that normally marks NRF2 for disposal. With KEAP1 knocked out, NRF2 builds up and moves into the cell's control center. There it switches on antioxidant genes, including ones that make glutathione and the clean-up enzymes NQO1 and HO-1. It also drains glutathione at first. It has immune effects that have nothing to do with NRF2, including lowering lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. That matters for how it helps in multiple sclerosis, and it is also its main risk. | Sulforaphane flips a switch called NRF2. NRF2 turns on a large set of the body's own cleanup and antioxidant genes. That is why its most repeatable effect in people is helping the body tag and flush out toxins, not changing any disease. The pathway it turns on is, quite literally, a disposal system. Separate work found sulforaphane by matching a diabetic liver's gene pattern against 3,800 drug patterns. It cut sugar production in liver cells through the same NRF2 switch. The plant does not actually contain it. Broccoli stores the stable starting material, glucoraphanin, in one place and the enzyme myrosinase in another. Sulforaphane forms when the plant is damaged. That is why chewing and chopping matter, and why it matters whether a capsule has live enzyme in it. |
| Studies in people | 3 | 7 |
| Evidence | Limited: 3 completed trials, 54 people given it | Moderate: 7 completed trials, 423 people given it |
| Legal status, US | FDA-approved, prescription only | Sold as a supplement |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Dimethyl fumarate and Sulforaphane?
Dimethyl fumarate: An approved multiple sclerosis drug, and the cleanest drug we have for switching on NRF2. In mice, it did not extend lifespan. But the mice only got about 35 percent of the planned dose, and the authors say that may explain it. Sulforaphane: Three studies set a main goal in advance, and all three missed it. They tested a prostate cancer blood marker (PSA) in 78 men after surgery, fasting blood sugar in 74 adults with prediabetes, and autism again in 45 children. The clearest win in people is a urine marker. In Qidong, China, the top dose raised how much of a benzene breakdown product people flushed out by 63.2 percent.
Which has stronger research evidence, Dimethyl fumarate or Sulforaphane?
Each compound gets a band worked out from facts we counted, with the math shown. Dimethyl fumarate is Limited (3 completed trials, 54 people given it). Sulforaphane is Moderate (7 completed trials, 423 people given it). That counts how much has been done in people. It does not rate whether either one works, and neither one is called the winner.
Are Dimethyl fumarate and Sulforaphane FDA-approved?
Dimethyl fumarate: FDA-approved as Tecfidera for relapsing multiple sclerosis, the kind that flares up and then settles. Not approved for any ageing use.. Sulforaphane: Not an approved drug for any use. Sold as a dietary supplement, usually as broccoli seed or sprout extract. The label amount is usually for glucoraphanin, the inactive starting material, not for sulforaphane itself..
Reviewed Sep 2026. This page puts two published records side by side. It is for learning, and it is not medical advice. When this site shows a dose, it is the dose a trial or a clinic actually used, or what people say they did, with the source attached. None of it tells you what to take.