Illustrative broccoli and Brussels sprouts beside an unbranded bottle and capsules; not actual product contents or a food-equivalency comparison.
DIM and sulforaphane are both associated with cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale. They are different compounds. When comparing supplement labels, start with the exact ingredient name and the amount per labeled serving, rather than treating the vegetable connection as proof of equivalence.
1. Two compounds from the same vegetable family
DIM - diindolylmethane - is a plant indole. The U.S. National Cancer Institute's thesaurus describes diindolylmethane as a dimer of indole-3-carbinol. Sulforaphane belongs to a different chemical class: the isothiocyanates. That record describes it as a metabolite of glucoraphanin, a glucosinolate. This is ingredient-identity background, not evidence that a finished supplement provides a particular health benefit.
2. How the two labels read
On our DIM Essence Capsules panel, the line reads "DIM (as Diindolylmethane) 200 mg" per one-capsule serving. That identifies the declared compound and its amount. For a different product, read the exact wording before comparing numbers. If the panel names glucoraphanin, keep that name separate from sulforaphane. If it names a plant extract, do not relabel the extract's total weight as an amount of DIM or sulforaphane without a declaration supporting that amount. Related names are not interchangeable declarations.
3. Amounts are per serving, and the footnote matters
Whatever the ingredient line says, the amount belongs to the label's serving. On our panel the serving is 1 vegetable capsule, with 60 servings per container, so the declared 200 mg of DIM is per capsule. You will also see a dagger symbol on both lines of our panel: Daily Value not established. That footnote means no Daily Value has been set for these ingredients, so the panel declares amounts without a %DV - we walk through exactly that convention in Daily Value Percentages on Superfood Supplement Labels: A Guide. The milligram number alone does not establish equivalence between different compounds. This guide supplies no conversion between DIM and sulforaphane.
4. The rest of the panel is still worth reading
Our DIM panel declares one more ingredient with an amount: BioPerine 2.5 mg, a black pepper extract ingredient (BioPerine is a registered trademark of Sabinsa, Co., as our label notes). Below the panel, the Other Ingredients list names the formulation's remaining components - on this product, organic brown rice concentrate and the vegetable capsule shell, declared as hypromellose. Capsule shell wording is its own small read, covered in Capsule Shells: Vegetarian & Vegan Labels. One thing our photographed panel does not do: it does not list sulforaphane anywhere. That is a statement about what this label declares, not a test result about what the capsules contain.
The bottom line
DIM and sulforaphane are different compounds associated with the same vegetable family. Read the exact ingredient name, amount and serving on each product. Do not turn a shared plant connection, an extract weight or a similar milligram number into a claim that two products are equivalent.
VITAMIZED INC. DIM Essence Capsules declare, per 1-capsule serving: 200 mg DIM (as diindolylmethane) and 2.5 mg BioPerine, with 60 vegetable capsules per container. Other Ingredients: organic brown rice concentrate, vegetable capsule (hypromellose). Made in USA. The full Supplement Facts are on the product page.
Sources: NCI Thesaurus - Diindolylmethane; NCI Thesaurus - Sulforaphane; 21 CFR 101.36; FDA - Questions and Answers on Dietary Supplements.
