Eat carrots to fight cancer
Scientists
have given us another reason to eat carrots - a compound found in the popular
root vegetable has been found to have an effect on the
development of cancer.
A team of researchers, from the University of Newcastle upon
Tyne in England and Denmark, found the natural pesticide falcarinol reduced the
risk of cancer developing in rats by one third.
Although experts have recommended that people eat carrots for
their anti-cancer properties, it has not been known exactly what component of
the vegetable has this effect.
The study results, published today in the Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry, are significant as they could contribute to
healthy eating advice for consumers and recommendations for growers and may
eventually aid the development of anti-cancer drugs.
Falcarinol protects carrots from fungal diseases, such as
liquorice rot that causes black spots on the roots during storage. The
scientists investigated the compound after a previous published study suggested
it could prevent the development of cancer.
The research team carried out tests on 24 rats with
pre-cancerous tumours in laboratory conditions. They divided them into three
groups and fed them different diets.
The team found that, after 18 weeks, rats who ate carrots
(the popular orange variety) along with their ordinary feed and the group which
consumed falcarinol with their feed - in a quantity equal to that contained in
the carrots - were one third less likely to develop full-scale tumours than the
rats in the control group.
Dr Kirsten Brandt, a senior lecturer with Newcastle
University's School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, carried out the
research with the University of Southern Denmark and the Danish Institute of
Agricultural Sciences. She said: “We already know that carrots are good for us
and can reduce the risk of cancer but until now we have not known which element
of the vegetable has these special properties.
"Our research allows us to make a more qualitative assessment
of the vegetables we are eating, rather than quantitative. We now need to take
it a step further by finding out how much falcarinol is needed to prevent the
development of cancer and if certain types of carrot are better than others, as
there are many varieties in existence, of different shapes, colours and sizes".
"We could also expand our research to include other
vegetables. For consumers, it may soon no longer be a case of advising them to
eat five portions of fruit and vegetables per day but to eat particular types of
these in certain quantities. The research could also lead to more tailored
advice for growers regarding the methods they should use when growing
vegetables."
The experiment was conducted using raw carrots so researchers
do not yet know if eating boiled carrots or drinking carrot juice, for example,
would have the same effect.
Dr Brandt, who says she eats “more carrots than most” and
grows her own organic varieties, recommended that consumers should eat one small
carrot every day, together with other vegetables and fruits, to benefit from
their health-giving properties.
Falcarinol is toxic in large amounts but to obtain a lethal
dose you would have to eat 400 kilograms of carrots at once. Researchers suspect
it is effective because it stimulates mechanisms in the body that fight cancer,
although they have yet to carry out a detailed analysis in this respect.
The research was funded by the Danish Agricultural and
Veterinary Research Council and participating institutions.
