Head to the Supermarket for Cancer Protection
Reported November 1, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A batch of new studies released this week at American Association for Cancer Research’s 4th annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research shows some of your best protection against cancer can be found right in your local supermarket.
In one study, Japanese researchers found a broccoli-heavy diet significantly reduced Helicobacteri pylori (H. pylori) infection among 20 people. H. pylori infection can cause gastritis and is also thought to be a major factor in stomach cancer. The anti-cancer power comes from the properties of a chemical found in broccoli called sulforaphane. Akinori Yanaka from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, says, “The data suggest strongly that a diet rich in sulforaphane glucosinolate may help protect against gastric cancer, presumably by activating gastric mucosal anti-oxidant enzymes that can protect the cells from H. pylori-induced DNA damage.”
In a second study, researchers from Johns Hopkins are wondering if you should not only eat broccoli but wear it. Albena T. Dinkova-Kostova, Ph.D., and colleagues from Johns Hopkins found broccoli sprout extract counteracted the cancer-causing effects of ultraviolet light in the hairless mice they put it on. When compared to mice that didn’t receive the extract, but were still exposed to ultraviolet light, the mice that received the extract had their incidence and number of tumors cut in half. Dinkova-Kostova says: “We weren’t looking for a sunscreen effect. The sulforaphane-containing extract was applied after the period of regular exposure to ultra-violet light. That’s more relevant, since most people receive some sun damage to their skin in childhood, particularly adults who grew up before effective sunscreen lotions were developed.”
Yet another study shows cabbage and sauerkraut consumption may lower the risk of breast cancer. Researchers found women who ate more raw- or short-cooked cabbage and sauerkraut (three or more servings per week) had a significantly lower risk of breast cancer when compared to women who ate less than one serving a week. Dorothy Rybaczyk- Pathak, Ph.D., from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, says, “The observed pattern of risk reduction indicates that the breakdown products of glucosinolates in cabbage may affect both the initiation phase of carcinogenesis — by decreasing the amount of DNA damage and cell mutation–and the promotion phase — by blocking the processes that inhibit programmed cell death and stimulate unregulated cell growth.”
Another study presented at the conference showed, for the first time, ginkgo biloba seems to lower the risk of developing ovarian cancer. In the final study presented, researchers found garlic may help fend off carcinogens produced when eating meat that has been cooked at high temperatures.
SOURCE: The American Association for Cancer Research’s 4th annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research in Baltimore, Oct. 30 – Nov. 2, 3005
