Summary
A team of Cornell University researchers has found that apples are a key to keeping breast cancer at bay.
The team fed apples to rats over a six-week period, and the more apples the rats ate, the less likely they were to develop cancer. Rats that ate the human equivalent to six apples per day saw a 44 percent cancer rate reduction.
The lead researcher attributes the cancer risk reduction to antioxidants found in the fruit. Those chemicals have been shown in other studies to slow the growth of a number of types of cancer cells.
"Our findings suggest that consumers may gain more significant health benefits by eating more fruits and vegetables and whole grain foods than in consuming expensive dietary supplements, which do not contain the same array of balanced, complex components, the lead researcher said.
Original source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050309110724.htm
Details
An apple a day can help keep breast cancer away, according to a study in rats by food scientists at Cornell University.
"We found that tumor incidence was reduced by 17, 39 and 44 percent in rats fed the human equivalent of one, three or six apples a day, respectively, over 24 weeks," says Rui Hai Liu, Cornell associate professor of food science and lead author of the study.
In an article in the journal Nature five years ago, Liu and his colleagues credited phytochemicals -- antioxidants -- in fresh apples with inhibiting human liver and colon cancer cell growth.
Antioxidants help prevent cancer by mopping up cell-damaging free radicals and inhibiting the production of reactive substances that could damage normal cells.
"Studies increasingly provide evidence that it is the additive and synergistic effects of the phytochemicals present in fruits and vegetables that are responsible for their potent antioxidant and anticancer activities," Liu says.
"Our findings suggest that consumers may gain more significant health benefits by eating more fruits and vegetables and whole grain foods than in consuming expensive dietary supplements, which do not contain the same array of balanced, complex components," says Liu.
"This balanced natural combination of phytochemicals present in fruits and vegetables cannot simply be mimicked by dietary supplements," he explains.
Says David R. Jacobs, professor in the Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota: "Dr. Liu is in the forefront of a group of investigators, including myself, who find extensive evidence that extremely important health aspects of
food work through the combination of substances that make up that food, a concept we call food synergy.
Risk of many chronic diseases in modern life appears to be reduced by whole foods, but not by isolated large doses of selected food compounds.
Dr. Liu's current work on
apples and breast tumors in rats is a perfect example of this principle."
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2010, Adams launched TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video site featuring videos on holistic health and green living. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a successful software entrepreneur, having founded a well known email marketing software company whose technology currently powers the NaturalNews email newsletters. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and pursues hobbies such as martial arts, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. He's also author a large number of health books offered by Truth Publishing and is the creator of numerous reference website including NaturalPedia.com and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. His websites also include the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the innate healing ability of the human body.
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Email this article to a friend
Share
this article on: 
