Diet - Eat your broccoli and apples to help prevent cancer

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Eat Your Broccoli: Studies Find Strong Anti-Cancer Properties in certain fruits and veggies

"The compound in broccoli may be one of the strongest anti-cancer fighters we have" Researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University have found that a compound found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, bok choy and brussel sprouts, has strong anti-cancer properties. This compound, called sulforaphane, is even higher in broccoli sprouts - the tiny, thread-like broccoli sprouts sold in health food stores next to the alfalfa sprouts. The main area of interest to the researcher, Emily Ho, is on the dietary prevention of prostate cancer. The Asian diet could be a key in this prevention. White males born in the United States have dramatically higher rates of prostate cancer than Asian men. But when Asian men live in the U.S. for five years or more, their rates of prostate cancer rise significantly, according to Emily Ho. Ho stated that vegetables containing sulforaphane (and broccoli and broccoli sprouts have the highest amounts) have the same ability as drugs classified as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, which are being looked at as potentially preventing cancer. She said "I would say if you're at all worried about cancer or at high risk of cancer, especially of prostate or colon cancer, then increasing your dietary intake of broccoli and other vegetables could be a good idea. It certainly can't hurt. And drugs can have negative side effects and be difficult to administer." While Ho said the research is not at the point where she can make a specific recommendation on how much broccoli or bok choy to eat, she personally tries to have two servings of cruciferous vegetables a day. She said "The compound in broccoli may be one of the strongest anti-cancer fighters we have." May 18th 2007 - Conference "Diet and Optimum Health", Portland, USA. Emily Ho, researcher with the Linus Pauling Institute and assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Sciences at Oregon State University
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Pectin fibre found in fruits and vegetables kills prostate cancer cells This new study found that exposing prostate cancer cells to pectin under laboratory conditions reduced the number of cells by up to 40 percent. Cancer cells literally self-destructed in a process known as apoptosis. Pectin even killed cells that aren't sensitive to hormone therapy and therefore are difficult to treat with current medications. "What this paper shows is that if you take human prostate cancer cells and add pectin, you can induce programmed cell death," said Mohnen, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. "If you do the same with non-cancerous cells, cell death doesn't occur." Previous studies have shown that pectin lowers cholesterol and glucose levels in humans. Other studies using rats and cell cultures have found that pectin can reduce metastasis and prevent lung and colon tumours. Yet another study found that pectin induces apoptosis (self-destruction) in colon cancer cells. Mohnen said that more evidence is needed to support the use of specific pectin supplements, but said that most Americans would do well to increase their intake of fruits and vegetables. She continued "Even though we hear constantly that we're supposed to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, it wasn't until we started working on these studies that it finally hit home how really important that was. By simply increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables, you're going to get a lot of pectin and you're going to get all of the other beneficial phytochemicals at the same time." Pectin is found in particularly high amounts in apples. Glycobiology, D Mohnen and V Kumar, University of Georgia, August 2007
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