Scientists develop cancer fighting tomato

Scientists develop cancer fighting tomato - Yahoo! News:
2008.10.27
"...anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant found in berries such as blackberries and blackcurrants that have been shown to lower risk of cancer, heart disease and some neurological diseases...Using genes that help color the snapdragon flower, the researchers discovered they could get the tomatoes to make anthocyanins -- turning the tomato purple in the process...Mice genetically engineered to develop cancer lived an average of 182 days when they were fed the purple tomatoes, compared to 142 days for animals on the standard diet...findings do bolster research suggesting that people can significantly improve their health by making simple changes to the daily diet..."

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Black Raspberries Slow Cancer By Altering Hundreds Of Genes

Black Raspberries Slow Cancer By Altering Hundreds Of Genes: "ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2008) — New research strongly suggests that a mix of preventative agents, such as those found in concentrated black raspberries, may more effectively inhibit cancer development than single agents aimed at shutting down a particular gene...Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center examined the effect of freeze-dried black raspberries on genes altered by a chemical carcinogen in an animal model of esophageal cancer...The carcinogen affected the activity of some 2,200 genes in the animals’ esophagus in only one week, but 460 of those genes were restored to normal activity in animals that consumed freeze-dried black raspberry powder as part of their diet during the exposure...“We have clearly shown that berries, which contain a variety of anticancer compounds, have a genome-wide effect on the expression of genes involved in cancer development,”...Stoner notes that black raspberries have vitamins, minerals, phenols and phytosterols, many of which individually are known to prevent cancer in animals...“Freeze drying the berries concentrates these elements about ten times, giving us a power pack of chemoprevention agents that can influence the different signaling pathways that are deregulated in cancer,” he says...“What’s emerging from studies in cancer chemoprevention is that using single compounds alone is not enough,” Stoner says. “And berries are not enough. We never get 100 percent tumor inhibition with berries. So we need to think about another food that we can add to them that will boost the chemopreventive activities of berries alone.”..."

Another part of the equation must surely be the chemoprevention found in cruciferous vegetables - such as sulforaphanes in broccoli.

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Flavonols seem to lower chance of getting pancreatic cancer

Flavonols may help ward off pancreatic cancer Reuters/Yahoo!News " look at the eating patterns of 183,518 California and Hawaii residents has found evidence that a diet high in flavonols might help ward off pancreatic cancer...Flavonols are found in plant-based foods with onions, apples, berries, kale, and broccoli having the highest concentrations...People who had the largest amount of flavonols in their diet -- measured with a "food frequency" questionnaire -- had a 23-percent lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with people with the lowest levels, Dr. Ute Nthlings from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke reported...Smokers benefited most, presumably because they are at high risk for pancreatic cancer already. Smokers who ate the most flavonols reduced their risk of developing pancreatic cancer by 59 percent...Of the three individual flavonols studied (kaempferol, quercetin and myricetin), kaempferol, abundant in spinach and some cabbages, was associated with the largest risk reduction (22 percent) among all study subjects... the anti-cancer effects of these compounds, in general, have been attributed to their ability to inhibit cell growth and oxidative stress, and induce detoxification enzymes and programmed cell death..."

A major rethink of the way certain antioxidants work needs to happen. To cause apoptosis, or to limit blood flow to cancers is not merely a function of limiting free radical damage in the body. Certain "antioxidants" are obviously much, much more than antioxidants. They redirect the functioning of specific parts of the body, often in a beneficial way. Just take a look at the myriad functions of EGCG, or curcumin in the human body and it becomes apparent that their antioxidant ability appears to be only a small part of their function. It seems we need another word for such compounds. But what? At least we can agree to rule out adaptogen right? Something more grounded in science and with a specific definition that refers to specific functioning of such compounds. We can dress it in old, latiny roots. The anti-rolemodel is... "An adaptogen produces a nonspecific response in the body..." lovely.

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