Sunny Health

Most of us know that cancer is a persistent threat, and I'm sure many of us would want to know all that we can about it. Of course, you can try to read up on cancer in books and on the net, but it can be quite confusing -especially with all the jargon being thrown around.

More food-related news today – Pork products from Ireland are being pulled off shelves wherever its sold as cancer-causing dioxins were found in them.

Ireland is major producer of pork, and it exports them to countries like England, Scotland and Wales.

Animal feed contaminated with these dioxins were understood to have been the cause.

But a professor Alan Boobis, from the Department of Health Toxicology Unit at Imperial College London, said studies suggested that dioxins do not have the same impact on human genes as they do on animals

So do you want to take his word for it? He looks knowledgeable enough to make an accurate statement, though I also believe that safety cannot be taken for granted.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1092544/Irish-pork-cancer-scare-forces-British-supermarkets-pull-meat-shelves.html

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It now seems likely that Broccoli will be a compulsory food on any cancer patient's diet in the future, given the increasing amount of research that touts its benefits. Case in point: American researchers from the University of California in Berkeley have found an anti-cancer compound in broccoli and cabbage that lowers the activity of an enzyme associated with rapidly advancing breast cancer.

This wonder compound, known as indole-3-carbinol is already undergoing clinical trials in humans because it was found to stop the growth of breast and prostate cancer cells in mice. However up till now, no one has been able to explain how indole-3-carbinol actually works. With these results, scientists will be able to develop newer versions of the chemical that can be used as a more effective drug, and also against more types of breast and even prostate cancers.

The team from Berkeley found in previous research that indole-3-carbinol not only interferes with cancer cell proliferation, but also disrupts migration and alters its adhesion properties. It also counteracts the ability of cancer cells to survive. All these factors are involved in cancer cell growth.

Indole-3-carbinol is currently available as a supplement, but researchers are also working on an improved version. In fact, the Berkeley researchers have already chemically modified the compound and boosted its activity in cell culture by at least a factor of 100.

What are you waiting for... there's no better time than now to start chomping down on those flowery and tasty vegetables!

Source: ScienceDaily; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081203092435.htm

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