An apple a day plus a veggie-intensive diet are the stars of new cancer prevention studies.
A chemical in apples helped prevent colon cancer in laboratory and animal studies, reports lead researcher Francis Raul, PhD, research director of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research in Strasbourg, France.
Three or more servings of vegetables a day -- potatoes not included -- reduced risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma by 40%, says lead researcher Linda Kelemen, RD, ScD, with the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
** Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma occurs when cells in the lymph nodes -- small organs that help fight off infection -- divide and grow out of control.
"It's been estimated that up to one-third of cancers are related to food we eat. ... That's a lot of preventable cancers," Kelemen said in a news teleconference held today. Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables protect the body from damaging free radicals "like rust-proofing your car."
Apples and Cancer Prevention
In the apple studies, Raul first exposed cancer cells to various antioxidants found in apples. They found that one type of antioxidant, called procyanidins, triggered a series of cell signals that resulted in cancer cell death.
The finding "suggests that eating the whole apple, including the skin, might offer some [cancer prevention] benefits," says Raul.
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