Can broccoli cure cancer?
- added July 22, 2008
- 1 response
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- LindseyIndigo
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A 79-year-old man man from Leicestershire has attributed his remission from near-fatal bladder cancer to the broccoli juice his wife has whizzed up for him every morning since his diagnosis. Could she be on to something?
Ray and Joan Wiseman claim that Cancer Research has asked for the recipe so it can investigate further. A spokeswoman at the head office of Cancer Research UK knows nothing about such a request, but does admit that broccoli is intriguing for cancer scientists because of the chemicals it contains.
Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage contain a group of phytochemicals that seem to have cancer-preventing properties. One recent study found that these substances could enhance DNA repair in cells. Another found that men who ate one daily portion of broccoli had altered patterns of gene activity in their prostates. However, it was a small study and more research is needed before anyone can say that eating broccoli lowers your chances of prostate cancer.
Mr Wiseman is among 10,000 people diagnosed with bladder cancer every year in the UK. If, as a nation, we all ate green smoothies for breakfast these numbers might well come down. But since the biggest preventable cause of bladder cancer is smoking - which causes around two in three cases in men and one in three cases in women - there are probably more straightforward places to start.
So is it - as most studies advocate - simply a case of eating a balanced diet with lots of fruit, vegetables and fibre that'll hopefully keep us healthy, rather than a lot of one magic vegetable? And if so, why do so many young people still eat a diet that consists mostly of pizza, wine and cigarettes? Do you eat any 'superfoods' that make you feel magically better when you're ill? How easy is it to simply eat healthily?
Ray and Joan Wiseman claim that Cancer Research has asked for the recipe so it can investigate further. A spokeswoman at the head office of Cancer Research UK knows nothing about such a request, but does admit that broccoli is intriguing for cancer scientists because of the chemicals it contains.
Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage contain a group of phytochemicals that seem to have cancer-preventing properties. One recent study found that these substances could enhance DNA repair in cells. Another found that men who ate one daily portion of broccoli had altered patterns of gene activity in their prostates. However, it was a small study and more research is needed before anyone can say that eating broccoli lowers your chances of prostate cancer.
Mr Wiseman is among 10,000 people diagnosed with bladder cancer every year in the UK. If, as a nation, we all ate green smoothies for breakfast these numbers might well come down. But since the biggest preventable cause of bladder cancer is smoking - which causes around two in three cases in men and one in three cases in women - there are probably more straightforward places to start.
So is it - as most studies advocate - simply a case of eating a balanced diet with lots of fruit, vegetables and fibre that'll hopefully keep us healthy, rather than a lot of one magic vegetable? And if so, why do so many young people still eat a diet that consists mostly of pizza, wine and cigarettes? Do you eat any 'superfoods' that make you feel magically better when you're ill? How easy is it to simply eat healthily?
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- LindseyIndigo
- 2 months ago
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It's not easy to eat "healthy" in our culture anymore when we are bombarded with convenience foods and a take a pill for healing everything mentality.
When back away from the man made chemicals found in our foods and prescriptions then maybe we will find a cure for cancer! What a revelation....Broccoli, maybe?-
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- delilah1234
- 2 months ago
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