| Mangos In a 2001 study at the University of Florida indicated that mangos do in fact have the ability to fight off cancer.
Two very potent antioxidants called carotenoids and phenolic compounds found in mangos can protect cells from being damaged by free radicals. When cells are damaged they can become cancerous, said Susan Percival, a University of Florida Nutrition and Immunity Specialist.
In her study a series of cancer tests were conducted in which mouse cells were exposed to a carcinogen, a substance that is capable of causing cancer, then treated with carotenoid or phenolic compounds. Both of these antioxidants resulted in fewer cancerous cells However, the phenolic resulted in less cells developing cancer than the carotenoids.
“We can’t say these compounds from mangos are going to prevent cancer in humans because those studies haven’t been done, but what we can say about the mango is that it contains potent antioxidants, and it would be a good part of a healthy diet," Susan said. “Every American has heard the message that five servings of fruits and vegetables a day are important to one’s health, this is some more evidence that a particular fruit has cancer-fighting capabilities.”
If mangos are what you're craving, you will be delighted to know that they are found in some of your favorite Wholefood Farmacy foods including Fruitalicious, Fruitalicious Plus, and TropiPhi. Pecans Pecans have it all. Besides being one of the most elegant, versatile and rich-tasting nuts you can put on your plate, they offer up a package of health benefits that’s very impressive. In fact, the 2005 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommend eating 4 to 5 servings of nuts each week.
The Mayo Clinic conducted a study which found that all nuts are nutrient dense and naturally cholesterol free. Not only are nuts cholesterol free but, studies have suggested that eating pecans may help reduce LDL cholesterol levels, leading to a reduction in the risk of heart attacks and coronary artery disease. The serving size for nuts is about one ounce, which equals about 15 pecan halves. Pecans are a great staple for vegetarians, because one serving of pecans can take the place of the protein found in an ounce of meat.
Pecans are also a rich source of oleic acid, the same type of fatty acid found in olive oil. Researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago recently found in laboratory tests that oleic acid has the ability to suppress the activity of a gene in cells thought to trigger breast cancer. While this area of study is still in its early stages, the researchers say it could eventually translate into a recommendation to eat more foods rich in oleic acid, like pecans and olive oil.
Researchers from Loma Linda University in California and New Mexico State University in Las Cruces , New Mexico , have confirmed that when pecans are part of the daily diet, levels of “bad” cholesterol in the blood drop. Pecans get their cholesterol-lowering ability from both the type of fat they contain and the presence of beta-sitosterol, a natural cholesterol-lowering compound. Eating 1 ½ ounces of pecans a day, when its part of a heart-healthy diet, can reduce the risk of heart disease. Moreover, a study published in the June 2004 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that pecans, hazelnuts, and walnuts contained the highest antioxidant levels of all nuts tested.
The same natural compound that gives pecans its cholesterol-lowering power, has also been shown to be effective in treating the symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland in men. About two ounces of pecans provides a dose of beta-sitosterol found to be effective. In addition, a recent laboratory study from Purdue University found that gamma-tocopherol, the type of vitamin E found in pecans, has the ability to kill prostate cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. Last but not least, despite the widely held belief that “nuts are fattening,” several population studies have found that as nut consumption increased, body fat actually decreased.
Pecans can be found in many of your favorite Wholefood Farmacy foods including Phi Plus, Cornaborealis, Corn of Plenty and your favorite Farinas.
Tomatoes!
Scientists are suggesting that tomato lovers may be more likely to reduce the risk of serious disease. Lycopene, an anti oxidant which gives tomatoes their lovely rich red color, helps remove free radicals from the body. Free radicals are unstable oxygen molecules and have been implicated in cancer and other serious diseases.
Professor Michael Avirim of the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel who is testing lycopene in clinical trials says, ' In its natural form, lycopene is an excellent anti oxidant that helps to prevent formation of oxidized LDL, the 'bad' cholesterol in blood, which contributes to the build up of plaque that narrows, stiffens and constricts arteries and can lead to heart attacks. When this natural extract was added to cancer cell cultures, the lycopene inhibited their growth. Lycopene is the most potent nutritional antioxidant found to date.
Another study compared men who had had a heart attack with the same number of healthy men and found that those with high levels of lycopene appeared to reduce their risk of heart diseases by 50%. The study’s coordinator, Lenore Kohlmeier, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the university of North Carolina, said, 'Based on our findings, and other research, lycopene can be an excellent antioxidant, we recommend that people eat tomato based cooked foods.
Several recent studies have shown that a diet rich in tomatoes and tomato products is strongly linked to a reduced risk of certain cancers. In a six year study of 48,000 male professionals, Dr Edward Giovannucci and colleagues at Harvard Medical School found that consuming tomatoes and tomato based products between five to seven serving a week was associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer of 21% to 34%.
Another study published in the International Journal of Cancer said that lycopene appears to protect against cancer of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum. Researchers at the University of Illinois report that women with the highest lycopene levels had a five fold lower risk of developing precancerous signs of cervical cancer than women with lowest lycopene levels.
The human body does not produce lycopene alone and therefore relies on a consumption of tomatoes and tomato based products for this anti oxidant. Nutritionists and other health professionals have long advocated the cancer preventative benefits of a diet high in fruits and vegetables.
Lycopene: Just The Facts
Research by Dr. Joseph Levy and colleagues from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, may have identified the unique mechanism through which lycopene protects against cancer which is by activating cancer-preventive phase II enzymes.
Lycopene is an open-chain unsaturated carotenoid that imparts red color to tomatoes.
Lycopene is a proven anti-oxidant that may lower the risk of certain diseases including cancer and heart disease.
In the body, lycopene is deposited in the liver, lungs, prostate gland, colon and skin. Its concentration in body tissues tends to be higher than all other carotenoids.
Epidemiological studies have shown that high intake of lycopene-containing vegetables is inversely associated with the incidence of certain types of cancer. For example, habitual intake of tomato products has been found to decrease the risk of cancer of the digestive tract among Italians.
In one six-year study by Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, the diets of more than 47,000 men were studied. Of 46 fruits and vegetables evaluated, only the tomato products (which contain large quantities of lycopene) showed a measurable relationship to reduce prostate cancer risk. As consumption of tomato products increased, levels of lycopene in the blood increased, and the risk for prostate cancer decreased. The study also showed that the heat processing of tomatoes and tomato products increases Lycopene bioavailability.
Ongoing research suggests that lycopene can reduce the risk of macular degenerative disease, serum lipid oxidation and cancers of the lung, bladder, cervix and skin.
The Wholefood Farmacy’s Farmacy Gourmet V-6 Creamy Tomato Soup is quick and easy taking only a minute to prepare. Handcrafted using the finest whole food ingredients, our V-6 Tomato Soup is made from Tomatoes, Brown Rice, Soy Beans, Oats, Onions, Dill Weed & Stardust Pure Salt. If you haven’t tasted it, you don’t know what you’re missing. Prunes Prunes are a good source of fiber and have long been recognized as a nutrient-rich fruit with multiple health benefits. But according to a recent study from Tufts University in Boston, prunes may also help slow the aging process in both the body and brain. The study ranked the antioxidant value of commonly eaten fruits and vegetables using an analysis called ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity). Prunes topped the list with more than twice the antioxidant capacity as other high-scoring fruits such as blueberries and raisins.
ORAC is a test tube analysis that measures the total antioxidant power of foods and other chemical substances. Early findings suggest that this same antioxidant activity translates to animals, protecting cells and their components from oxidative damage.
"If these studies are borne out in further research, young and middle-aged people may be able to reduce their risk of diseases of aging “including senility” simply by adding high antioxidant foods to their diets," said Floyd P. Horn, administrator of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, in Beltsville, Md.
The role of fruits and vegetables in health promotion and disease prevention may also be related to nutrients, other than the vitamins, minerals and fiber, found in these plant-based foods. In addition to well-known antioxidant vitamins A and C and beta-carotene, there are over 1,800 other biologically active compounds that have been identified in foods. Research is just beginning to identify these nutrients and to describe their activity in the human body; however, many are believed to offer the protective benefits of antioxidants. |
