The humble green, parsley, that is used for garnish is suddenly the star of your dinner plate.? Recent research shows that apigenin - a compound in parsley and celery - can stop certain breast cancer tumor cells from multiplying and growing.? Apigenin doesn't prevent breast cancer from developing, but it can prevent tumor angiogenesis by blocking synthetic progestin.
Dr. Salman Hyder, who studies tumor angiogenesis in lab animals, found that rats with breast cancer grew fewer breast tumors if they consumed parsley, celery, apples, oranges and nuts containing apigenin.? The rats in this study had also been exposed to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) - synthetic hormones prescribed to relieve symptoms of menopause.? About 10 million women in America take HRT.? Dr Hyder said, "We know that certain synthetic hormones used in HRT accelerate breast tumor development. In our study, we exposed the rats to one of the chemicals used in the most common HRTs received in the United States - a progestin called medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) - which also happens to be the same synthetic hormone that accelerates breast tumor development."
Breast tumors need a blood supply and nutrients to maintain themselves and to grow.? Tumors can hijack your blood supply by creating their own system of blood vessels, diverting the circulation of life-giving food and oxygen to healthy tissue.? Once a steady stream of nutrition for tumors is established, their growth and spread are harder to combat.? Oncologists use Avastin (Bevacizumab), a targeted biological therapy, in combination with chemotherapy drugs, to prevent tumor angiogenesis.
So how much of that curly green garnish should we be eating?? Dr. Hyder explains that we don't absorb apigenin very efficiently from just eating parsley and celery.? He plans to do further study on the amount of apigenin that would be effective.? For now, he says, "However, it appears that keeping a minimal level of apigenin in the bloodstream is important to delay the onset of breast cancer that progresses in response to (synthetic) progestins such as MPA (medroxyprogesterone acetate). It's probably a good idea to eat a little parsley and some fruit every day to ensure the minimal amount."? Dr Hyder's study was published recently in Cancer Prevention Research.
Some easy ways to get a daily dose of parsley or celery would be to have a dish of tabouli (you get a bonus of whole grains!), pasta with fresh walnut parsley pesto, or a beautiful serving of omega-3 rich parsley-crusted salmon. However you slice it or serve it, parsley and other foods that contain anti-cancer apigenin should become part of your diet for prevention of breast cancer.
No comments:
Post a Comment