Apples Protect Rats Against Colon Cancer

Scoop Report: Scientists have discovered that antioxidants found in apples may block colon cancer cell growth and kill potential cancer cells.

A study of the Institute for Cancerous Diseases of the Intestinal Tract in Strasbourg concludes that the consumption of apples could contribute to the prophylaxis of colon cancer. Study author Francis Raul explains that apples contain antioxidants, which stem the cell growth and kill potential cancer cells.

Lab rats were subjected to a substance that triggers colon cancer. Researchers then mixed a substance extracted from apples into the drinking water of one group of rats.

After six weeks the scientists detected less preliminary phases to colon cancer in this group of rats than in the second test group which had received normal water. The amounts the rats received would correspond to the daily consumption of two apples in humans, said Raul.

To draw the conclusion that the daily consumption of two apples is enough to protect oneself against colon cancer was however not proven. Other factors have to be considered, for example, the nourishment or the potential consumption of tobacco. The study is soon going to be published in the professional journal “Carcinogenesis”.

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