Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Prevent Colon Cancer by Consuming These Types of Vegetables

Although influenced by genetic and environmental factors, the risk of colon or colon cancer is also related to diet. A healthy and nutritious diet is considered to be an effective effort to prevent colon cancer.

Recently, recent research also revealed that certain types of vegetables have been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer. The types of vegetables in question are vegetables from the Brassica genus, such as broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts and cauliflower.

When the Brassica genus vegetables are digested, indole-3-carbinol (I3C) will be produced in the body. The existence of I3C is able to prevent the occurrence of colonic inflammation and colon cancer by activating a protein called aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). AhR is known to send signals to immune cells and epithelial cells in the intestinal lining.

This is known after the research team conducted a study of experimental mice that had undergone genetic engineering so they could not produce or activate AhR in their intestines. These experimental mice were divided into two groups.

In the first group, the experimental rats were left alone. In a fairly fast time, these experimental mice experienced intestinal inflammation which then led to colon cancer.

In the second group, the experimental rats were given a diet rich in I3C. As a result, these experimental mice did not experience inflammation in the intestine or colon cancer.

Then, the research team gave an I3C-rich diet to experimental mice that had already developed cancer. As a result, these mice have fewer and more benign tumors.

From these findings, the research team concluded that consumption of certain foods can play an important role in preventing the occurrence of certain cancers. In this case colon cancer.

"Seeing the great effects of diet on intestinal inflammation and colon cancer is very unusual," said lead researcher Dr. Gitta Stockinger as reported by the Independent.

Stockinger said environmental and genetic factors can still affect a person's chances of getting cancer. However, this latest research proves that a good and healthy diet can be a very effective cancer prevention effort.

"Although we cannot change genetic factors that increase our risk of cancer, we may be able to reduce this risk by applying a good diet accompanied by lots of vegetables," Stockinger said.

The research team stated that further research needs to be done. One of them is an experiment conducted on organoids made from human intestines.

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