Study confirms the antitumor effects of pomegranates
(Natural News) Unhealthy lifestyle habits
like eating unhealthy foods, physical inactivity, smoking, and drinking alcohol
continue to contribute to the high incidence of cancer worldwide. The World Health Organization
estimates that cancer will account for more
than 9.6 million deaths this year. Nearly 70 percent of cancer-related
mortality cases happen in low- and middle-income countries since they have
limited access to conventional cancer treatments, which tend to be very
expensive. Moreover, conventional treatments like chemotherapy and radiation
are often ineffective and can even contribute to the rise of resistant
cancer cells that are hard to eliminate. Because of this, more and more
researchers are now turning to nature for better remedies against cancer.
One
of the natural products that have shown potential
use as alternative treatments to cancer is the pomegranate (Punica granatum) fruit.
Countless studies have looked into the anticancer potential of pomegranate.
However, it wasn’t until recently that researchers from Brazil were able to
observe pomegranate’s anticancer properties in an in vivo study. Their
findings, which were published in the Journal
of Medicinal Plants Research, included the potential systemic
effects of pomegranate, which were not evaluated in previous in vitro studies.
Pomegranate
fruit has long been used as a traditional remedy for
health problems such as sore throats, coughs, urinary tract
infections, digestive disorders, skin disorders, and arthritis. With the
current advancements in science, researchers were able to identify the
bioactive compounds in the fruit that are potentially involved in these
applications. They found that pomegranates are rich in tannins
like punicalagin, punicalin, gallic acid, ellagic acid, and ellagic acid
derivatives. Existing publications also attribute the healing, antimicrobial,
chemopreventive, and antitumor effects of pomegranates to these compounds.
In
this study, the researchers improved upon previous studies assessing
the anticancer properties of pomegranates by conducting an in
vivo study involving male Swiss mice that were transplanted with sarcoma
tumor cells. The mice were treated with either aqueous pomegranate
extracts or 5-fluorouracil, which is a conventional cancer treatment.
After eight days, the researchers observed that both treatments significantly
increased the number of apoptotic cancer cells. This indicates that
pomegranates work against cancer by inducing programmed cell death, which will
then signal immune cells to eliminate them without triggering an inflammatory
response.
Aside
from being effective, cancer treatments
should also be safe for healthy cells in the body. To determine if the
treatments used in the study have unwanted toxic effects, the researchers
conducted hematological, biochemical, histopathological, and morphological
analyses of the tumor and organs. They found that mice treated with
5-fluorouracil suffered from a loss in body weight, spleen atrophy, and a
reduced number of white blood cells, which indicate toxic effects. On the
contrary, pomegranate-treated mice did not exhibit any signs of toxicity,
proving that it is safe for use.
Overall,
this study proves that pomegranate extracts are effective against cancer and
are much safer than conventional treatments. (Related: Pomegranates
are some of the best foods you can eat to prevent cancer.)
Other health benefits of pomegranates
If
you’re still not convinced that you should eat pomegranates, here are some other
health benefits that you can enjoy from eating this superfood.
- Improving heart health — Pomegranates enhance blood flow throughout the body by reducing inflammation of blood vessels and preventing the formation of cholesterol blocks that can hinder the passage of blood.
- Boosting immune functions — The antibacterial and antimicrobial properties of pomegranates work great against pathogens that attack your immune system. Studies have shown that among all fruits with antimicrobial properties, pomegranates are the best in preventing HIV transmission.
- Promoting wound healing — The different nutrients found in pomegranates encourage the regeneration of cells involved in wounds to speed up the healing process. Moreover, it is also effective in protecting the skin from damage caused by sun exposure.
For
more articles about natural products with anticancer properties,
visit Anticancer.news.
.
..
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.