Red coloured fruits and vegetables are a great treat to eyes- Bright red
cherries, glazing red cabbages,lovely beetroots,red rubies in Pome .All these fruits and vegetables have great potential in fighting cancer.
Do you know from where all the red come from?
All
deep red or bright pink fruits and vegetables that red and bright pink
fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals, such as lycopene and
anthocyanins. Phytochemicals , substances found only in plants, help your body
fight disease and promote good health. But extensive nutrition researches have
shown that red coloured fruits and veggies can fight cancer in a great way.
So what is special in red coloured fruits and veggies?
The red colour
of fruits and vegetables such as tomato, watermelon, or grapefruit, is due to
the compound lycopene (also belonging to the carotenoids, like α- and
β-carotene), and the red-purple colour of grapes, berries, raspberries and
cranberries is caused by anthocyanin.
Lycopene is one of the
first carotenoids that occur during the synthesis of this family of compounds,
thus constituting the base to synthesize the others. Unlike α- and β-carotene,
lycopene is not a vitamin A precursor. Anthocyanins belong to
the biggest group of phenolic compounds, called flavonoids. Anthocyanins have
antioxidant properties that have been demonstrated in both in vitro and in
vivo experiments. It has also been suggested that anthocyanins are
very important in preventing carcinogenesis and mutagenesis.
How does Lycopene fight cancer?
Lycopene
is an antioxidant compound that gives tomatoes and certain other fruits and
vegetables their color. Watermelons,
pink grapefruits, and tomato-based products such as spaghetti sauce, tomato
paste, and tomato juice are all good sources of lycopene. A major claim for lycopene's benefits is
in the prevention and treatment of cancers of the lung, prostate, stomach,
bladder, cervix, skin, and, especially, prostate.
In support of these claims
regarding cancer, proponents note that lycopene is a powerful antioxidant, a
compound that blocks the action of free radicals, activated oxygen molecules
that can damage cells, and that several scientific studies have found lower
risk of cancer among people who eat lycopene-rich foods.
Tomatoes
are the most concentrated food source of lycopene, although apricots, guava,
watermelon, papaya, and pink grapefruit are also significant sources. Studies
that looked at lycopene levels in the blood found that levels were higher after
people ate cooked tomatoes than after they ate raw tomatoes or drank tomato
juice. This suggests that lycopene in cooked tomato products such as tomato
sauce or paste may be more readily absorbed by the body than lycopene in raw
tomatoes.
Eating lycopene-rich vegetables and fruits together with a small
amount of oil or fat (for example, salad oil or cheese on pizza) increases the
amount of lycopene absorbed by the intestines.So Tomato Chutney has better
Lycopene available than tomato salad.
There
have been several experimental studies on the role of lycopene in preventing or
treating cancer. One animal study found that lycopene treatment reduced the
growth of brain tumors. Another animal study showed that frequent intake of
lycopene over a long period of time considerably suppressed breast tumor growth
in mice. But breast cancer in humans is very different from breast cancer in mice,
and those results may not apply to the disease in humans. There has been a
human study that assigned men at high risk for prostate cancer to take an
ordinary multivitamin either with or without a lycopene supplement. .
How
do Anthocyanin fight cancer?
Anthocyanins are plentiful in plant foods, providing the bright red-orange to blue-violet colors of many fruits and vegetables. These compounds occur naturally in plants in the form of glycosides, in which an anthocyanidin molecule is paired with a sugar. The part of the pigment that exists free of sugar (generically known as aglycone) is called an anthocyanidin.
Other red fruits and vegetables, such as strawberries, raspberries, and beets contain anthocyanins (pronounced an-tho-SIGH-uh-nins), a group of phytochemicals that are powerful antioxidants that help control high blood pressure and protect against diabetes-related circulatory.
They are also most abundant in berries (eg, black currants, elderberries, blueberries, strawberries) and their juices, and in red and purple grapes, red wine, sweet cherries, eggplants, black plums, blood oranges, and red cabbage.
Plants produce anthocyanins as a protective mechanism against environmental stressors, such as ultraviolet light, cold temperatures, and drought. This production of anthocyanins in roots, stems, and especially leaf tissues is believed to provide resistance against these environmental hazard.
Laboratory studies that used a variety of cancer cells have indicated that anthocyanins not only act as antioxidants, they also activate detoxifying enzymes; prevent cancer cell proliferation; induce cancer cell death (apoptosis); have anti-inflammatory effects; have antiangiogenesis effects .They inhibit the formation of new blood vessels that encourage tumor growth); prevent cancer cell invasion; and induce differentiation (the more differentiated the cancer cell, the less likely it is to grow and spread).
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"There are thousands of health promoting phytochemicals found in plants and
that's why it's so important to eat a wide variety of colorful orange, red,
green, white, and blue fruits and vegetables every day,"says Dr. DiSogra. By
eating fruits and vegetables from each color group, you will benefit from the
unique array of phytochemicals, as well as essential vitamins, minerals, and
fiber that each color group has to offer.
So are you going red today? .
