By IANS,
Washington : An unbelievably easy way of keeping prostrate cancer at bay is to eat broccoli every week, according to the latest research.
An Institute of Food Research group, based in Norway, led by Richard Mithen, has explained how it might reduce cancer risk.
Participants over the age of 50, more likely to develop prostate cancer, ate either 400 gm of broccoli or 400 gm of peas per week over and above their diet for 12 months.
Tissue samples were lifted from their prostate gland before the trial and after six and 12 months.
Those who followed a broccoli-rich diet were found to have more changes in gene expression than those who took pea diet. These changes are possibly associated with the reduction in the risk of developing cancer.
This study fills the gap between observational studies and studies with cell and animal models.
While observational studies have shown that diets rich in cruciferous vegetables may reduce the risk of prostate cancer and other chronic disease, they do not provide an explanation of how this occurs.
The results of the study suggested that relatively low amounts of cruciferous vegetables — a few portions per week — can have large effects on gene expression by changing cell signalling pathways.
The findings of the study have been published in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.