Pectin may lower cancer risk

[Guest guest]

It just keeps getting better for plant eaters

It just dawned on me you NEVER read headlines that say smthg like

" Beef prevents cancer " . Always veggies and fruit in the limelight.

ps where is everybody? distressing the post count is way down??

Pectin may fuel fruits' cancer-fighting ability

Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:46pm EDT

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A complex carbohydrate called pectin may

help explain why diets rich in fruits and vegetables can lower cancer

risk, according to scientists.

In lab experiments, UK researchers found that particular components of

pectin bind to, and possibly inhibit, a protein believed to facilitate

the spread of cancer throughout the body.

The findings, published in the FASEB Journal, offer up one more reason

to get your fruits and vegetables, according to the investigators.

They also support past research suggesting that modified forms of

pectin could help battle cancer, the investigators say.

Previous research has shown that modified pectin can kill or prevent

the spread of tumor cells in the test tube, explained Gunning,

the lead researcher on the new study. These latest findings, he told

Reuters Health, point to the mechanism by which pectin may offer

cancer protection.

Gunning and his colleagues at the Institute of Food Research in

Norwich found that certain sugars in pectin bind to galectin-3, a

protein on the surface of tumor cells that helps the cells grow and

spread throughout the body.

This binding, in turn, may allow pectin to inhibit galectin-3, and

thereby slow or even reverse the spread of cancer cells, Gunning

explained.

There are still many questions, however, he said -- one being how the

body takes up the particular " bioactive fragments " within pectin.

Pectin is often used as a gelling agent in jams and jellies, but

Gunning advised against loading up on the condiments. Research has not

shown processed fruit products to be greater cancer fighters than

fresh fruit -- and, Gunning pointed out, jams and jellies are

typically high in added sugar.

" At present, " he said, " given what we know from our study and the

others, we feel that the best advice is to eat plenty of fruit and

vegetables in the likelihood that it will supply bioactive fragments

from the pectins. "

SOURCE: The FASEB Journal, online October 2, 2008.