Secrets of olive oil uncovered
Compounds found in extra-virgin olive oil could be used to combat breast cancer, according to a study.
Plant chemicals gathered from olive oil were found to suppress the breast cancer-promoting gene HER2. Scientists say this may explain why olive-rich Mediterranean diets appear to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Extra-virgin olive oil is made from pressing olives without the use of heat or chemical treatments. This process leaves intact plant chemicals that are lost when the oil is made into lower grades.
The chemicals, known as "polyphenols", cause cells with overactive HER2 to self destruct through a process called apoptosis.
In normal circumstances, apoptosis naturally helps to clear away defective and dangerous cells that might turn cancerous.
But the lead researchers Dr Javier Menendez, from the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Girona, and Dr Antonio Segura-Carretero, from the University of Granada, Spain, warned that the findings should be treated with caution, saying that the natural consumption of olive oil would not reproduce the results of the findings.
Copyright © Press Association 2008
Related posts:
- Quality olive oil ‘can fight cancer’
- GREEN & BLACK’S SHOWS SUPPORT FOR BREAST CANCER WITH LOGO BAR
- CADBURY AND ASDA GO PINK FOR BREAST CANCER CAMPAIGN
- OLIVE BRANCH LAUNCHES NEW LOW ACIDITY OLIVE OIL
- I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S NOT CHEDDAR GOES PINK FOR BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
- Meat linked to prostate cancer
- MORNFLAKE LAUNCHES NEW CERALS IN PINK PACKAGING TO SUPPORT BREAST CANCER CARE
- DANISCO AND ARLA RESEARCHING MOTHERS MILK
