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13.04.2020

Eating a few raw carrots every week reduces your risk of colon cancer

For quite some time now we have been immersed in the wonderful world of polyacetylenes, a group of health-improving compounds in carrots, parsnips and related vegetables that scientists have long overlooked. Perhaps these substances may explain the scope of an epidemiological study, which Danish researchers recently published in Nutrients. According to that study, people can lower their risk of colon cancer if they eat 2 to 4 raw carrots a week.

Study
The researchers followed 57,053 Danes from the mid-1990s until 2016. When the study started, the researchers used questionnaires to map out the diet of their study participants.

Results
There was a link between colon cancer and carrots, but it only related to the consumption of raw carrots. Boiled carrots and carrot juice - probably mostly commercially available carrot juice, not homemade carrot juice - did not protect against colon cancer.

Study participants who consumed more than 2 to 4 raw carrots a week were significantly less likely to develop colon cancer than Danes who consumed less raw carrots.

The association between carrot consumption and colon cancer remained statistically significant after the researchers brushed away all the factors they could think of.

The researchers suspect that the protective effect of carrota is caused by polyacetylenes such as falcarinol and falcarindiol, which inhibit cancer in both in vitro and animal studies. In most Western countries, carrots are the main food source of polyacetylenes. However, less popular vegetables, such as cellery, fennel and parsnip, contain more polyacetylenes.

Conclusion
"The results of this prospective cohort study clearly support the results from studies in cancer-primed rats for colorectal cancer and hence a colorectal cancer-preventive effect of carrots", the researchers summarize.

This is getting more and more interesting. More coming soon.

Source:
Nutrients. 2020;12(2):332.

More:
Animal study | Stronger evidence of anti-cancer effect of carrots 12.04.2020
Polyacetylenes, the lesser known cancer inhibitors in carrot, celery and parsnip 30.03.2020
Diet with lots of carrots (and pumpkins and peppers) reduces colorectal cancer risk 30.03.2020

Archives:
Cancer Prevention & Survival
Colon Cancer
Carrots

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