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.gif) Beet
Pigments May Help Prevent Cancer
Source:
globaltechnoscan.com
Nothing conveys the
hue of extreme anger or embarrassment like the red of beets. Now, a new finding
suggests beet red may signify something else: cancer protection.
A team of researchers led by UW-Madison food scientist Kirk Parkin has shown
that beet pigments may boost levels of proteins, called phase II enzymes, that
help detoxify potential cancer-causing substances and purge them from the body.
In a study published in the Nov. 6 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food
Chemistry, the team tested four color varieties of beets: white, orange, red and
dark red. Only extracts from the red beets triggered higher levels of the
protective enzymes.
"It turns out that the active fraction [of beet extract] is highly enriched
in red beet pigments," called betalains, says Parkin. "But the
fraction contains multiple pigments, so if a specific pigment is responsible for
the effect, we don't know what it is yet."
The group demonstrated the effect by using a well-established mouse liver cell
assay that models human liver function. The National Institutes of Health
endorses the assay as one of 12 principal techniques for screening possible new
cancer preventive agents.
Preventive is the key word, Parkin emphasizes. "Elevating phase II enzyme
levels is useful in preventing the initial stages of carcinogenesis, but not in
treating the effects of cancer that has been allowed to progress."
Parkin's next needs to show that beet pigments can be absorbed by the body in
sufficient amounts to protect against cancer. In support of this possibility, he
points out that roughly 15 percent of people naturally absorb large amounts of
betalains - a harmless condition that announces itself in the form of dark red
urine.
Alarming as beet red urine may sound, it's a promising phenomenon. "It
means that when beet pigments are absorbed, they aren't transformed
metabolically by the body," Parkin says. "So the [phase II
enzyme-inducing] agent we've tested in the assay is going to be the same one
present in the body."
A patent application covering Parkin's discovery has been filed by the Wisconsin
Alumni Research Foundation, the patent management agency of the UW-Madison.
Contact: Kirk Parkin; (608) 263-2011
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