(01-11-11) Walnuts may help lower breast cancer risk

by Michelle Bosmier


(NaturalNews) A new study conducted by a team of researchers at Marshall
University, and recently published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer, has
revealed that just modest, daily amounts of walnuts are sufficient to
significantly lower the risk of breast cancer in mice.

To test the anti-cancer properties of walnuts, the mice involved in this study
were genetically altered to develop breast cancer at an accelerated rate. The
study evaluated the effects of dieting with and without walnuts, across the
entire life-span of two tested groups of mice - one group was fed walnuts from
conception to weaning, through the mothers, and later received walnuts directly
into its daily diet, while a control group of mice was fed a regular diet,
without walnuts.

Elaine Hardman, associate professor of biochemistry at Marshall's Joan C.
Edwards School of Medicine, who led this research project, firmly believes in
the possible health benefits of foods, stating that "food is important medicine
in our diet".

What we put into our bodies makes a big difference, it determines how the body
functions, our reaction to illness and health. The simple stuff really works:
eat right, get off the couch, and turn off the TV. The results of her study
stand to support her claims: the mice that were fed small amounts of walnuts
had developed cancer at less than half the rate of the mice that had been fed a
regular diet.

Moreover, the test mice that did develop cancer eventually had much smaller
and less frequent tumors, suggesting than walnuts effectively slowed down
cancer progression, even where a genetic predisposition existed. Hardman trusts
that the walnuts' high content of omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and, more
notably, cholesterol lowering phytosterols, is to be credited for these amazing
results in mice.

Moreover, vitamin E consumption and breast cancer development seem to be
inversely proportional - the more vitamin E the mice consumed, the slower their
cancerous tumors developed. Hardman also added that the walnut amounts given to
the test group throughout the trial would equate to roughly 2 ounces of walnuts
per day for average humans.

While scientific studies such as this one cannot accurately determine whether
the health benefits documented are a direct result of something that is added
to the diet, rather than of something that is removed from it, Hardman reminds
us that additional studies conducted in the past support her hypothesis as
well.

Walnuts, especially when raw, have the highest content of antioxidants in all
known nuts, in addition to other cancer-fighting substances. At a closer look,
Hardman's research team discovered that the very gene activity of the test
mice, who were fed walnuts daily, had changed significantly in several areas
believed to be relevant to breast cancer development.

Although the information revealed by Hardman's study is, without a doubt,
gladdening, other members of the scientific community are still skeptical
regarding the extent to which such data is relevant to humans.

Numerous variables, such as smoking, pollution, physical fitness, and
lifestyle, make accurate prognoses on humans very difficult, as deputy director
of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C, Peter G.
Shields observed, reminding us that while beta-carotene may fight against
cancer in non-smokers, it is actually detrimental to the health of smokers.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/...
http://www.emaxhealth.com/1275/waln...

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