Fruits, Vegetables And Teas May Protect Smokers From Lung Cancer, Researchers Report

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Fruits,

Vegetables And Teas May Protect Smokers From Lung Cancer, Researchers Report

ScienceDaily (May 31, 2008)

— Tobacco smokers who eat three servings of fruits and vegetables per day

and drink green or black tea may be protecting themselves from lung cancer,

according to a first-of-its-kind study by UCLA cancer researchers.

 

UCLA

researchers found that smokers who ingested high levels of natural chemicals

called flavonoids in their diet had a lower risk of developing lung cancer, an

important finding since more than 90 percent of lung cancers are caused by

tobacco smoking.

 

The study

was published recently in the journal Cancer.

 

" What

we found was extremely interesting, that several types of flavonoids are

associated with a reduced risk of lung cancer among smokers, " said Dr.

Zuo-Feng Zhang, a researcher at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer

Center and a professor of

public health and epidemiology. " The findings were especially interesting

because tobacco smoking is the major risk factor for lung cancer. "

 

Flavonoids

are water-soluble plant pigments that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory

properties, both of which can counteract damage to tissues. For the UCLA study,

researchers looked at 558 people with lung cancer and 837 people who did not

have lung cancer and analyzed their dietary history.

 

Researchers

found that study participants who ate foods containing certain flavonoids

seemed to be protected from developing lung cancer. Zhang said the flavonoids

that appeared to be the most protective included catechin, found in

strawberries and green and black teas, kaempferol, found in Brussels sprouts

and apples, and quercetin, found in beans, onions and apples.

 

So should

smokers run out and stock up on the teas, apples, beans and strawberries?

Quitting smoking is the best course of action, Zhang said, but eating more

fruits and vegetables and drinking more black and green teas won't hurt.

 

" Since

this study is the first of its type, I would usually be hesitant to make any recommendations

to people about their diet, " Zhang said. " We really need to have

several larger studies with similar results to confirm our finding. However,

it's not a bad idea for everyone to eat more fruits and vegetables and drink

more tea. "

 

Zhang

said flavonoids protect against lung cancer by blocking the formation of blood

vessels that tumors develop so they can grow and spread, a process called

angiogenesis. They also stop cancer cells from growing, allowing for naturally

programmed cell death, or apoptosis, to occur.

 

The

antioxidant properties found in the flavonoids also may work to counteract the

DNA damaging effects of tobacco smoking, Zhang said, explaining why they

affected the development of lung cancer in smokers but not in non-smokers.

 

" The

naturally occurring chemicals may be working to reduce the damage caused by

smoking, " Zhang said.

The next

step, Zhang said, are laboratory-based studies of flavonoids on cell lines and

animal models to determine how they are protecting smokers from developing lung

cancer. And in addition to larger studies to confirm these findings, other

studies need to be done to see if the protective effects of flavonoids extend

to other smoking-related cancers, such as bladder, head and neck and kidney

cancers.

 

Zhang and

his team also plan to study which types of fruits and vegetables have the

highest levels of the flavonoids found to be helpful in this study and what the

optimal number of servings per day might be to provide the greatest protection.

 

 

 

Adapted from materials provided by University of

California - Los Angeles, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

 

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