Organic Agriculture Helps Fight Cancer

[Guest guest]

Organic Agriculture Helps Fight Cancer JoAnn Guest Aug 15, 2005 14:19 PDT

 

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/oahfc.php

 

Organic agriculture largely excludes synthetic inputs - pesticides,

herbicides and fertilisers – and focuses instead on long-term ecological

health. The health benefits of organic foods have now been highlighted

by new research: they are richer in anti-cancer chemicals. Prof. Joe

Cummins reports.

 

A longer, fully referenced version of this article is posted on ISIS

Members’ website . Details here .

 

Plant phenolics (flavonoids) are plant by-products believed to protect

the plant from insect predation, bacterial and fungal infection and

photo-oxidation. This same class of plant chemicals has been found to be

effective in preventing cancer and heart disease, and to combat

age-related neurological dysfunctions.

 

The main target of these plant chemicals is to protect the cell against

damage caused by active oxygen radicals. Oxygen radicals are generated

from exposure to oxygen that has in turn been activated by exposure to

radiation, heavy metal ions and chemicals. Oxygen radicals cause cancer

by damaging DNA, resulting in mutations; by activating enzymes involved

in regulating cell growth; and by promoting angiogenesis (invasion of

blood vessels into tumours to allow rapid growth of the tumour). Oxygen

radicals are also implicated in cardiovascular disease and age-related

nerve cell damage.

 

Conventional agriculture depends on heavy applications of chemical

fertilisers, frequent spraying with chemical pesticides and irrigation.

Such practices are believed to inhibit the production of flavonoids. On

the contrary, organic agriculture, which eliminates the use of synthetic

pesticides and chemical fertilizers, creates conditions favourable to

the production of health-enhancing plant flavonoids.

 

Recent research has been carried out comparing conventional with organic

and sustainable production of berries and corn; ‘sustainable’

designating farm practices that are environmentally sound. The research

showed that the plant phenolics were significantly elevated in organic

and sustainable produce compared with conventional production.

 

Earlier studies comparing organic and conventionally grown foods did not

examine plant phenolics; but found that the conventionally produced

foods had higher levels of nitrates and synthetic pesticides and

relatively less total solids than organic foods. Animals preferred

organic foods while human preferences were less clear.

 

A new report by Asami and coworkers published in the current issue of

the Journal of Agircultural and Food Chemistry provides a long list of

studies documenting the health-enhancing attributes of plant phenolics.

 

For example, the natural compounds had multiple functions in the cell.

They affect the signal-transduction pathways of cells, and can kill

cancer cells or prevent them from proliferating.

 

There are good prospects for controlling cancer growth with nutrients

and plant chemicals. Combinations of plant chemicals could enhance cure

rates for cancer when used in conjunction with standard therapies.

 

Flavonoids also show protective effects against cardiovascular disease

and cancer in some studies, though other studies indicated no effect,

and a few suggested potential harm.

 

Long-term oxidative stress contributes to nerve degradation and

age-related diseases of the nervous system such as Parkinson’s disease

and Alzheimer’s disease. And plant chemicals may be effective in

combating these age-related neurological dysfunctions.

 

A very large body of evidence thus suggests that plant phenolics,

clearly present in higher concentrations in organic than conventional

foods, are effective in the fight against cancer, heart disease and

age-related neurological dysfunction. Furthermore, there is increasing

evidence that organic agriculture gives high yields, and is more

beneficial to the environment and more sustainable.

 

All this evidence is largely denied or ignored by advocates of

genetically modified foods.

 

A longer, fully referenced version of this article is posted on ISIS

Members’ website . Details here .

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html