Chlorophyll in Leafy Greens (Barley) Help Prevent Cancer

The dietary advice to eat your greens in nothing new. Most people have mothers who reminded them to eat their vegetables since childhood. The dietary advice is not new, but researchers have discovered another reason to eat salads and leafy greens. LLNL researchers Graham Bench and Ken Tuteltaub found that small doses of chlorophyll, found in green leafy vegetables, could help to neutralize certain cancer causing toxins in the system.

Researchers found the giving a person a small dose of chlorophyll (Chia) or chlorophyllin (CHL) could reverse the effects of aflatoxin poisoning that could cause cancer. Chlorophyll is found in green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, broccoli and kale.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, LLNL, researchers Graham Bench and Ken Turteltaub, found that the chlorophyll found in leafy green vegetables could reverse the effects of antitoxin poisoning. Aflatoxis is a potent carcinogenic mycotoxin associated with the growth of mold, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus.

Foods that often contain this toxin include corn, corn products, cottonseed, peanuts, peanuts products, tree nuts and mild. The researchers, working with colleagues from Oregon State University and Cephalon Inc, found the greens have potential to be chemo preventive, meaning that they can help to prevent cancer.

Cancer causing elements in the environment, environmental carcinogens, are believed to contribute to a majority of human cancers. These carcinogens related to lifestyle factors are ofter related to lifestyle factors, including tobacco use and diet. Notable examples are the carcinogens related to tobacco use and smoking, cooking meats at high temperatures and fungal food contaminants called aflatoxins.

“The Chla and CHL treatment each significantly reduced aflatoxin absorption and bioavailability,” Graham Bench stated in a press release from LLNL.

“What makes this study unique among prevention trials is, that we were able to administer a microdose of radio-labeled aflatoxin to assess the actions of the carcinogen directly in people. There was no extrapolation from animal models which often are wrong,” Ken Turteltaub stated in a press release from LLNL.

The research, which is co-funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Resource for Biomedical Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, appeared in the December issue of the journal, Cancer Prevention Research

source: huliq.com