In Spain some 16,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year. These women might have something as simple as walnuts as their best ally. Recent research carried out at the Joan C. Edwards Marshall`s School of Medicine has linked the habitual consumption of these nuts with the reduction of this type of cancer in mice.
Other previous studies had already shown that the consumption of walnuts slows the growth of tumors thanks to its composition rich in omega-3 fatty acids, phytosterols or antioxidants. Now, the research group led by Dr. Elaine Hardman has gone one step further and compared a normal diet with a diet rich in nuts in rodents (the amount equivalent to 56 grams, a couple of handfuls, in humans).
According to Dr. Hardman, the group with a diet rich in nuts developed breast cancer at less than half the rate of the group who ate a normal diet. In addition, the number of tumors and their sizes were “significantly smaller” explained the researcher.
But not only that, but what is truly encouraging about this study is the genetic predisposition that mice had. As Hardman points out, ” This reduction [in breast cancer] is especially important considering that mice were genetically programmed to develop cancer at high rates .” This indicates that the risk of cancer can be reduced “even when there is a genetic predisposition to the mutation.”
Genetic analysis
But, how does this common dried fruit reduce this percentage of tumor development? Thanks to the genetic analysis, the study observed that the diet rich in walnuts changed the activity of multiple genes that are decisive for the development of breast cancer, both for mice and for humans. In addition to the beneficial action of omega-3, it has been shown that tumor growth decreases as the amount of vitamin E in our body increases.
For the doctor ” food is an important medicine ” because, as she explains, “it determines the functioning of the body, our reaction to illness and health”. From his point of view there is a method that really works: ” eat well, get away from the sofa and turn off the television .”
