Jam, yoghurt help fight cancer

Regular intake of Yoghurt and jam help fight cancer, experts have said.
In two separate studies, scientists declared that intake of yoghurt twice a day reduce bladder cancer risk by 45 per cent in women and 36 per cent in men just as jam prevents prostate cancer.
The study, by Dr Susanna Larsson and colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden followed 80,000 patients to see whether there were any links between their consumption of cultured milk and other dairy foods. Food intake was recorded using a food frequency questionnaire, which was completed in 1997 at the beginning of the study.
According to the findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, those who ate two servings a day were significantly less likely to go on to have the disease than those who ate yogurt only occasionally or not at all.
Intake of cheese or milk was not significantly related to risk of bladder cancer. When they analysed the results separately for smokers and non-smokers, they found that the protective effect of cultured milk products on bladder cancer was only significant in non-smokers.
The scientists said before now cultured milk products, such as yogurt, contain lactic acid bacteria, have been shown to suppress bladder cancer in rats and as such “Our research suggests a high intake (of yogurt in humans) may reduce the risk.”
Though the study suggested that yoghurt may have a role to play in the development of bladder cancer, it is not yet clear which component of yoghurt might be responsible, or if the effect is due to other related dietary or environmental components, which may themselves be linked to yoghurt eating.
A new weapon against cancer could be found in a jar of jam due to a basic ingredient it contains according to researchers in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology journal.
The research, led by Professor Vic Morris from the Institute of Food Research said, that under the right condition, jam releases a modified pectin fragment with anti-cancer properties. Pectin is a natural gelling agent made from the peel of citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons.
Professor Morris, however explained: “I expect you would get some protection from jam, but it’s packed full of sugar. It might be better to get the same protection from fruit and vegetables which would give you other anti-cancer magic bullets as well.”
Experts began to see pectin as a potential weapon in the fight against cancer last year when a study revealed that it might help slow the progress of prostate cancer.
That study, published by a team from the University of Georgia in the journal Glycobiology, found that exposing prostate cancer cells to pectin under laboratory conditions reduced the number of cells by up to 40 per cent. Cancer is a complex disease with many risk factors. There are a number of questions that remain unanswered about the effects of pectin. Firstly, whether or not pectin has any effect on cancer in humans and, secondly, what the best dietary sources of the right kinds of pectin are.
A team from the university’s cancer centre found that the cells literally “self-destructed” in a process known as apoptosis. Pectin even killed cells that were not sensitive to hormone therapy. Nutritionists already hail jam as an ideal snack to replace lost energy after a workout. The fast-releasing sugars help to get glycogen back into muscles quickly and efficiently.