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Journalism of Courage
It is a research that counters conventional thinking about the link between alcohol use and colon cancer — drinking half a goblet of red wine a day could prevent colon cancer.
Researchers have carried out a study and found that a diet rich in grapes, that is red wine, contains an ingredient called resveratrol, which blocks a chemical pathway that helps prevent colon cancer.
“This is truly exciting, because it suggests that substances in grapes can block a key intracellular signalling pathway involved in the development of colon cancer before a tumour develops,” lead researcher Dr Randall Holcombe was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying.
Holcombe and his fellow researchers at the University of California came to the conclusion after studying a number of patients who were diagnosed with colon cancer. One group was given 20 milligrams daily of resveratrol as a pill; another drank 120 gm daily grape powder mixed in water daily; and a third drank 80 gm grape powder daily.
While the supplements did not have an impact on existing tumours, the team found that biopsied colon tissue showed the patients taking 80 gm of grape powder reduced the inter cell signals needed for tumours to spread.
However, the researchers could not ascertain why the lower dose of grape powder was more effective than the higher one. They believe that the active components in the grapes may have different effects at low dose than they do at high dose, which is a fairly common finding in nutrition studies.
The researchers hope that as well as preventing cancer, the discovery could lead to new therapies for those suffering from the third most common form of cancer.
