Eating baked purple potatoes is discovered to fight cancer
What are the chances of people including a cancer-fighting food into their diet? The number may be small considering that one must determine which foods contain such benefit. Fortunately, there is a long list of anti-cancer foods available and one of them is the purple potato.
According to Penn State News, baked purple potatoes are discovered by researchers to contain compounds that can help kill colon cancer stem cells and minimize the spread of the cancer. The superfood that originally comes from South America is packed with antioxidants that kills tumors. The discovery is supported by the United States Department of Agriculture.
And since potatoes are usually consumed baked, the scientists from Pennsylvania State University baked their purple potatoes for the experiment. They wanted to prove that the anti-cancer properties of the purple-fleshed potato were retained even after cooking. They then tested it on mice with colon cancer by feeding them whole baked purple potatoes. The data gathered showed significant results.
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The purple potato ceased the growth of bowel cancers by targeting their "master" stem cells. As noted in Mirror UK, Prof. Jairam Vanamala of PSU stated that there is a starch found in the potato that has the ability to boost the immune function in the gut. They found out in their study that "the butyric acid regulates immune function in the gut, suppresses chronic inflammation and may also help to cause cancer cells to self-destruct."
Vanamala also added that the compounds that provide fruits and vegetable their different, vibrant colors could all be potent in decreasing cancer growth. With significant results from mice, the team's next step is to test the effectivity of purple potatoes on humans. They recommend that people consume a medium size purple potato for lunch and dinner or one large potato per day, as noted in CTV News.
