As has been repeatedly advised and now reinforced by a study, eating your vegetables is a habit which can only lead to good things. Yet another benefit of eating vegetables like spinach and lettuce, carrots and salad vegetables, is a reduced risk of developing stomach cancer.
The study was conducted by Susanna C. Larsson from the National Institute Of Environmental Medicine of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. The team wanted to determine the link between the consumption of fruits and vegetables and the ocurrence of gastric cancer. The participants were 37,000 women and 45,000 men who were followed up for cancer incidence between 1997 and 2005. Their dietary habits were noted in the beginning of the investigation.It was recorded that 139 cases of gastric cancer developed. The research team discovered that while consumption of vegetables was linked with reduced cancer risk, eating fruits did not have the same effect.
The researchers say that eating 3 servings of salad vegetables every week, reduced cancer risk by 36% when compared to those who ate 0.5 servings or less. Root vegetables reduced the risk even more (57%).
It is thought that antoxidants such as betacarotene present in vegetables could be responsible for the cancer protection effect. Though the study does not conclude that eating vegetables will surely protect one from cancer, it does suggest a strong possibility.
The report has been published in the Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention( Oct 2006 issue).
Source-Medindia
MAL
