Walnuts inhibit the growth of prostate cancer tumors
A new study shows that walnuts reduce the growth rate of prostate cancer tumors in mice.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and the Western Regional Research Center in Albania have found in recent studies that eating walnuts both slows the progression of prostate cancer in mice and has beneficial effects on multiple growth control genes associated with tuberculosis.
The study was conducted by Paul Davis, a nutritionist in the Department of Nutrition and a researcher at the Davis Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, where the results were presented at the annual National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Dr. Davis stated that the findings of this study provide further scientific evidence that walnuts, although high in fat, are good for health.
This study shows that when mice with prostate cancer tumors consume large amounts of walnuts, which can be easily and safely consumed by men, tumor growth is controlled, said Dr. Davis.
Davis added: This finding made me very hopeful because the result of walnut consumption in patients can be useful and beneficial.
Statistics show that one in six men in the United States has prostate cancer. This cancer is one of the diseases in which environmental factors, especially diet, play an important role in its occurrence. Several clinical studies have shown that eating walnuts reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease because it is rich in omega-3s, unsaturated polyunsaturated fats, antioxidants and other phytochemicals. But in this study, for the first time, the effect of consuming this edible plant brain against prostate cancer was determined.
Dr. Davis fed walnut kernels to mice infected with prostate cancer through genetic modification. After 18 weeks, Davis found that consuming the same amount of walnuts as a human’s daily intake of 2.4 ounces in mice significantly reduced the size and growth rate of cancerous tumors in them, while in the comparison group of mice that consumed the same amount. They used fats other than walnut fat, but these benefits were not observed.
The researchers found that in mice that ate walnuts, not only was the growth of prostate cancer reduced by 30 to 40 percent, but the amount of a certain protein in their blood was reduced. This protein is an insulin-like growth factor that is strongly associated with prostate cancer. In addition, Davis and his colleagues investigated the effect of walnuts on gene activity in prostate tumors and discovered the positive effects of this healthy food on multiple genes related to tumor growth control and metabolism.