Chemicals produced by vegetables such as kale, cabbage and broccoli could help to maintain a healthy gut and prevent colon cancer ….
The research, published in Immunity, shows that mice fed on a diet rich in a [chemical called] indole-3-carbinol [I3C] – which is produced when we digest vegetables from the Brassica genus – were protected from gut inflammation and colon cancer.
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This study offers the first concrete evidence of how I3C …. can prevent colon inflammation and cancer, by activating a protein called the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR).
Gut reactions
AhR acts as an environmental sensor, passing signals to immune cells and epithelial cells in the gut lining to protect us from inflammatory responses to the trillions of bacteria that live in the gut.
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“We studied genetically modified mice that cannot produce or activate AhR in their guts, and found that they readily developed gut inflammation which progressed to colon cancer,” explains Dr Amina Metidji from the Francis Crick Institute. “However, when we fed them a diet enriched with I3C, they did not develop inflammation or cancer.
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“We often think of colon cancer as a disease promoted by a Western diet rich in fat and poor in vegetable content, [said senior author Dr Gitta Stockinger, Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute,] and our results suggest a mechanism behind this observation.”
Read full, original article: Chemicals found in vegetables prevent colon cancer in mice
