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Your body\u2019s most important anti-cancer defenses are its own home grown, natural systems designed to zap cancer cells as soon as they appear. One of your body\u2019s weapons is certain genes in your cells that often undermine these enemies.<\/p>\n
But to keep those defenses functioning at full capacity, it\u2019s crucial to eat the right foods.<\/p>\n
And at or near the top of the list is a food I\u2019ve often recommended for its anti-cancer benefits: broccoli. Research proves that it bolsters your cancer defenses by making the anti-cancer genes in your cells more dependable.<\/p>\n
When a certain food \u2013 or ANY outside influence \u2013 changes the way genes work, the effect is described as \u201cepigenetic.\u201d\u00a0 Genes often need an environmental influence to activate them.<\/p>\n
New evidence for broccoli\u2019s anti-cancer epigenetic benefits has been uncovered at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School. In their tests, the Boston scientists focused on a gene called PTEN \u2013 a genetic element well-known for making proteins that suppress tumors.<\/p>\n
In the body, though, things can run off the track with PTEN. Sometimes this gene can mutate into a warped, dysfunctional form, other times it gets deleted, and still other times it may be inadvertently down-regulated (held back from doing its job properly) \u2013 and that\u2019s not a complete list of what can go wrong.<\/p>\n
To use the word I used earlier, there\u2019s an issue with this gene\u2019s dependability.<\/p>\n
But when PTEN isn\u2019t operating at full capacity, a natural compound in broccoli can give the gene a swift activating kick in the molecular pants.<\/p>\n
Broccoli\u2019s role in keeping PTEN in working order involves another gene called WWP1. WWP1 can manufacture an enzyme that disables PTEN\u2019s ability to hold back tumors. But a chemical in broccoli called indole-3-carbinol can take care of that problem by blocking the production of this troublesome enzyme.1<\/sup><\/p>\n \u201cWe found a new important player that drives a pathway critical to the development of cancer, an enzyme that can be inhibited with a natural compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables (like cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower),\u201d says researcher Pier Paolo Pandolfi.<\/p>\n