“Uck, Broccoli!”
Hate veggies? If so, there’s bad news for you: your parents will be stuffing your face with them when they hear the news that some vegetables fight colon cancer.
Scientists have always known vegetables are healthy, but never had many reasons why. A new study helps them solve this puzzle.
Researchers have found that mice on a diet of vegetables including kale, cabbage, and broccoli are protected from colon cancer and gut inflammation. Why?
The researchers hypothesized that these vegetables contain a chemical called insole-3-carbonyl, which activated a protein called AhR that is necessary for maintaining gut health.
To test this hypothesis, the scientists used a sample of mice genetically engineered not to produce AhR in their guts.
These mice developed gut inflammation, which turned into cancer. The researchers observed that when kale, broccoli, and other I3C rich foods were introduced into their diet, they developed tumors at a much slower rate, and many of those that did develop were benign.
By studying the mice and mice organs developed from stem cells, researchers discovered that AhR is necessary for healing damaged epithelial* cells and for the transformation of gut stem cells into epithelial cells that absorb nutrients and create mucus. Without AhR, the stem cells instead divide uncontrollably and cause cancer.
Summarizing these observations, Dr Gitta Stockinger, Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute says, “…vegetables produce chemicals that keep AhR stimulated in the gut. We found that AhR-promoting chemicals in the diet can correct defects caused by insufficient AhR stimulation. This can restore epithelial cell differentiation, offering resistance to intestinal infections and preventing colon cancer.”
Additionally, the researchers used a group of control mice. The control (not genetically engineered) mice on the same diet also resisted colon cancer, while control mice on a different diet lacking the chemical developed tumors. This shows that I3C is necessary for preventing colon cancer in mice with and without AhR deficiencies, and likely in most humans.
Along with providing hope for preventing colon cancer in humans, the research shows that a healthy diet including greens truly is, well, healthy.
Fortunately for veggie-haters, there are other ways to incorporate I3C into one’s diet. Fruits and grains are rich in this chemical, and I3C pills are available. Maybe one day, there will even be a way for one to inject small, non-taste-altering, safe quantities of I3C into one’s chicken dinner. Who knows?
*Epithelial-relating to or denoting the thin tissue forming the outer layer of a body’s surface and lining the alimentary canal and other hollow structures, such as the gut.
Sources:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180814173648.htm
-Jessica Tayvitskiy ’21
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