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Scientists at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK say that eating rhubarb crumble could protect you against cancer. The medical profession always teach the public that a balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and grains is one of the best ways to stay healthy.
Cake, chocolate and puddings don’t automatically come to mind when thinking of health enhancing foods. In fact, we are told to avoid these. Now it seems the humble rhubarb crumble could actually prevent us from getting cancer.
Rhubarb contains substances called polyphenols which are a type of antioxidant. Antioxidants protect against tissue damage by free radicals which contribute to numerous illnesses and to the aging process. Polyphenols, however, go a step further and actually block the action of enzymes that encourage the growth of cancer.
The scientists were looking at methods of cooking the rhubarb to see which method would release the most polyphenols. Most people assume that cooking food decreases the amount of goodness available in it and this is true, but for some compounds like polyphenols, cooking causes the food to release them. They compared methods of cooking, such as fast stewing, slow stewing, blanching and baking and found that baking the rhubarb offered the most antioxidants and polyphenols.
Polyphenolic components, such as anthraquinones and stilbenes, from species of the genus Rheum have been shown to have a range of bioactivities relevant to human health. Most cooking regimes (fast stewing, slow stewing and baking) except blanching increased total polyphenol content and overall antioxidant capacity, compared to the raw material. The patterns of anthocyanin content and total polyphenol content between the different cooking regimes suggested a balance between two processes; cooking facilitated the release of polyphenol compounds from the rhubarb.
Baking and slow stewing offered the best maintenance of colour through preservation of anthocyanin and the highest antioxidant capacity. Baking for 20 min provided well-cooked rhubarb with the highest antioxidant capacity and the highest anthocyanin content, which is important for the aesthetic quality of the dish.
The team now want to study the effect of rhubarb’s polyphenols on leukaemia, by seeing if they can combine the rhubarb treatment with chemotherapy for a better result, particularly in patients who appear to be resistant to chemotherapy.
Dr Gordon McDougall, who was part of the team, said, "Our research has shown that British rhubarb is a potential source of pharmacological agents that may be used to develop new anti-cancer drugs.Current treatments are not effective in all cancers and resistance is a common problem. Cancer affects one in three individuals in the UK so it's very important to discover novel, less toxic treatments, which can overcome resistance.”
Rhubarb has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years and is well known as a medicinal plant.
Source: Food Chemistry,Volume 119, Issue 2, 15 March 2010, Pages 758-764.
Joanna is a freelance health writer for The Mother magazine and Suite 101 with a column on infertility, http://infertility.suite101.com/. She is author of the book, 'Breast Milk: A Natural Immunisation,' and co-author of an educational resource on disabled parenting, in addition to running a charity for people damaged by vaccines or medical mistakes.
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