Mandarin oranges may help against liver cancer

Eating mandarins or taking vitamin A compounds may cut the risk of developing liver cancer and other diseases, scientists said yesterday.

Photo: Mandarin oranges may help against liver cancer

Mandarin oranges may help against liver cancer

Two studies found that eating mandarin oranges or drinking juice with added carotenoids - the vitamin A compound that gives mandarins their orange colour - cut the risk of several conditions.

In the first study, scientists surveyed 1,073 people in the Japanese town, Mikkabi, in Shizuoka, who ate a high number of mandarin oranges. They found chemical markers in the population's blood samples that were linked to a lower risk of liver disease, arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and insulin resistance (a condition associated with diabetes).

A second study found that drinking mandarin juice appeared to cut the chance of developing liver cancer in patients with chronic viral hepatitis, reports Scotsman.

According to Medical News Today , scientists create new types of flour with enhanced antioxidant levels -- Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a newly patented process that transforms ordinary flour into flour with enhanced levels of antioxidants -- compounds that have been shown by others to fight cancer and heart disease.

The process works by enzymatically modifying grains to make their natural antioxidants more available to the body, says Liangli Lucy Yu, Ph.D., an associate professor in the school's Department of Nutrition and Food Science. The process, which is environmentally friendly, works for different types of flour, including wheat, corn and rice.