Tea and apples protect against cancer

The English proverb says that eating an apple a day makes a man do without the doctor, which seems to be a recent international study confirmed that it is not out of the blue, especially with regard to smokers and alcohol users, and if the apple is taken with a cup of tea.

Both apples and tea are rich in flavonoids that protect against cancer and heart disease, the researchers said in a study published in the current issue of the journal Nature Communications.

Flavonoids are plant materials that perform several functions. There are currently more than 8,000 of them.

Some of these compounds are responsible for determining the color of flowers attracting pollen-bearing insects, while others protect plants from being eaten by insect pests. There is also a kind that protects the plants from UV rays.

But these compounds can have positive effects on humans as well, where recent studies have indicated that they support the body's immunity and stimulate his mental strength, and help him to lose weight and may have a protective effect against infection.

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Another benefit discovered by researchers at the Edith Cowan University of Australia and the University of Copenhagen, where they analyzed under the supervision of food researcher Nicolas Bondono and doctor Frederick Dalgard, data from a long-term Danish study on the feeding technique of more than 56,000 participants aged 52 to 60 years over 23 years. The scientists compared these data with death data within the group.

Analyzing these data found that participants who regularly ate foods containing a high proportion of flavonoids were less likely to die from cancer or heart disease.

These positive effects were more pronounced in participants who were more likely to develop such diseases due to smoking or alcohol use.

However, the origin is that a person seeks to quit smoking or drink alcohol, and the study does not mean that taking flavonoids offset the damage of these two bad habits.

Researchers found that the lowest cancer deaths among alcohol users and smokers were among those who consumed about 500 milligrams a day of flavonoids, which can be achieved through natural nutrition, according to Bondono, who said that a cup of tea, an apple, an orange and 100 grams of berries provide a total of five hundred Milligrams of these compounds "which meets the body's need of them".

These recommendations are similar to those of the German Society for Nutrition, according to Zabinh Köling of the German Federal Institute for Nutrition and Food Commodities in Karlsruhe, commenting on the study, pointing out that "overall confirms that nutrition includes five installments of vegetables and fruits, as recommended by the German Society -It is useful for health as it helps to reduce the damage caused by smoking and alcohol consumption.

But the German expert stressed the need to be cautious when talking about the extent to which flavonoids help against cancer and heart disease, saying that the study does not understand them. One of the problems of studies that depend on the impact of something on a large number of people that these studies may have revealed an element of association, but not necessarily a causal relationship.

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"Flavonoids here are a sign of a healthier diet or lifestyle. They may have helped slightly reduce the likelihood of death, but they are certainly not the only ones responsible for the decline," Colling said.

According to the study's data, when the effect of red meat, processed meat, fish, fiber and saturated and unsaturated acids was taken, the effect of flavonoids decreased significantly.

However, Colling praised the study and said: Nutrition is very complex, there are many factors affecting the risk of disease, which increases the importance of such studies.

It is not yet known what makes flavonoids so healthy for smokers and alcohol users as they help with inflammation and damage to blood vessels "which increases the risk of a series of diseases," the study's lead author said.

She also said earlier studies had shown flavonoids to be inflammatory inhibitors and had a positive effect on blood vessels "which could explain why these compounds are associated with a lower risk of heart death or cancer."