Could chamomile tea prove to be a more effective cancer fighter than chemotherapy? Although it may sound absurd, researchers have discovered this week that the tea-along with parsley and celery-is rich in a compound that ‘reminds’ cancer cells to die.
The key compound is apigenin, and along with the tea, is found in many fruits and vegetables-effectively, in all the plant-based foods that make up the Mediterranean diet, say researchers at the Ohio State University.
They have tested the compound on breast cancer cells, and discovered that it switches back on a natural process known as apoptosis, or cell death. Cancer cells have lost their ability to die, and so grow inexorably, often resulting in the death of the host.
Apigenin also binds with 160 proteins, creating a complex healing process that is anti-inflammatory, whereas a pharmaceutical drug targets just one molecule, the researchers say.
(Source: Ohio State University website)
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