Fight cancer with grape juice

Natural compounds found in deep purple Concord grapes could be potential shield against breast cancer, finds a US study.

A new study has found that Concord grape juice may provide protection against breast cancer.

The University of Illinois study has suggested that one dietary choice that may help prevent against the disease is a glass of 100 per cent grape juice made from deep purple Concord grapes.

Study leader Dr Keith Singletary said the natural compounds in Concord grapes, anthocyanins, increased the activity of enzymes that metabolize and detoxify carcinogens and curb potentially cancer-causing oxidative stress.

For the study, the researchers exposed healthy human breast cells, placed in a test tube, to an environmental carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene, that is able to set off a chain of events leading to breast cancer. However, the introduction of Concord grape juice compounds blocked the connection of the carcinogen to the DNA of the healthy cells.

“The purple grape compounds demonstrated the capacity to inhibit DNA adduct formation as well as to increase the activity of enzymes that metabolize and detoxify carcinogens, and suppress potentially cancer-causing oxidative stress."

"These new data suggest that anthocyanins present in Concord grape juice, as well as some other fruits and juices, warrant further study for their breast cancer chemopreventive potential,” said Dr Singletary, nutrition professor and lead researcher at the University of Illinois.

Diets high in natural antioxidants have been associated with a reduced risk of some types of cancers and Welch’s 100 per cent Grape Juice made from Concord grapes is particularly high in anthocyanins, potent natural antioxidants that give the juice its characteristic deep purple color.

The study is published in the current issue of the Journal of Medicinal Foods.