Latest Phytochemicals Stories

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have just found out what gourmets have always known -- that there is something special about fresh extra-virgin olive oil. A tasting experience at a molecular gastronomy meeting in Sicily led University of Pennsylvania biologist Gary Beauchamp to analyze freshly pressed extra-virgin olive oil, in which he found a chemical that acted like ibuprofen. He and his team named their discovery oleocanthal and found that, although it has a different chemistry, its...

Olive oil may have pain-relieving powers NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Have a headache? No aspirin or ibuprofen handy? Try some olive oil -- actually, freshly pressed extra-virgin olive oil would be best, according to a group of chemists, who've discovered that it contains a compound that mimics the pain-relieving action of ibuprofen. The compound, called oleocanthal, blocks the same pain pathway as ibuprofen, a member of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, Paul A. S. Breslin from...

COLUMBUS , Ohio "“ Researchers have isolated compounds from the vegetable broccoli that they believe may help prevent or slow the progress of bladder cancer.The current work builds on a major study conducted six years ago by Harvard and Ohio State universities that found that men who ate two or more half-cup servings of broccoli per week had a 44 percent lower incidence of bladder cancer compared to men who ate less than one serving each week. "We're starting to look at which compounds in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The compound that makes curry yellow could help fight skin cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. They said curcumin, found in the spice turmeric, interferes with melanoma cells. Tests in laboratory dishes show that curcumin made melanoma skin cancer cells more likely to self-destruct in a process known as apoptosis. The same team has found that curcumin helped stop the spread of breast cancer tumor cells to the lungs of mice. Bharat Aggarwal of the Department of...

Curcumin, the yellow pigment found in the spice turmeric and a key ingredient in yellow curry inhibits melanoma cell growth and stimulates tumor cell death, according to a new study. Published in the August 15, 2005 issue of CANCER (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer-newsroom), a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study also elucidates curcumin's intracellular mechanisms of action in this type of tumor. As well as showing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects,...

Exercise, food consumption, even a common spice may have impact, studies findMore evidence is trickling in that aspects of everyday life, including exercise, eating habits and even a common spice, can affect the incidence and course of breast cancer.Three studies chronicling such findings are being presented this week at the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program meeting in Philadelphia. The program is collaboration between the military, scientists, clinicians and breast cancer...