Study: Polyphenols May Help Prevent Colorectal Cancer

Increasing intake of polyphenols, by eating more fruits and vegetables such as apricots or onions, or taking supplements, may help to prevent colorectal cancer, according to European researchers.

Their findings appear to support other studies that have concluded that diets rich in polyphenols may decrease the risk of chronic disease by reducing oxidative stress.

Participants in the ongoing European Polybind project, designed to improve understanding of the uptake and metabolism of polyphenols, said they found that a complex red wine polyphenol mixture appeared to suppress the development of colorectal cancer in tests in rats.

However, the reseaqrchers reported they were unable to confirm earlier findings in other studies suggesting that that black tea may exert a statistically significant blocking effect against colorectal cancer development in humans.

They said, however, that the current the study only investigated short term consumption of tea, and said longer term intake of black tea needs to be investigated further.

Other sources: Polybind Project