Grape juice protects women against breast cancer

By Seye Adeniyi

IN women, the two most likely places where cancer may develop are the breasts and the uterus. Both areas should be given proper attention, therefore, it is the duty of every woman to make sure that she examines her breasts regularly and goes to hospital to have her uterus examined in order to guard against the development of cancer and other diseases in these parts of her body.

Although a malignancy may develop in any part of the breast, but cancer often occurs in either the upper portion of the breast, towards the shoulder or close to the nipple. Breast cancer may also occur at any time of life, but it is much more common between the age of thirty-five and sixty-five. After sixty five years, expert says breast cancer is very rare in women.

Men also may develop breast cancer, although not as common as that of women. But the fact is that cases of breast malignant have also been reported in some men too.

However, when cancer is present in the breast, there is usually one hard single lump, which may be fixed to the surrounding tisues. Usually there is no pain, but in few cases, there may be a slight bloody discharge from the nipple, but this is not common anyway.

A slight discharge may also occur in some women experiencing benign tumours. Sometimes after the birth of a baby, painful abscess may form in one of the breasts, but doctors usually give such women antibiotics or penicilin injection as well as other drugs and injections to solve the problem.

But if all these fail to control the infection, the abscess on the breast could be opened under local anaesthesia in hospital and the pus drained out.

The good news however is that, regular consumption of grape juice can prevent painful breast, chronic cystic mastitis and most especially, breast cancer in women. Scientists and natural medicine practitioners through comprehensive research have discovered that one dietary choice that may help provide protection against breast cancer is for women to take a glass of 100 per cent grape juice made from the type of grape known as concord grapes.

Concord grape, though different in colour from other grapes, has deep purple colour compared to other types of grapes with different colour.

The new finding, which has also been documented in the current issue of the Journal of Medicine Foods, explained that there is a natural compounds in concord grape juice which according to scientists, has the ability and power to protect healthy breast cells from DNA damage.

In the study, healthy human breast cells were exposed in a test tube to an environmental carcinogen benzo (a) pyrene, a compound that is able to initiate a chain of events that leads to breast cancer. However, the introduction of concord grape juice compounds blocked the connection of the carcinogen to the DNA of the healthy cells.

Dr. Keith Singletary, a professor of nutrition and the lead researcher at the University of Illinios stated that, “the purple grape compound demonstrated the capacity to inhibit DNA adduct formation as well as to increase the activity of the enzymes that metabolises and detoxify carcinogens and suppress potentially cancer causing oxidative stress.” The nutrition expert further submitted that this new study suggests that anthocyanins in some other fruits and juices, warrant further study for their breast cancer chemopreventive potentials. The presence of cancer preventive chemicals/compound in concord grape as well as in other fruits should stimulate more interest and study.

This latest findings suggest that concord grape juice may be of value in maintaining breast health by suppressing oxidative stress and inhibiting DNA damage to cells that can lead to the initiation of cancer or help to slow the progression of breast cancer by slowing the multiplication of cancer cells.

Human nutrition experts as well as natural medicine practitioners have always been encouraging people to eat diets rich in natural antioxidants, which they say can prevent the development of certain diseases in human beings. Food rich in natural antioxidants have also been said to reduce the risk of developing some types of cancers like colon, colorectal as well as breast cancer.

The juice from concord grape is particularly said to be highly rich in anthocyannis, a potent natural antioxidants that gives the juice its characteristic deep purple colour. Not only that, the juice from the grape is also good for the heart as it prevents certain cardiovascular diseases. It also prevent palpitation, irregular heart beat, high blood pressure etc.

Moreover, women are encouraged to make grape juice their favourite drink. For example, if they can regularly drink concord grape juice, then they may not experience diseases like painful breast, chronic cystic mastitis and particularly breast cancer, which has been identified as a major threat to women’s life. Breast cancer has sent quite a large number of women to the great beyond, while millions of women are still living with this debilitating disease.

It is on record that in every three minutes, a woman in the United States of America for example, is diagnosed with breast cancer. The same thing happens in developing countries like Nigeria, where many women are harbouring cancer in their breasts.

Factors like age and hereditary are said to contribute significantly to a woman’s likelihood of developing the disease. Lifestyle and nutrition choices are other factors that play a major role.