14 DAY TRIAL // Colon cancer kills around 50,000 people in the US annually. In fact, experts with the American Cancer Society say it is second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the country.
Interestingly, a new study authored by Pennsylvania State University researchers and published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry proposes that something as simple as purple potatoes might help address this disease.
Wait, what?
In the report detailing their work, the Pennsylvania State University specialists explain how, having carried out a series of experiments in laboratory conditions, they learned that compounds found in purple potatoes can kill colon cancer stem cells. By killing these cells, the spuds work to limit the spread of cancer.
“You might want to compare cancer stem cells to roots of the weeds. You may cut the weed, but as long as the roots are still there, the weeds will keep growing back and, likewise, if the cancer stem cells are still present, the cancer can still grow and spread,” says researcher Jairam K.P. Vanamala.
Admittedly, these experiments into the cancer-fighting properties of purple potatoes didn't involve any human volunteers. Rather, they were carried out on colon cancer tumors that the scientists grew themselves in petri dishes and on tumors developing in the bodies of laboratory mice.
All the same, the scientists say we shouldn't be too quick to dismiss their findings, not when their investigation revealed that not just purple potatoes extract but actual baked purple potatoes can help put a leash on the development and the growth of colon cancer tumors.
Now what?
Further investigations are needed before purple potatoes can be described by medical journals a proper treatment for colon cancer. Nonetheless, the Pennsylvania State University team don't feel that they wasted time with their somewhat bizarre investigation.
Rather, they say their findings suggest it might not be such a bad idea to include purple potatoes in the diet of colon cancer patients who are in remission. The spuds might even help prevent the onset of this disease to begin with, the researchers say.
At least for now, the scientists cannot say for sure how and why purple potatoes suppress the spread of colon cancer tumors. They suspect this puzzle doesn't come down to just one magical compound, but to a cocktail of compounds that, together, have cancer-fighting properties.