But perhaps there’s a way to enjoy spicy foods without risking cancer. And ironically, the solution may be ginger, yet another spicy food.
many Asian cuisines. But what got scientists’ attention to this root were ginger’s anti-inflammatory properties. Some key active compounds in ginger are 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol – chemicals that fight oxidation, inflammation, and cancer. These compounds are why ginger apparently helps with small upset stomachs and other digestive troubles.
Could ginger counter the cancer effects of chili peppers? As it turns out, both 6-gingerol and capsaicin bind to a cellular receptor that’s involved in tumor growth. Yet, capsaicin appears to antagonize cancer cells, while 6-gingerol appears to suppress inflammatory processes related to cancer.
To test this hypothesis, the scientists gave mice prone to lung cancer capsaicin alone, 6-gingerol alone, or both at once. While all of the mice fed capsaicin went on to develop cancer, half of the mice fed with 6-gingerol remained cancer-free. Furthermore, those fed with both ginger and capsaicin had the lowest incidence of cancer (20 percent). This suggests ginger’s molecules appear to buffer the capsaicin’s cancer effects.
While this has yet to be replicated in human clinical trials, the study adds more evidence to ginger’s health benefits. Last month, researchers developed ginger-derived nanoparticles to treat inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer. But exactly how ginger molecules counter cancer cells will remain to be discovered in the next study.
Additional source: American Chemical Society via EurekAlert!