In the French markets, the strawberry season will start soon. Gariguette, Charlotte, Mara des bois … They are tasted from May to August, with a little hint of whipped cream. But did you know that strawberries are also great for our health? According to a new study conducted jointly by Polytechnic University (in Italy) and the European University of the Atlantic in Santander (in Spain), our favorite fruits could even fight … against breast cancer.
To come to this conclusion, the researchers performed two experiments. The first consisted of cultivating aggressive tumors in vitro and then treating them with strawberry extract, administered at different concentrations (between 0.5 and 5 mg / ml) for a maximum of 72 hours.
“What works on mice doesn’t necessarily work on humans”
Results ? Scientists have found that the antioxidants in strawberry extract (especially polyphenols) disrupt the process of cancer cells dividing as well as their migration. In addition, the molecules contained in the treatment reduced the expression of certain genes involved in the metastatic process.
Second experiment, this time carried out on mice: for 5 weeks, a group of mice received a “normal” diet while another group received a diet enriched with 15% strawberries. All suffered from aggressive tumors. At the end of the experiment, the researchers found that the mice in group 2 had less developed tumors (in terms of volume and weight) than those in group 1.
However, they want to qualify their discovery: “what works on mice does not necessarily work on humans. Breast cancer is a complex pathology and further studies are needed. Anyway, they advise us to consume between 10 and 15 strawberries per day, organic and unprocessed of course. Yum !
Source: Scientific Reports
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