There are two areas growing at a similar rate: research dedicated to studying cancer and finding possible remedies, and new studies into the beneficial properties of different foods. The latter has uncovered a new area called phytonutrients, which are among the elements contained in fruit and vegetables in general, and the latest rising star in the field is the humble mandarin.
A team at the Leicester School of Pharmacy has demonstrated that the compound Salvestrol Q40, highly concentrated in mandarin peel more so than in the pulp, could eliminate a diverse range of carcinogenic cells.
The work is still in its infancy and more testing is required, but researchers are so optimistic they have created a company with other scientists called Nature’s Defence Investments, which continues to study the potential development of natural therapies to prevent cancer.
The particular substance found in mandarins is called salvestrol, and it offers a new way to fight cancer. The research promises a new approach to treating breast, lung, prstate and ovarian cancers.
The researcher have stated that the lack of salvestrol in our diets is due to the fact that we do not eat the peel of many fruits, and claim that this is one of the major contributing factors to the high incidence of cancer in our society.

Vitamin D & Longevity

Vitamin D is essential for healthy life and an important metabolic regulator of calcium and phosphorus. Deficiency can lead to osteoporosis, muscle weakness, bone fractures and various typed of cancer, as well as infection and cardiovascular disease, so it is obviously quite important. Now a recent European study has claimed that vitamin D supplementation could be associated with a general increase in longevity.
Until now vitamin D’s benefits to bone density, metabolism and dental issues have been well known, but current studies show it may also have the potential to prevent cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
A recent study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France and the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan, Italy confirms that regular vitamin D supplements could be associated with reduced mortality. Although the evidence is not conclusive, researchers suspect that it may reinforce the immune system or stop metastasis.
Published recently in Archives of Internal Medicine, the study was based on the analysis of 18 clinical trials carried to prior to 2006 and involving 57,300 participants. The average vitamin D dosage was 528iu (international units), but individual doses ranged from 300-2000iu. (Commercially available vitamin D supplements usually contain 400-600iu.) Tracking patients over roughly six years there were 4700 deaths. From the nine trials that included blood samples it was found that those who had taken supplements had vitamin D levels of 1.4-5.2 times greater than those who had not.
The study comes at a time when the influence of vitamin supplements on longevity is being hotly debated. Although the regular ingestion of vitamins has been associated with lower incidence of certain types of cancer ad heart disease, some studies claim that supplementing with them has no effect on these conditions.
However, not a lot of foods contain vitamin D. Fish oils, milk and eggs are the main ones, and we are becoming accustomed to seeing vitamin D-enriched foods, including milk, dairy products, margarine, butter and breakfast cereals, to cover additional requirements, which are good alternatives if you don’t wish to take a vitamin supplement.