Nitrosation is a cellular process in which substances in foods and the water are converted into cancer-causing compounds. Earl H. Harrison, from Ohio State University (Ohio, USA), and colleagues developed a new urine test that measures for compounds related to cancer risk while detecting the levels of N-nitrosoproline and N-acetyl-S-allylcysteine, compounds abundantly present in garlic. The team found that the greater the markers of garlic compounds, the less strongly they found the marker for cancer risk. Writing that “3 to 5 grams of garlic supplements inhibited [Nitrosoproline] NPRO [excretion],” a key marker of nitrosation, the researchers observe that: “It is possible that allyl sulfur compounds found in garlic may inhibit nitrosation in humans.”
Garlic May Counteract Key Cancer Process
Nitrosation, a cellular process in which substances in foods and the water are converted into cancer-causing compounds, may be countered by increased garlic consumption.
Keary Cope, Harold Seifried, Rebecca Seifried, John Milner, Penny Kris-Etherton, Earl H. Harrison. “A gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method for the quantitation of N-nitrosoproline and N-acetyl-S-allylcysteine in human urine: Application to a study of the effects of garlic consumption on nitrosation.” Analytical Biochemistry, Volume 394, Issue 2, 15 November 2009, Pages 243-248.
RELATED ARTICLES