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  • 2009-03-17 (xsd:date)
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  • Asparagus vs. Cancer (es)
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  • An item about the supposedly miraculous cancer-fighting properties of asparagus has been bruited about the Internet since October 2006: While this piece claims to draw its information from a piece titled Asparagus for Cancer printed in Cancer News Journal in December 1979, we've as yet been unable to locate a copy of that article or find information about either the e-mail's unnamed biochemist narrator or the article's purported authority, Richard R. Vensal, D.D.S. (It isn't clear what the D.D.S. stands for — that abbreviation is typically the short form for Doctor of Dental Surgery or Doctor of Dental Science, degrees one would not think would position their holders to perform groundbreaking work in the field of oncology.) It should go without saying that until far more is known about the 1979 Asparagus for Cancer article, that its purported miraculous tales of serious bouts of cancer overcome by asparagus therapy cannot be confirmed and thus should not be regarded as anything other than lore. However, that article's provenance aside, asparagus might indeed have certain anti-cancer properties. In addition to this vegetable's many other nutritional benefits (only 25 calories per serving, high in folic acid, plus a good source of vitamins A, B6 and C, calcium, iron, thiamin, potassium and fiber), it is high in the micronutrient glutathione, an antioxidant. Glutathione is said to defend the body against viruses, certain types of cancer, and boosts immune cells. Antioxidants have long been touted as one of the keys to preventing cancer. However, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) says of that conviction: In other words, antioxidants may or may not be the potent cancer-fighters they're widely believed to be — the medical jury is still out on that subject. In fact, a 2018 study suggested that not eating asparagus might reduce the spread of cancer: As for the notion that asparagus (or any other food) can actually help cure cancer, however, the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center noted: (en)
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