One more New Age theory on cancer:

For the past few decades,
cancer rates in the UK have seen a sharp rise, and it is predicted that
by the year 2020, one in two of us will be affected by this condition
at some point in our lives. One theory about what might be fuelling
these scary statistics is that we are seeing rising levels of
cancer-causing chemicals in our food and environment, coupled with
lower levels of cancer-protective nutrients in our diets.

Are we seeing a rise in cancer causing chemicals in our environment? Err, no. The air is getting steadily cleaner, as we don’t burn coal or wood any more. Are cancer rates rising? If they’d slipped something in about correcting for age I might believe them but on the evidence presented they’re not so correcting. I mean we all know that up to half of men get prostate cancer, the important question being whether it is that which kills us or it simply hangs around until something else does.

Salvestrols, one example
of which is the compound resveratrol, are found most abundantly in red
fruits, including cranberries, red grapes and strawberries. However,
research shows that the growing method of fruit can have an important
bearing on its salvestrol content. Generally, organic produce has a
much higher salvestrol content compared to more intensively grown
fruit. Also,the fungicide agents used in modern-day farming can inhibit
the enzymes that activate salvestrol compounds.

I knew organic would get a look in somewhere. Fruit and veg do indeed contain anti-cancer chemicals. Like vitamins. I haven’t seen anything else anywhere that indicates that there is any difference between growing methods…and I’m not all that likely to accept this from a company that wants to sell me a fruit concentrate:

More usefully, this
research has led to the development of a salvestrol-rich supplement
called Fruit Force, which offers potential in the prevention and
treatment of cancer.

There’s an easier way of course. Tomatoes contain lycopene, known to protect against mouth and throat cancers. Just stick ketchup on your fry up.