Purple foods ward off degenerative diseases

Wednesday, December 08, 2010 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: purple foods, disease prevention, health news

(NaturalNews) A new study published in the journal Archives of Toxicology explains how many degenerative diseases are caused by poorly-bound iron in the body that reacts with various bodily components to generate toxins. This iron is consumed through various foods but is not stable enough to stay put and provide health benefits. But iron chelators, which are especially present in purple foods and green tea, provide iron with the binding nutrients it needs to function properly as well as prevent various degenerative diseases.

According to the study, brightly-colored fruits and vegetables are rich in iron chelators, and by consuming lots of them, the body is able to bind iron and help it to perform the vital role of transporting oxygen to bodily tissues, as well as absorb other nutrients. But without these necessary chelators, not only can iron become a type of harmful toxin, but other important nutrients like vitamin C will not be able to be readily absorbed and used by the body.

In fact, Professor Douglas Kell, author of the study and professor of Bioanalytical Science at the University of Manchester, says that nutrients like vitamin C that are normally beneficial can also become harmful if properly-bound iron is not present. And the result of this badly-bound iron, also known as hydroxyl radicals, is the onset of debilitating and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease.

"Much of modern biology has been concerned with the role of different genes in human disease," explained Kell. "The importance of iron may have been missed because there is no gene for iron as such. What I have highlighted in this work is therefore a crucial area for further investigation, as many simple predictions follow from my analysis."

"If true, they might change greatly the means by which we seek to prevent and even cure such diseases."

Some excellent purple fruits and vegetables to consume for iron-binding purposes -- and for overall health benefits -- include purple grapes, blueberries, eggplant, pomegranates, plums, blackberries, cherries, and black currants.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-...