Study: Apple extract kills cancer cells, outperforms chemo

Study in laboratory glassware only

"In recent research, compounds in apples known as oligosaccharides were found to kill up to 46% of human colon cancer cells. Further, the compound outperformed common chemotherapy drugs while leaving the toxic side effects behind."

SOURCE

Oligosaccharide from apple induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in HT29 human colon cancer cells

By Li Q et al.

Abstract

It is reported that apple polysaccharide can prevent colon cancer growth and impede colon cancer progression. Apple oligosaccharide was prepared by the combination of alkaline hydrolysis and enzymolysis of apple polysaccharides, and purified by anion column chromatography. The aim of this study is to explore the effect of apple oligosaccharide on the cellular viability of human colon carcinoma cells (HT29 cells) and its mechanism. The results showed that apple oligosaccharide decreased the cellular viability of HT29 cells in dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile it enhanced the expression of Bax; and decreased the levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl. Apple oligosaccharide induced cell cycle arrest in S phase, which correlated with the decreased expression of Cdk 2 and cyclin B1. These results indicated that apple oligosaccharide attenuated HT29 cell viability by inducing cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Apple oligosaccharide is a potential chemoprevention agent or anti-tumor agent and is worthy of further study.

Int J Biol Macromol. 2013 Mar 16

McDonald's burger bought in Utah in 1999 looks exactly the same as the day it was first flipped

This is just food bigotry.  McDonald's uses unusually effective food preservatives.  So what?  Are those preservatives bad for you?  The whole world would know of it if they were

A Utah man has unearthed a McDonald's hamburger he bought in 1999 - and the sandwich looks exactly the same as the day it was first flipped.

David Whipple kept the fast food meal for a month to show friends how the preservative-packed hamburger would keep its composure.

But he forgot about it, finding it two years later in his coat pocket and then he decided to continue the bizarre experiment.

However, even he was shocked to see that the hamburger still looks the same a whopping 14 years later.

'It wasn't on purpose,' Whipple told TV show 'The Doctors,' of his decision to keep the burger for such a long time.

'I was showing some people how enzymes work and I thought a hamburger would be a good idea. And I used it for a month and then I forgot about it.

'It ended up in a paper sack in the original sack with the receipt in my coat pocket tossed in the back of my truck and it sat there for, I don't know, two or three months.'

He said his coat ended up in the coat closet of his Logan, Utah, home.

'My wife didn't discover it until at least a year or two after that,' he said. 'And we pulled it out and said "oh my gosh. I can't believe it looks the same way."'

The burger had no signs of mold, fungus or even a strange odor, the show's hosts said. The only thing that had changed over the years was that the pickle had disintegrated.

Whipple, who still has the original receipt for the burger, said he now shows the sandwich to his grandchildren to encourage them to eat healthily.

'It's great for my grand-kids to see. To see what happens with fast food,' he said.

SOURCE