Researchers at Chicago’s University of Illinois in Chicago discovered consumption of freeze-dried black raspberries help reduced the number of tumours by 60 per cent in a strain of mice at risk of developing bowel cancer.
Black raspberries (often mistakenly called blackberries) are already recognized for their antioxidant properties and cancer-fighting properties. The findings published in the journal Cancer Prevention and Research reports the fruit inhibits tumour growth by suppressing a protein called beta-catenin.
Both mouse strains were either fed a Western-style, high fat diet, or the same diet supplemented with 10 per cent freeze-dried black raspberry powder for 12 weeks. Researchers saw a wide range of protective effects in the bowels of the mice given the supplement.
“We saw the black raspberry as a natural product, very powerful, and easy to access,” said study leader Dr Wancai Yang, from the University of Illinois in Chicago. Black raspberries are native to eastern North America, and are popular among home gardeners.