2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Ellagic acid is a water-soluble antioxidant in the class of polyphenols. For a time, the scientific world was immersed in experiments on the study of its unique properties. They called it the future of proper treatment for all cancers, cardiovascular diseases and aging.
According to the results of many tests in laboratories around the world, there is a high degree of correlation between the total content of phenolic compounds and ellagic acid.
The advantage of ellagic acid (EU) are also in the fact that it does not change its structure when heated, frozen and remains in the products with any cooking methods. A ellagic acid is contained in foods available to everyone: in berries and nuts.
Ellagic acid in food
According to the latest research, the content of ellagic acid in 100 g of raw nuts is the following:
Walnut - 823 mg
Pecan - 301 mg
Chestnut - 149 mg
In all other nuts there are only traces of it, although antioxidants are presented in the form of other phenolic compounds, such as vitamin E in almonds - 30.9 mg / 100 g.
Chestnuts have a high content of ellagic acid not only in the fruit but also in the leaves, although in much smaller quantities. We are talking about the food chestnut Castanea sativa (beech family).
A lot of berries ellagic acid contains wild strawberries.
In 2012, a study was conducted in Turkey on a crop from fifteen different places where wild strawberries (fragaria vesca) are grown. The collection was held in the northeastern regions of Turkey, at an altitude of 1800 m, where there is a typical warm and humid maritime climate. The vegetation is mostly pine forest, there are no industrial zones.
The fruits have not been subjected to chemical treatment or additional application of fertilizers, the only thing allowed is to irrigate the plots to avoid loss of the crop due to drought. Due to the good wind, the fruits are not affected by gray rot and do not need pesticides.
For comparison, use strawberries (Garden strawberries Fragaria ananassa).
The study shows that from 15 samples of wild strawberries per 100 g of fresh fruit, the content of phenolic compounds varies from 138 to 228 mg, the total amount of ellagic acid is in the range of 15, 18 to 26, 36 mg per 100 g.
But mostly ellagic acid is found in raspberry seeds (87.8% of the total polyphenol content in berries), so if we want to get it, we just have to follow a healthy diet with more foods rich in antioxidants.
Ellagic acid and anti-cancer properties
As it turned out ellagic acid is a natural polyphenolcontained in a number of fruits and nuts. The valuable acid prevents carcinogens from binding to human DNA and at the same time strengthens connective tissue and further inhibits the action of cancer cells.
Ellagic acid is extremely valuable, so let's look in detail at its mechanism of anti-cancer action. Normally, healthy cells in the human body go through a normal life cycle of about 120 days, after which they die. This is normal cell death and the process is known as apoptosis.
The body constantly regenerates cells and replaces them with new ones. On the other hand, cancer cells do not die. They begin to multiply by division and gradually increase. In the laboratory, ellagic acid has been shown to cause cancer cells to go through the normal process of apoptosis without affecting healthy cells.
In the laboratory, a study was performed proving that ellagic acid stops growth of tumors. Rats that ate much of their food in the form of raspberries and strawberries were studied. It turns out that the percentage of pre-cancerous cells that have grown into cancerous cells is significantly reduced.
Ellagic acid combines with glucose in the body and thus attacks cancer cells even more powerfully, as it is known that they need glucose to function and develop.
Although it has such a powerful anti-cancer effect, ellagic acid and its supplements are not used as a primary cancer treatment. They are usually used as adjunctive therapy to the background of the main treatment.
It would be a mistake to refer patients to ellagic acid supplements at the expense of natural sources. Try to get it through fresh fruits and nuts.
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