Guacamole for Cancer Prevention

Nutrients found in avocados, the main ingredient of the popular condiment guacamole, may help fight oral cancer, a new study suggests

It has long been known that many fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals, which play an important role in cancer prevention. According to researchers from Ohio State University, avocados can be added to the list of foods that contain these cancer-fighting compounds.

Avocados are fruits, not vegetables. They are a nutritious source of potassium, containing 60 percent more potassium than bananas. They are also sodium and cholesterol free. An avocado has a higher fat content (five grams per serving) than other fruit, but the fat is monounsaturated fat, which is considered healthy when consumed in moderation in the human diet.

According to researchers, the compounds in avocados have the ability to find and destroy oral cancer cells, even before they cause any damage. The results are consistent with other studies that have that phytochemicals extracted from avocados selectively induce cell cycle arrest, inhibit growth and induce apoptosis (cell death) in precancerous and cancer cell lines.

The study authors concluded that individual and combinations of phytochemicals from the avocado fruit may offer an advantageous dietary strategy in cancer prevention.

Avocado has also been studied as a possible treatment for many other health conditions. Several studies have reported that diets rich in avocado may reduce plasma lipid levels. Avocado is also a rich source of beta-sisterol, which is believed to have cholesterol-lowering effects as well as anti-cancer effects. The most promising use for avocado is a combination product, avocado/soybean unsaponifiables (ASU), which is a combination of avocado oil and soybean oil. It has been shown in several good human trials that ASU is an effective treatment for osteoarthritis.

For more information about avocado, please visit Natural Standard’s Foods, Herbs & Supplements database. For more information about oral cancer, please visit Natural Standard’s Medical Conditions database.

Comments

[dalz]

What formulation does the combination product Avocado/soybean come in? The article links avocado to help with mouth cancer. Has it been proved to help with any other type of cancer?

[ken]

Guacamole is very fattening. So, although it might be good for cancer, it's not good for the waistline. Also, many other medical conditions are related to being overweight. Make sure to hit the treadmill after eating chips & dip.

[anon]

If you are allergic to soy can you handle the soybean oil in guac ok?

[Leigh]

This study explored the effects of phytochemical extracts from avocados on oral cancer cells...I wonder if simply incorporating more avocados into the diet would provide this protection, or if a more potent supplement containing the extracts would need to be consumed.

[Josh]

If guacamole is too fattening, then you could eat avocados in another form. I think people need to start eating fruits and vegetables that are not canned or processed. So many of the nutrients and health benefits that are discovered in fruits and vegetables through these studies are lost by the time it gets to us due to way we eat.

I wonder what people exactly ate in this study to see these effects from avocados.

[Rach]

What other foods are recommended as part of an anti-cancer diet? I've heard that tomatoes and broccoli are especially good cancer fighters.

[WeddedOne]

This is great news! I love guacamole. It has a good type of fat, so I don't really consider it fattening.

[D. Scully]

I’m a bit dubious about this study. I wonder if the authors just put some oral cancer cells in a dish with some avocado extract to see what happened. Oral cancer happens on the inside of the mouth but also on the tissues. Even if the avocado you ate killed the first layer of cancer cells on the inside of your cheek, there would still be a lot of the disease cells multiplying in the skin between the cheek and the face on the other side. Avocados have plenty of healthy fats and other nutrients, but I won’t hold my breath when it comes to eating these fruits to prevent cancer. I think a well-balanced healthy diet might make a difference. But I doubt that adding an avocado a week to the diet would do much good to prevent oral cancer.

[Emma]

It is obvious this study was not conducted on human subjects. While this research may show promise, it is too difficult to assess the true effects of any treatment on the human body without actually experimenting on it. A lab study, such as this, provides no concrete answers to the questions other posters have raised - such as how much is necessary to have any benefit.

[Delia h.]

Although eating avocados alone might not do much to prevent cancer, maybe this research will give us a clue on how to develop medications that will. If these compounds are able to find and destroy cancer cells, then this something that should definitely be looked into.

[w Thomas]

RE: D. Scully and Emma's responses.

I'm with you guys. These are petri dish findings that may have no meaning whatsoever when it comes to ingesting dietary amounts of guacamole. Why, we'd have to walk around with a load of the green gush swishing around in our mouths all day in order to allow for enough contact between the guacamole and the precancerous cells in our mouths. This would not go over well in business meetings or on dates!

Also, this test does not account for enzymes and what not in our saliva that may interfere with the activity of guacamole before it can act against cancer cells. Based on this data alone, it's WAY too early to go buy bushels full of avocados as a defense against mouth cancer.

Still, I do love those luscious green globes, whether sliced in a salad or mashed into guacamole, and I plan to indulge in them generously, fattening or not!

[CR]

More fruits and vegetable are good for us! I agree with others that it is too early to say that avocados in the diet will destroy oral cancer cells, but it appears to be another step in the right direction. There are many ways this research could go: avocado extract development, potential medication development or just eat more avocados. Your mom wanted you to eat your veggies; she did know what she was talking about!

[Rilo]

I agree with w Thomas in many ways, but I also feel that this study is promising regardless. While we may not be able to reap the benefits of avocado through our diets, we may be able to through dietary supplements or other extracted forms.

[Richard]

Provided that this study is onto something, I don’t know anybody who eats avocados or guacamole enough to see any benefit in preventing cancer. I’ll stick to my glass of orange juice every morning.

[Dancing Queen]

I don't think anyone is really going to start chowing down tons of avocados just because of this one study, but I do think it produced some promising results. I personally love avocados, and any potential health benefit is an added bonus.

I've also heard that avocado in a cream form may help treat psoriasis. Has anyone else heard this?

[dalz]

Dancing queen-

Avocado oil rapidly absorbs into psoriasis skin, supplying essential nutrition to the skin via vitamins A, C, D and E. So it may provide mild benefit.

[Sabrina]

I have read about people mashing up avocado and putting it on psoriasis patches, as well as the face (like a face mask). The natural oil is apparently a good moisturizer.

[Jenna]

I've heard that if you're allergic to latex you may also be allergic to avocado. Is this true? If so, why is that the case?

[Derek]

If avocados are a good moisturizer, I wonder if they could help treat dry hair. Has anyone tried this before? If it works, it'd be a much better alternative to the mayonnaise my mom uses.

[Jaycee]

Is there one particular compound that they've found that can be isolated (maybe put into a pill?), or do you need to eat the whole avocado to get this anti-cancer benefit. I really hate the taste of avocados and guacamole!

[Mike]

In response to the question about tomatoes and broccoli helping to fight cancer...yes they do, but for different reasons than avocados may. Tomatoes and broccoli contain antioxidants, which are thought to help fight cancer.

[Kelly]

I didn’t realize that avocados were classified as a fruit! Does anyone know why??