Lots of Fruit in Childhood Cuts Adult Cancer Risk

  Adults who had been fed plenty of fruit when they were children are less likely to suffer from certain types of cancer, British scientists said on Wednesday.

  A medical study of nearly 4,000 men and women showed that the more fruits the adults had eaten when they were young the less likely they were to suffer from lung, bowel and breast cancer.

   "This study shows that childhood fruit consumption may have a long term protective effect on cancer risk in adulthood," Dr. Maria Maynard of the Medical Research Council in London said.

  All of the adults in the study had filled in a food inventory during the 1930s for a research study looking into the eating habits of families in rural and urban areas of England and Scotland. Maynard and her colleagues studied the medical records of the group up to July 2000, by which time 483 cases of cancer had been diagnosed. In addition to fewer cases of cance, a high consumption of fruit was associated with a lower death rate from all causes.

  Fruits are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins and other nutrients, which can help to prevent genetic damage that can lead to the development of cancer.

  The scientists also studied the impact of vitamins C, E and beta carotene on cancer but they did not find any evidence that individual antioxidants were as protective as fruit.

  英國科學家19日研究發現：童年時多吃水果，長大以后患某些癌癥的幾率會被降低。

  科學家對4千名男女進行了跟蹤調查，發現童年時水果吃得越多，越不容易得肺癌、腸癌和乳腺癌。

  倫敦醫學研究會的瑪利亞·梅納德博士說："這一研究表明，孩提時代多食用水果將在成年以后產生長期的防癌作用。"

  接受調查的所有人都曾在20世紀30年代填寫過一份英格蘭和蘇格蘭城市及農村家庭飲食狀況的調查表。而梅納德和她的同事對這些人進行了跟蹤調查，發現到2000年6月，其中的483人被診斷患了癌癥。研究人員發現：孩提時代攝入水果量越高的人越不容易得癌癥，而患上癌癥的人群中，水果攝入量高的，抗病的時間也越長。

  水果富含抗氧化劑、維他命和其他營養成分，可以有效防止身體機能發生癌變。

  科學家還研究了維生素C、維生素E和β胡蘿卜素對癌癥的抵抗作用，但他們沒有找到任何證據顯示單一的抗氧化劑能比水果更有效。