Slashdot Mirror
Carrots May Cure Cancer
Haydn Fenton writes "A group of researchers from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in England have discovered a link between the naturally formed pesticide found in carrots, falcarinol, and a substantial reduction in cancerous tumor formation in rats. The researchers hope that the discovery will lead to new anti-cancer drugs and new methods of production to maximize falcarinol production in crops. Dr Kirsten Brandt one of the researchers told the press "We already know that carrots are good for us and can reduce the risk of cancer but until now we have not known which element of the vegetable has these special properties."
Mushy carrots suck. In fact, cooked carrots of any kind suck (unless they are in carrot cake). Carrots, like revenge and Gespatcho, are a dish best served cold.
You might have a case if this wasn't a controlled experiment where the use of falcarinol was compared against a negative control (and falcarinol via carrots was compared against falcarinol alone). In this situation, it is pretty clearly causation.
I agree that most medical real-world studies can have problems accounting for complicating factors, and that correlation doesn't always mean causation. However, in this case it was a nicely controlled experiment.
Of course, we need to have confirmational experiments carried out, and tests to see if falcarinol has this effect in other types of animals (or cell cultures...then animals).
Fatty, sugary crap sold in the US or dying horribly from all diseases associated with extreme obesity.