研究發現橄欖油能在30分鐘殺死癌細胞 - 天羅地網

研究發現橄欖油中常見的多酚化合物oleocanthal能選擇性的殺死癌細胞並同時讓健康細胞完好。

此發表在Molecular & Cellular Oncology的實驗，從頂級初搾橄欖油中得到oleocanthal，評估其抗癌及其機制。結果發現，oleocanthal能快速殺死3種癌細胞(胰臟癌細胞、乳癌細胞、攝護腺癌細胞)，但並不會傷害健康細胞。研究團隊也推測其機制與溶酶體的膜通透(lysosomal membrane permeabilization)有關。

以上實驗證實了以前的研究說明頂級初搾橄欖油與降低多種癌症風險有關，也是為什麼建議食用頂級初搾橄欖油。但為何是「頂級初搾」橄欖油，與一般的橄欖油有什麼不同呢?頂級初榨橄欖油(extra-virgin olive oil)比一般橄欖油含有更多的多酚化合物，市面上橄欖油的品質參差不一，因為使用過度成熟的橄欖果實，再加上處理、包裝、貯存不當以及儲架時間過長，造成製成的橄欖油所含的橄欖多酚含量低，而橄欖多酚卻是橄欖油的健康關鍵。

歐洲食品安全局(European Food Safety Agency，EFSA) 結論出一個因果關係有關於橄欖多酚的攝取與保護LDL分子免受氧化損傷的關係，聲明橄欖多酚能保護血脂免受氧化損傷，也聲明每20g橄欖油應該含有5毫克的橄欖多酚，但大多數市面上橄欖油並沒有達到EFSA建議的橄欖多酚含量，而消費者也必須被教育知道這些訊息，挑選真正品質好的橄欖油。

在西班牙有橄欖油的業者即研發出含有高量橄欖多酚的頂級初榨橄欖油，橄欖多酚含量到達EFSA所建議，業者將不同品種的橄欖果實混和榨油所得的頂級初榨橄欖油，除了含有高量的橄欖多酚之外，也將橄欖油中的苦味降低，多了橄欖果實的香味，也趁機教育消費者橄欖多酚的重要性。

因此，挑選橄欖油除了其不飽和脂肪酸含量之外，還有最重要的橄欖多酚含量，讓我們在生活飲食中也能簡單攝取抗氧化物質，保養身體維持健康。

Olive oil, is well known for being the “Queen of oils,” and fits perfectly into any healthy eating plan. Along with improving longevity & immunological conditions, protecting against osteoperosis, improving cardiovascular wellness, enhancing neurological health, combating diabetes, and even helping fight against the effects of air pollution, but olive oil also offers anti-cancer benefits as well!

Paul Breslin, professor of nutritional sciences in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and David Foster and Onica LeGendre of Hunter College, report that oleocanthal kills cancerous cells in the laboratory by rupturing vesicles that store the cell’s waste.

Olive oil compounds are unlike chemotherapeutic pharmaceuticals that ravage healthy cells along with cancer cells, the therapeutic compounds found in olive oil kills cancer while avoiding healthy cells. This programmed cell death is known as "apoptosis," and usually takes approximately 16-24 hours, but this dynamic new research has blown scientists away, as the cancerous cells died within 30 minutes to an hour when exposed to the oleocanthal found in olive oil.

This happens because Oleocanthal, a polyphenolic, therapeutic compound found in extra-virgin olive oil kills a variety of human cancer cells without harming healthy cells, and is now the subject of an anti-cancer study performed by nutritional science and cancer biology researchers at Rutgers and Hunter’s College in New York City.

Researchers found that the oleocanthal destroys the cancer cells’ "waste centers" or "lysosomes," which are larger than healthy cells, but are also more fragile. Lysosomes serve as a recycling center for a cells waste with cancer cells. Oleocanthal was said to “puncture” the lysosome vesicles causing the cancerous cell’s own enzymes to kill it.

Once the oleocanthal does its damage, critical functions begin to suffer and the cancer cells die, but the healthy cells stay intact and are put to sleep. After the oleocanthal puts the healthy cells to sleep for a day, they rebound like nothing happened.

While researchers previously understood that compounds in olive oil were capable of killing cancer cells, this rapid apoptosis had not been noticed. Even more fascinating was when the team looked very closely to assess why apoptosis was occurring under such swift circumstances, they discovered that cancer cells were being killed by their own enzymes. This did not work for only one isolated type of cancerous cell, but all of the cancerous cells they were examining.

Be aware extra-virgin and virgin olive oils are processed by crushing olives into a mash, which is pressed to extract the oil (called the first press) without the use of heat which is known as cold pressing. Extra-virgin oils are of higher quality, as the olives used to make them are processed within 24 hours of picking. FYI, the longer olives go between picking and processing, the higher their free fatty acid content (extra-virgin olive oil can have up to 0.8%, virgin oils 2%). Extra-virgin oils also have more polyphenols than virgin oils.