Avocados May Help Beat Blood Cancer

Decadently creamy with a nutty flavor, avocados are a treat to the palate as well as your health.(10 Best Avocado Recipes)You can use them the way you want to – in salads, smoothies, dips and accompaniments, sandwiches, rolls and a lot more. When added to meals, it can spruce up the flavor and texture of the dish, and regular inclusion in your diet promises to bring you long-term health benefits.According to Dr. Gargi Sharma, weight-management expert, "Avocados are extremely rich in potassium, much more than what bananas have. They're also rich in fibre." They are believed to be beneficial in taming non-communicable diseases like diabetes, heart related ailments and so on. Avocados are loaded with ‘good fats’ and its antioxidant properties make them great for a smooth and healthy skin. Regular dose of avocados also helps regulate cholesterol and facilitate in reducing bad cholesterol.(Eat Avocados for Glowing Skin)Adding more to the inexhaustible list of health benefits of avocados, is a recent research conducted by experts at the University of Waterloo in Canada. The researchers have revealed that compounds derived from avocados could be effective in treating leukemia - a cancer of the blood cells. The experts further note that a molecule in avocados may help in combating acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by targeting the root cause of the disease - leukemia stem cells.The findings appeared in the oncology journal Cancer Research and suggest that the new avocado-derived drug could significantly increase life expectancy and quality of life for AML patients."The stem cells are largely responsible for AML and it is the reason why so many patients with leukemia relapse," said researcher Paul Spagnuolo, professor at University of Waterloo in Canada. "We have performed many rounds of testing to determine how this new drug works at a molecular level and confirmed that it targets stem cells selectively, leaving healthy cells unharmed," said Spagnuolo, who discovered the compound.(Thomasina Miers' Recipes For Avocado-Dressed Broccoli & Pork Chops)"Not only does avocatin B eliminate the source of AML, but its targeted, selective effects make it less toxic to the body too. It is an exciting time for our lab. With the help of CCRM we are now pursuing commercial partnership that would take avocatin B into clinical trials."Through partnership with the Center for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) in Canada, he has also filed a patent application for the use of the compound, named avocatin B, to treat AML.(Angela Hartnett's Crab and Avocado Salad Recipe)Inputs from IANS