Diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s can be fought with the power of purple fruit and vegies, according to a recent study.

Research from the University of Manchester in the UK has found that a contributing factor to many serious diseases is poorly-bound iron, which causes dangerous toxins called hydroxyl radicals to be produced. These can, in turn, react with the components of living systems.

These toxins, however, can be protected against by consuming nutrients called ‘iron chelators’ which bind the iron tightly. Iron chelators are found in green tea and brightly coloured fruit and vegetables, with purple fruit reported to be the most effective.

So, which fruit and vegetables fit into the purple category? You may be hard pressed to think of more than a couple off the top of your head, unless you subscribe to Homer Simpson’s belief that purple itself is a fruit (‘This donut has purple in the middle, purple is a fruit’), but actually the list is pretty extensive, and includes blackcurrants, blackberries, blueberries, plums, eggplant, beetroot, elderberries, grapes, pomegranates, prunes, figs and raisins – and then you have purple variations of common produce such as purple potatoes, purple asparagus, purple cabbage and purple carrots.

The study is the first to link the presence of poorly-bound iron with so many diseases, and highlights the important role it plays in helping other supplements fight disease. For example, vitamin C will be most effective when the iron is suitably chelated.

Study author and Professor of Bioanalytical Science at the University of Manchester,   Douglas Kell said, ‘Much of modern biology has been concerned with the role of different genes in human disease. The importance of iron may have been missed because there is no gene for iron as such. What I have highlighted in this work is therefore a crucial area for further investigation, as many simple predictions follow from my analysis. If true they might change greatly the means by which we seek to prevent and even cure such diseases.’

Source: Archives of Toxicology & www.disabled-world.com