Purple potatoes ‘slow cancer’

The colour purple seems to matter when it comes to potatoes. They contain properties that kill colon cancer stem cells and slow the spread of the disease. Researchers believe that the potato’s resistant starch helps gut bacteria create short chain fatty acids that regulate the immune system, suppress inflammation and help cancer cells self-destruct. Researchers at Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute have tested the purple-fleshed potatoes on stem cells in laboratory Petri dishes on mice and have come up with similar results. Basically, the potato stops the cancer from spreading but, more importantly, it attacks cancer stem cells, which prevent it from recurring. They hope to test the potatoes on cancer patients next and on various types of cancer. More