Peanuts are a tasty and popular snack. Many people enjoy eating them as part of a healthy diet. But a recent study from the University of Liverpool has found something that people with cancer might want to think about before eating too many peanuts.
The study looked at a protein found in peanuts called Peanut Agglutinin, or PNA. This protein can get into your bloodstream after you eat peanuts. Once it’s in the blood, PNA can affect how your blood vessels work.
It can cause your body to produce certain chemicals called cytokines. Two of these cytokines, called IL-6 and MCP-1, might help cancer cells spread to other parts of the body.
These chemicals can make the inside of blood vessels more friendly to cancer cells. That means it’s easier for cancer cells to move through the body and start growing in new places. This is especially dangerous for people who are already fighting cancer.
In an earlier study, the same research team found that PNA can stick to special sugar patterns found on the surface of cancer cells. This makes the cancer cells stick together, kind of like Velcro. When cancer cells clump together like this, they can survive better in the bloodstream. That gives them a better chance to spread to other areas of the body.
It’s important to understand that the researchers are not saying peanuts are dangerous for everyone. For most people, eating peanuts is still a healthy choice. The concern is mainly for people who already have cancer. For them, eating peanuts often might raise the risk of cancer spreading.
If you or someone you know is going through cancer treatment, it might be a good idea to eat fewer peanuts for now. The lead researcher, Lu-Gang Yu, says more studies are needed to understand the full risks. This is just the beginning of the research, and there are still many questions to answer.
The team published their findings in a journal called Carcinogenesis. Even though the science is complicated, we’ve explained it here in a simple way so you can better understand how your food choices might affect your health.
Knowing more about what you eat can help you make better decisions—especially if you are dealing with a serious illness like cancer. Keep following the research to stay informed. And as always, talk to your doctor if you have concerns about your diet during cancer treatment.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and new way to increase the longevity of cancer survivors.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how to fight cancer with these anti-cancer superfoods, and results showing daily vitamin D3 supplementation may reduce cancer death risk.
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