Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
At low doses, digested adzuki bean sprouts stop stomach cancer cells from multiplying in a way that gets stronger with more dose—but at higher doses, this effect stops increasing and levels off.
Quantitative
Adding good bacteria to mung bean sprouts before digestion makes the final digested juice contain about 18% more plant chemicals known to have biological effects.
The digested parts of adzuki bean sprouts are rich in quercetin and kaempferol, while mung bean sprouts are rich in apigenin and kaempferol—these are plant chemicals known to affect cell behavior.
Descriptive
When stomach cancer cells are treated with digested sprouts that have good bacteria in them, a protein called vinculin increases—this means the cells’ internal structure is changing, which is linked to them stopping growth or dying.
Mechanistic
When stomach cancer cells are exposed to high doses of digested adzuki bean sprouts, their nuclei change shape to become round or oval—this is a known sign that the cells are starting to die.
When good bacteria are added to both types of bean sprouts, their overall ability to fight harmful oxidative stress goes up—by 13% for adzuki and 9% for mung beans.
Adding good bacteria to mung bean sprouts makes their digested juice much better at neutralizing two types of harmful free radicals—by nearly a third for one and nearly a fifth for the other.
The digested juice from mung bean sprouts doesn’t really slow down stomach cancer cells much, except in a narrow middle range of doses—too little or too much doesn’t do anything.
The digested juice from adzuki bean sprouts can stop about 70% of stomach cancer cells from multiplying at a very small dose—much more than what mung bean sprouts can do at the same level.
When stomach-digested adzuki bean sprouts with good bacteria are added to stomach cancer cells in a dish, they slow down the cells' movement even at very low doses, and increasing the dose doesn’t make it work any better.
When people eat a lot more fruits and fruit juice for 3 months, their sugar intake goes up by 40%, which might be a hidden downside of trying to eat healthier.
Causal
When people who don’t eat much fruit or veggies are given them for free every week, they start eating almost 8 servings a day—proving that lack of access is a big reason they don’t eat enough.
People stop eating lots of fruits and veggies not because they don’t know how to cook them, but because they’re too expensive, hard to buy often, and there’s just too much to eat every day.
Even after eating a lot of fruits and veggies for 3 months, most people go back to eating only a little bit again a year later unless someone keeps giving them the food.
Eating more fruits and veggies for 3 months doesn’t lower blood pressure, cholesterol, or sugar levels—or make arteries less stiff—in healthy people who were already eating poorly.
Eating more fruits and veggies for 3 months doesn’t help protect the DNA in blood cells from damage—even when those cells are stressed in the lab.
Even though eating more fruits and veggies boosts certain nutrients, it doesn’t make the body’s overall ability to fight off cell damage from oxidation any stronger in healthy people.
Eating more fruits and vegetables for 3 months makes the level of alpha-carotene—a plant nutrient—in the blood go up by 50% in people who didn’t eat much before.
When people eat a lot more fruits and veggies for 3 months, the levels of two important plant pigments—beta-carotene and lutein—in their blood jump by 70%, showing their body is absorbing more of these beneficial compounds.
Eating more fruits and veggies for 3 months raises the level of folate (a B vitamin) in the blood by 15% in people who used to eat very little of them, helping their body make healthy cells.
When people who don't eat much fruit or veggies start eating about 8 servings a day for 3 months, the level of vitamin C in their blood goes up by 35%, meaning their body gets more of this important nutrient.
Zerumbone slightly increases harmful molecules (ROS) in skin cells before UVA hits—this small rise is actually needed to activate the cell’s defense system.
Zerumbone turns up the volume on a genetic switch (ARE) that controls antioxidant genes—more zerumbone means louder activation.
Zerumbone stops skin cells from making too much of an enzyme that breaks down collagen, helping keep skin structure intact after UVA exposure.