Asparagus

reesegrace1 · July 2019

I am confused about Asparagus. Articles say it is healthy & good for you, it's even on the Alkaline list. BUT on the other hand articles say it can cause breast cancer to grow.
I recently started eating asparagus & got to liking it, but now after reading about the breast cancer issue with it, i'm not so sure i want to eat it now. Your thoughts?

pinuplove · July 2019

If you like asparagus, eat asparagus. Everything has the potential to kill you, in high enough quantities.

kimny72 · July 2019

I had to stop paying attention to "research" about the pros and cons of individual foods. As @pinuplove was saying, there are small amounts of all sorts of scary sounding things in pretty much everything, and if someone in a lab isolates that compound and shoots ridiculous amounts of it into a mouse, they are going to develop some kind of health problem.

I doubt the increasing rates of certain cancers in the western world are due to the public's love of asparagus

Like anything else, just don't eat nothing but asparagus.

Terytha · July 2019

Do you have breast cancer? If not, its irrelevant. Asparagus does not cause cancer. What it has is an enzyme that may possibly be linked to spreading existing cancer, although studies are inconclusive. That enzyme helps all cells to grow, which just happens to include cancer cells.

Don't fall for every stupid cancer scare. Literally everything impacts cancer in some way. Eat what you like.

LyndaBSS · July 2019

Eat it. Enjoy it. Log it.

Trechechus · July 2019

Articles that tell you x vegetable/fruit is bad for you are usually bogus. If you like asparagus, eat it. You can have mine, too!

apullum · July 2019

Whatever you're reading is a good example of bad science reporting.

There was a study showing that diets high in asparagine can promote the spread of triple negative breast cancer in mice.

There are some important things to unpack in that statement:

Asparagine is not asparagus. Asparagine is an amino acid that the human body naturally produces. It is also found in a lot of foods, including dairy, whey, beef, poultry, eggs, fish, seafood, potatoes, legumes, nuts, seeds, soy, whole grains, and also asparagus.
This study was done in mice. We don't know yet what relevance, if any, it has to humans.
This study was done in mice with breast cancer. We don't know yet what relevance, if any, it has to creatures without breast cancer.
This study was done in mice with a specific type breast cancer. We don't know yet what relevance, if any, it has to creatures with any other type of breast cancer.
We already use a compound called L-asparaginase in chemo for some cancers, namely acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). L-asparaginase decreases the body's natural production of asparagine. We use it in ALL treatment because we already know that asparagine promotes this cancer's spread. In other words, we have evidence that at least one other cancer is sensitive to asparagine and we already have a treatment that addresses that.
People who have ALL are not being told to avoid asparagus, or other foods containing asparagine. This is probably because the body produces asparagine already, and because asparagine is found in a huge variety of foods.

The most accurate thing we could say, based on this research, is that it's probably worth investigating whether L-asparagine should be added to the chemo regimen for triple negative breast cancer patients.

Sources:

Asparagus

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