Eating Crusts on Your Loaf Proctects Against Bowel Cancer

Published: 31 July 2009

Your Mum told you it would make your hair curl, but new research suggests that eating crusts may help protect against bowel cancer.

Scientists have discovered that an antioxidant released during the baking process could help prevent changes in the body that can lead to the development of tumours. 

Back in 2002, German scientists found that the baking process leads to the formation of an antioxidant called pronyl-lysine, which is eight times more abundant in the crust than the rest of a loaf1.  Now researchers based at the Annamalai University in India have tested the impact of the antioxidant.  They found that rats fed a diet supplemented with pronyl-lysine were significantly less likely to develop pre-cancerous lesions than those which went without2.

Bowel tumours are the third most common cancer in Britain and kill around 16,000 people a year.  Good diet is thought to help protect against the disease and eating high-fibre foods, such as wholemeal bread, is already recommended to reduce the risks.  However, the latest study published in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, suggests that bread crusts may have a benefit along with the fibre.

1 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2002 Nov 20
2 European Journal of Cancer Prevention Aug 2009 Volume 18 Issue 4