Natural is not always innocuous
Author Giorgio Rialdi
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Tags toxicity, neoplasias, antioxidant, lang_en, natural, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, plant derived products
Over the last few years interest in plant derived products has increased in proportion to the decreased use of both functional and non-functional raw materials of animal origin. In the past we have already had the opportunity to comment upon, and often even to challenge, the use of the adjective "natural" as a synonym for "vegetable" and consequently for "harmless" to influence the unknowing consumer, the "victim" of advertising statements which have little to do with the reality of the finished cosmetic product. Many examples can be given to overturn the established principle vegetable is harmless. The food we eat, and a great deal of vegetable matter in particular, co ntains large amounts of toxic substances, mutagenic and carcinogenic elements. Together with smoke they are probably the main causes of cancer, and are perhaps, at least to some extent, responsible for other pathologies, such as atherosclerosis, and aging. The fact that plants contain toxic chemical substances, often in significant quantities, and that some of them may constitute a carcinogenic risk to man is not in the least surprising. These substances are often synthesised as a means of defence against insects or other predators. Many of the best known and most powerful poisons in the world today are of botanical origin. For the most part, man has known of them for quite some time since their acute effects are easily recognisable, and pharmacologists have always shown a very strong interest in these poisons given that, in small doses, they provide therapeutic effects. More recently, the use of short-term tests for carcinogenesis has allowed us to identify a number of potentially carcinogenic compounds which can easily be found in the vegetable matter our diet contains (such as potato, onion, chicory, lettuce, apple, spinach, fig, celery, parsley and essentials oils such as bergamot, nutmeg, black pepper, anise, cotton seed oil, and the meat and milk of livestock fed these seeds). The cancer causing ability of some of these elements has been proven by long-term testing on rodents. In conclusion, it would be wise to consider that nature is not necessarily benign and that the carcinogenic elements present in our diet - not only those of vegetable origin which have been considered in this text, but also those which derive from the pyrolysis of proteins, which occurs during cooking, for example - are the cause of a number of human neoplasias which is difficult to estimate but which is no doubt significant. And speaking of cancer alone is most certainly too restrictive, since the degenerative illnesses associated with aging are at least partly due to damaged DNA. However, nature also provides us with a remedy consisting in a number of tiny molecules which are present in our diet and which have an antioxydant and anticarcinogenic effect. Therefore generic, incomplete and sensational promotional statements are of no use either to the consumer or to the industry.