© Myrabella / Wikimedia CommonsA bag of Carnaroli, an Italian variety of rice.
How much does what we eat influence our bodies? Of course, the amount of fat, sugar or proteins we take in can influence our weight, but new research is suggesting that special compounds in plants could change how our bodies use our genes and proteins.
Called microRNAs, these compounds are the movers and shakers of our cells, as scientists have found they turn up and down levels of human proteins. However, until now scientists thought these chemicals were only made and used inside our bodies, but new research shows that microRNAs from plants can
enter the human body.Chen-Yu Zhang at Nanjing University in Nanjing, China, found low levels of plant microRNAs from rice in human tissues. After testing the effects of these chemicals on mice, Zhang concluded microRNAs from plants could actually impact how the human body functions.
"These microRNAs may, therefore, represent a new class of universal modulators that mediate animal-plant interactions at the molecular level," Zhang told LiveScience in an email. "Plant microRNAs may represent essential functional molecules in food and herbal medicine, and also provide a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of diseases."
Not all researchers agree with the findings, though.
Petr Svoboda, a researcher at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in the Czech Republic, told LiveScience that the concentrations of plant microRNA found in samples of human tissues were much lower than those in the lab experiments, and he doubts such low levels could have any physiological consequences on the human body.
Comment: To learn more about how 'Scientific Evidence is becoming more unreliable' read the excellent article in The Dot Connector Magazine Issue 14 - 'The Corruption of Science'
The Corruption of Science in America