Let’s eat nature’s medicine, haskap berries

Cancer has become an epidemic today. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, nearly half of Canadians are at risk of getting cancer at some point in their lifetime. Standard cancer therapies used in clinics cause adverse side effects, which can be very hard to manage. As a cancer survivor, Madumani Amararathna is keen to explore less harmful natural remedies for cancer prevention and as an addition to standard treatments.

Dietary bioactives have gained increasing attention due to their health beneficial effects. This research investigates the chemopreventive ability of haskap, a berry fruit grown in Nova Scotia, in reducing lung carcinogenesis. Her research has the potential to give Canadians a brand new (and very tasty) way to combat cancer.