Mary Tutwiler

Another good reason to eat Louisiana oysters

by Mary Tutwiler

If there weren’t enough reasons to eat Louisiana oysters — on the half shell, fried, charbroiled, pan sauteed, Rockefeller, Bienville, Mosca, shooters, spaghetti, and artichoke soup, chowder, gumbo, panko encrusted or po'boyed — add fighting breast cancer.

Dr. Jack Losso, a researcher from Louisiana State University’s Department of Food Science presented the results of a study at the annual meeting for the Institute of Food Technologists outlining the correlation between oysters and breast cancer cells. Losso combined oyster ceramides, which are lipids or fat compounds, with breast cancer cells in test tubes and laboratory rats. The ceramides were shown to significantly impact the cells. The study was funded by Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter.

According to the American Cancer Society, About 182,460 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2008 and 40,480 of those women will die from the disease. It is the second leading cause in cancer death among women, after lung cancer.