If you’ve been waiting for an excuse to chow down on cheeseburgers and cheddar franks — relish this moment.
Scientists at the University of Chicago have discovered that a compound in red meat, dairy and other products might help your body’s immune cells fight off tumors.
The compound, known as trans-vaccenic acid or TVA, seems to activate the T cells in your body, which help your immune system fight germs and protect you from disease.
TVA is found in the meat of ruminants such as cows, sheep and other mammals, and their dairy products like milk, cheese, butter and yogurt.
Published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the study also finds that cancer patients who have higher levels of TVA in their blood had a better response to immunotherapy.
That discovery suggested to the researchers that TVA might be useful as a supplement during cancer treatment.
“To see that a single nutrient like TVA has a very targeted mechanism on a targeted immune cell type, with a very profound physiological response at the whole organism level — I find that really amazing and intriguing,” Jing Chen, a cancer researcher at the University of Chicago, told South West News Service.
The researchers started with a database of around 700 known metabolites, which are small molecules that come from food. They then screened the metabolites for their anti-cancer abilities.
After the top six compounds were chosen, scientists evaluated their cancer-fighting abilities in human and mouse cells — TVA performed the best in fighting the development of tumors.
The researchers also found that feeding mice a diet rich in TVA significantly reduced the tumor growth of melanoma and colon cancer cells, and enhanced the body’s ability to infiltrate and attack tumors.
They also analyzed blood samples from lymphoma patients undergoing immunotherapy treatment. That led to the discovery that patients who had higher levels of TVA in their blood responded better to treatment than patients with lower levels.
Finally, the study revealed that TVA enhanced the ability of an immunotherapy drug to kill leukemia cells in patients.
“There are many studies trying to decipher the link between diet and human health, and it’s very difficult to understand the underlying mechanisms because of the wide variety of foods people eat,” Chen said.
“But if we focus on just the nutrients and metabolites derived from food, we begin to see how they influence physiology and pathology,” Chen added.
“By focusing on nutrients that can activate T cell responses, we found one that actually enhances anti-tumor immunity by activating an important immune pathway.”
But — to the dismay of many — the study authors stop short of advising people to eat more red meat and dairy.
“There is a growing body of evidence about the detrimental health effects of consuming too much red meat and dairy,” Chen added, “so this study shouldn’t be taken as an excuse to eat more cheeseburgers and pizza.”
Instead, the researchers are searching for a similar compound in plants that has the same robust tumor-fighting abilities.
“There is early data showing that other fatty acids from plants signal through a similar receptor, so we believe there is a high possibility that nutrients from plants can do the same thing,” Chen said.