Jae Kyeom Kim, University of Delaware assistant professor for the Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition, has discovered an achievable solution that may mitigate the effect of air pollutants in our bodies by increasing daily intake of apiaceous vegetables.
Apiaceous vegetables are a family consisting of vegetables such as celery, carrots, parsnips, and parsley. Kim’s research, published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, investigates how these vegetables protect the body from accumulation of acrolein, an irritant to the lungs and skin with a strong unpleasant odor, abundantly found in cigarette smoke and automobile exhaust.
Through a series of tests, Kim and his team analyzed how apiaceous vegetables, which are high in phytonutrients, mitigated acrolein-induced toxicities. The results portrayed how oxidative stress, triggered by acrolein, can be reduced and its impacts mitigated.
