MarkMincolla.com

Food is Medicine

Fighting Tumors with Citrus Fiber 

Studies Reveal Citrus Contains Powerful Anti-Cancer Properties                                                                                                                                                                          

The health and healing properties of citrus have been known for centuries. Thousands of years ago, Chinese healers applied medicinal orange peels and hot wet cloths to breast and lymphatic tumors. Ancient Egyptian doctors administered grapefruit packs to inflamed joints for relief. In the year 1593, it became mandatory that all English sailing crews be well supplied with lemons and oranges, in order to prevent the spread of scurvy. Here in the modern west, the citrus legend has been building a similar healthy, healing reputation since the early 1970’s.  I still have vivid recollections of those “up with people” orange juice commercials from that same era. At that time, orange juice was being heaped with praises for its immune- enhancing vitamin C content. More recently, orange juice has all but supplanted milk as the newly acclaimed super source of essential dietary calcium. Now, there is a third and even more impressive health claim being linked to citrus.

Recently, at the Tumor Progression and Metastasis Laboratory at Detroit’s Barbara Ann Karamanos Cancer Institute, Dr. Avraham Raz and his colleagues, discovered that modified (powdered) citrus pectin (MCP), derived from the white, insulating fiber surrounding citrus fruits, can significantly reduced both the size and number of tumors in mice.   In order for cancer cells to spread (metastasize), they first require sticky sugars called surface galectins to root themselves to the walls of blood vessels. The metastasizing of cancer is also a very sophisticated, highly complex process depending on cell-to-cell bonding and communication. The galectin sugars are in essence the stabilizing force that enables all of this power and sophistication to build its deadly momentum.

With this in mind, the researchers added soluble citrus pectins to the drinking water of mice that had been implanted with human breast and colon cancer. They soon found that the citrus pectins consistently broke down the surface galectins. In so doing, they blocked the tumor cells from attaching to one another, and to the walls of blood vessels.

Raz emphasizes the radical uniqueness of pectin’s cancer fighting mechanism. Unlike present chemotherapist that seek to destroy cancer cells, the citrus pectins stop the cancer cells from gathering into tumors, and spreading throughout the body. What’s more, they ultimately starve the already existing tumors by preventing them from growing new blood vessels.

In a recent human study authored by Dr's. Stephen Strum and Mark Scholz, similar impressive results were observed.   Strum and Scholz administered citrus pectin orally, in 15 gram per day doses, to prostate cancer subjects with rapidly rising PSA (prostate specific antigen) cancer marker levels. All subjects were closely monitored for three, six and twelve month intervals. A significant PSA reduction response was noted in 60% of the subjects.                                   

 In yet another recent human study, researcher Brad Guess, a physician’s assistant at Prostate Oncology Specialists in California, reported equally promising findings in male subjects with prostate cancer. The study, published in the journal: Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, asked 13 men with prostate cancer who did not respond to conventional treatment, to take 6 capsules (14.4 grams) of modified citrus pectin three times per day for one year. The researchers concluded that seven of the ten men who ultimately completed the study, showed significant tumor reduction.

Finally, from a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the team of Dr. Kenneth J. Pienta introduced MCP into the drinking water of rats implanted with prostate cancer cells. The scientists were interested in observing the potential influence of MCP on the spread of cancer. They discovered that only 50% of the rats given the citrus pectin formula developed lung metastases, compared to 93.75% in the control group. Furthermore, the researchers noted that the cancerous rats who received MCP revealed an average of one cancer colony in their lungs compared to nine in the control group.

Many ongoing studies continue to examine the powerful anti-meta static binding potentials of modified citrus pectin. I’ll be sure to keep you updated, and on the cutting edge as new information continues to surface in this exciting area of research.   

A RASPBERRY LIFE SAVER

Breakthrough research reveals a common food may be an answer for cancer

Do you remember the good old days when black raspberries were nothing more than the main ingredient in that luscious accouterment that adorned your breakfast toast? The latest in cutting edge nutritional science is now reporting that the seedy little tarts possess powers far beyond your wildest dreams.                                                                                       

“Black raspberries are loaded with nutrients and phytochemicals that may prevent the development of cancer” says Gary Stoner, chief researcher at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Ohio State University. Stoner and his colleagues have spent more than twenty years studying the anti-carcinogenic properties of red raspberries. In recent animal studies, Stoner observed that raspberries could consistently stop the onset of cancer, as well as inhibit its ability to replicate on a cellular level.

The rats in the studies were injected with a highly cancerous chemical compound called nitrosamines. Some of the rats were then given standard diets, while others were given a diet comprised of 5-10% black raspberries. In one control group, the rats were fed the raspberries after receiving the nitrosamines, while in the other they were fed the raspberries prior to the cancerous injection.

The rats that were fed the 5-10% black raspberry diet both before, and after exposure to the cancerous compound reduced the number of tumor sites by 39 and 49% respectively, as compared to the rats who remained on standard diets. By week 25 of the study, the rats on the 10% raspberry diets exhibited a 62% reduction in total tumor sites, and by week 35 the rats on the 5% raspberry diets reduced tumor sites to 66.5%. Curiously, this aspect of the study coincides with a number of other similar research findings that seem to suggest that “less just might be more.” In the long run, the rats that were fed the 5% raspberry diets, more aggressively arrested the cancer growth than those that were fed twice the number of raspberries. Stoner believes that the reason for this is that there are many powerful chemical agents in all foods, some of which are potentially medicinal, while others are toxic. He therefore stresses that while it is important to consume a variety of healthy fruits and vegetables, it is equally important not to overdo any one food.                                                                                                                         

Stoner’s exciting nutrient research has spawned a number of other studies regarding the anti-carcinogenic properties of raspberries. Researcher Dr. Daniel Nixon from the Hollings Cancer Center at the University of South Carolina Medical School in Charleston has been conducting similar ongoing trials for the past nine years. Nixon’s team has been isolating human cervical cancer cell cultures and exposing them to varied doses of distilled raspberries. They’ve discovered that raspberry applications consistently trigger G1 (cancer cell division) arrest within 48 hours, and apoptosis (cancer cell death) within 72 hours! Moreover, Nixon and his colleagues have observed similar results in studies conducted on cancerous cells isolated from the human breast, pancreas, esophagus, skin, colon and prostate.    

 
While most of these researchers are quick to point out that there are a number of powerful chemical compounds in the raspberries that are responsible for their medicinal punch, most agree that the one that stands out is ellagic acid. Ellagic acid is a plant phenol commonly found in most whole grains, vegetables, green and black teas, and of course fruits such as red and black raspberries. The tiny seeds of raspberries actually contain the highest concentration of the power packed phenol. Other similar ongoing studies of note include projects at the Northwestern University School of Medicine, and the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

Belief in the medicinal power of food is as old as human existence on this planet. After all, it was nearly 3,000 years ago that Hippocrates proclaimed: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” [With that in mind, something tells me that all this excitement over raspberries would more than likely illicit a “much adu about nothing” response from any one of our ancient ancestors. Still] I can’t imagine myself ever feeling quite the same about my once simple breakfast pleasures. “Please pass me the black raspberry preserves, or should I say preservers?”