Tuesday, March 10, 2009

DIM is the better choice to halt breast cancer

An anti-cancer compound found in broccoli and cabbage stops breast cancer by lowering the activity of an enzyme associated with rapidly advancing breast cancer, according to a recent study from the University of California, Berkley. That compound was indole-3-carbinol (I3C). Today, scientists have found that diindolylmethane (DIM), a molecule found in I3C, is the chemoprotective compound that gets the job done. According to them, DIM is the better choice for women wanting to halt breast cancer.

DIM remains active in the body, but I3C does not

Scientists at the Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey report that the recommendation for use of I3C as a weapon against cancer does not sufficiently consider the chemical instability of the I3C compound. They investigated whether I3C was directly active in its own right, or whether it only serves as a precursor, with all of the biological responses coming from some of the reaction products of I3C.

They found that in the body, I3C rapidly converts into DIM, and other molecules. When an oral dose of I3C is taken, very little circulating I3C is present to effect a biological response. Because DIM provides a predictable, safer response than the full range of compounds derived from I3C, DIM should be regarded as the better choice. This study is from the July-August edition of the journal In Vivo.

DIM stops breast cancer through hormone modulation

DIM regulates hormone balance and cell behavior through its ability to impact the actions of hormones. The growth promoting activity of unbalanced estrogen can be reduced by eating cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, or by taking DIM supplements. DIM is truly unique among all phytonutrients because it is the only one able to modify estrogen metabolism in the direction of greater 2-hydroxy estrogen production. Improper metabolism of estrogen allows for oxidation and damage to DNA. It also spurs the growth of estrogen sensitive cancers.

Incidence of breast cancer and other estrogen related cancers is low in societies that consume a diet high in total vegetable content. For those people, DIM is gotten by regularly eating broccoli, cabbage, kale, and other cruciferous vegetables.

When women in America have breast cancer and go to see their oncologists, they are never told about the link between eating cruciferous vegetables and halting the spread of cancer, because the Great American Cancer Machine refuses to acknowledge that such a link exists. They are also not told how easily they can halt the spread of their cancers by taking supplements of DIM. If women were told the truth, they could never be sold toxic treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy, and they would never agree to take such devastating drugs as Arimidex or Tamoxifen, because they would know that their own natural estrogen is not their enemy when it is properly balanced and metabolized.

The truth is that eating large amounts of cruciferous vegetables or regularly drinking their juices can prevent cancer and stop existing cancers in their tracks. Anyone who does not want to eat large amounts of these vegetables can achieve their effects by regularly taking DIM supplements. DIM supplements can drastically cut the chances of cancer recurrence.

Studies have shown that DIM increases the production of 2-hydroxy estrogen by 75% and decreases the production of 16-hydroxy estrone by 50%. This action creates the proper balance of estrogen to estrone so needed to halt cancer and prevent its recurrence.

Dr. John Lee will tell you what your own doctor won't

Many well established risk factors for breast cancer have been correlated with low 2-hydroxy estrogen production, such as obesity, high fat diets, and diets deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids. In his book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer, Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. John Lee explains the estrogen metabolic cycle and the importance of the ratio between 2-hydroxy and 16-hydroxy estrogen in stopping and preventing breast cancer.

DIM is not a phytoestrogen

DIM does not mimic the action of any estrogen or phytoestrogen. It has no inherent estrogenic activity. DIM balances the natural response to estrogen by adjusting the activity of metabolic enzymes and specialized estrogen receptor molecules. In dividing cells, the growth promoting signal from estrogen is limited by the reduction of the activity level of the estrogen receptor system. DIM's ability to promote healthy metabolic pathways for estrogen limits cell division and growth through influence on the cell cycle which determines growth and replication.

DIM chokes off the blood supply from tumors

In order for a cancer to grow and thrive, it must have a steady blood supply. Cancers create their blood supply though a process known as angiogenesis. Researchers have shown that DIM is able to stop tumors from completing angiogenesis and creating their own blood supplies. Moreover, the level of oxygen in tumor cells was increased by the use of DIM. Oxygen is the mortal enemy of cancer. Cancer can only grow and thrive in cells that are suffocating from lack of oxygen. A study reported in the May, 2008 Biochemical Pharmacology Journal was the first to show that DIM can decrease the accumulation and activity of the key angiogenesis regulatory factor, HIF-1alpha, in hypoxic tumor cells.

DIM makes cancer cells commit suicide

Apoptosis is the appropriate death of cells. Without apoptosis, cancerous cells can continue to proliferate. In a study reported in the April 22, 2008 edition of Pharmaceutical Research, scientists found low doses of DIM induced production of a pro-apoptotic protein in prostate cancer cells. This protein, known as the prostate apoptosis reponse-4 (PAR-4), reduced cancer cell viability and caused cell growth inhibition and apoptosis.

DIM halts invasion and metastasis of cancer cells

The progression and metastasis of breast and other cancers is regulated by the interaction between a chemokine receptor and its ligand. Organs secrete a particular ligand which binds to the chemokine receptor on the surface of primary cancer cells. This process stimulates the invasive properties of the cancer cells and attracts them to the preferred organ sites, creating metastasis. Researchers found that DIM down-regulates both the ligand and the receptor in breast cancer cells as well as in ovarian cancer cells. In their study reported in the March 28, 2008 Cancer Letter, researchers demonstrated that the potential of cells for chemotaxis and invasion is inhibited by DIM.

DIM is effective against HER-2 cancers

When in vitro experiments were done with breast cancer cell lines, researchers found that DIM inhibited the growth of all four breast cancer cell lines. Because two of the lines over expressed Her-2 and lacked estrogen receptors, these were studied in depth. DIM induced expression of the tumor suppressor p27 genes before the loss of cell viability and apoptosis, and induced transcript expression within six hours. Researchers in this study concluded that the effects of DIM were independent of Her-2 or estrogen receptor status. This study was reported in the February, 2008 Molecular Cancer Therapeutics

DIM is a powerful anti-inflammatory

Recurrent and chronic inflammation has been implicated in the development of several kinds of cancers. As a result, researchers examined DIM's anti-inflammatory properties and mechanisms using stimulated macrophages. DIM was found to significantly decrease the release of nitric oxide, estradiol, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1beta. They concluded that DIM inhibits the release of pro-inflammatory mediators in macrophages. This study can be found in the January, 2008 Journal of Nutrition.

DIM may be nature's Viagra

Estrogen is a growth promoting hormone in men as well as women. As men age, they begin to convert more of their testosterone into estrogen, placing themselves as risk of prostate cancer. DIM works the same wonder in men as it does in women, by blocking some of the conversion of testosterone into estrogen. When men are able to keep more of their testosterone, they are able to function sexually at a more youthful level. Erectile dysfunction is a symptom that testosterone is being converted to estrogen that can fuel the growth of prostate cancer. A man taking DIM may find his pot belly receding, and his morning erections returning, along with the return of more youthful energy levels.

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Grapeseed Extract Kills 76% of Leukemia Cancer Cells

(NaturalNews) A new study conducted at the University of Kentucky in the United States, and published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, found that leukemia cancer cells exposed to grapeseed extract (GSE) were rapidly killed through a process of cell suicide known as "apoptosis."

In these laboratory studies, an astonishing 76% of leukemia cells committed suicide within 24 hours thanks to the ability of GSE to activate a protein called JNK, which regulates apoptosis.

In a healthy person, cancer cell apoptosis is a normal, healthy part of biology. Every living system creates cancerous cells. There are hundreds or thousands of "microtumors" in every human being living today, but cancerous cells in healthy people destroy themselves once they realize they're flawed. This cellular "realization," however, requires healthy cell communication, and that's dependent on the correct nutrients, minerals and proteins being available in the body.

Grapeseed extract appears to accelerate this process in cancer cells, helping them more rapidly assess their own flawed state so they can engage in apoptosis (cell suicide), thus protecting the larger organism (the body).

It's important to note that this recent study was conducted in a lab, not in human beings, so its conclusions cannot necessarily be directly translated into saying something like "grapeseed extract cures cancer," for example. However, it does indicate quite convincingly that if the unique phytochemical molecules found in grapeseed extract can be delivered to leukemia cells with sufficient potency, they may play an important role in cancer cells destroying themselves, thereby protecting the whole organism from runaway cancer.

If the results demonstrated in the labs at the University of Kentucky can be replicated in humans, it could potentially position grapeseed extract as one of the most powerful natural chemotherapeutic agents yet discovered.

Grapeseed extract has been studied and demonstrated to be remarkably effective at killing cancer cells for many different types of cancer, by the way, including cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, skin bowel and stomach.

Eat more grapes?
The conventional cancer community, of course, is quick to warn people not to simply eat more grapes in the hopes that grapeseed extract will help prevent their cancer. But I ask, "Why not?" Unlike toxic chemotherapy, eating grapes has zero negative side effects. At the same time, grapes offer numerous other health benefits, since they are a source of resveratrol and various protective phytonutrients.

Of course, you have to eat grapes with seeds in them, and since the global food supply has become so distorted over the past few years, it's difficult to find grapes with seeds in them. My advice? Buy your grapes from a health food store: Look for organic, seeded grapes. And when you eat them, don't spit out the seeds (obviously). Chew them up, and you'll digest the grapeseed extract that's naturally present in those seeds.

I've talked with conspiracy theorists who believe the seeds were purposely taken out of the grapes in the national food supply for precisely this reason (to remove the anti-cancer nutrients from food, thus keeping people sick). I disagree with that explanation, however: Seedless grapes are simply a product of consumer demand, in much the same way that consumers prefer seedless watermelon. If consumers actually knew about the health benefits of grape seeds, they might think differently, but thanks to efforts by the FDA and USDA, the mainstream public has remained virtually illiterate on nutrition for several decades, and you'll rarely meet an individual who is aware that eating grape seeds is actually good for you.

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How To Preventing from Breast Cancer

It’s that hoary old chestnut again—Prevention being better than cure you can concentrate on some aspects of avoiding getting breast cancer. How you can do this is by fixing and following some tips that will help you on your road to a healthier life.

Avoid or minimize your intake of alcohol as this has been established as the most risky factor for breast cancer. Several studies have shown that the risk of breast cancer increases by 20% to 25% with the consumption of more than one alcohol beverage a day.

Try and maintain a body mass index or BMI of less than 25 for all of your life. If you gain a lot of weight in your middle age, irrespective of the BMI, then it increases your chance of getting breast cancer. Also, studies have established that post menopausal breast cancer risk increases with an increase in BMI.

This cannot be said enough—increase your intake of fruits and vegetables as much as possible, eating seven or more servings in a day. Cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli (eat these raw or cook them lightly as otherwise the phytochemicals in them get destroyed by heat and lower the protection they offer); your usual greens such as kale and spinach; carrots and tomatoes—all these help in protecting you from cancer. Berries, cherries and citrus fruits are also good for health and in the fight against breast cancer.

Make exercise part of your health routine throughout your life. If you do at least 30 to 45 minutes of exercise such as brisk walking or moderate aerobic activity at least 5 times a week you can ward off breast cancer. Be consistent in your exercise and the time you take rather than working out intensely but sporadically.

Watch the fats you eat. Sunflower, safflower, and corn oils are omega-6 fats, which should be avoided as well as trans fats and saturated fats. Increase omega-3 fats in your diet. These can be from oily fish such as salmon and tuna. Monounsaturated oils such as olive oil and avocados are healthy and you should increase your consumption of them as they have anticancer properties.

Carbs! Don’t eliminate them from your diet but do reduce your consumption of such carbs as white potatoes, white rice, white flour, and sugar. These products can set off hormonal changes that increase cellular growth in breast tissue. Instead, include beans or legumes (containing high fiber and lignan) and whole grains in your diet.

Supplement your diet with multivitamins such as vitamins C and E. Take selenium as prescribed by the doctor or as a substitute you can take a couple of Brazil nuts. Do consult your doctor before taking any supplements especially if you have a chronic medical condition or take prescription drugs.

Increase the intake of soy in your diet, including tofu, soy milk, miso, or roasted soy nuts. Make sure you are consuming organic, non-genetically modified soy. Studies have shown that increased soy consumption leads to a reduction in breast cancer.

Did you know that a constant lifetime contact with estrogen does play its part in the development of breast cancer? So avoid prescription estrogen unless advised by your doctor. Industrial chemicals and some pesticides are environmental pollutants that sometimes contain estrogen-like compounds so be careful in your exposure to them. Organic produce is best for use though they are expensive, in which case ensure that all nonorganic produce that you consume is first washed well.

Finally, but very important, make sure that your mental outlook is always positive. Get enough sleep, have a good social network, be brimful with positive self-nurturing thoughts. Your mental attitude is directly linked to the risk of cancer so you can make a good start here by avoiding negative elements in your life.

All in all these tips will help you to lead a healthier and less stressful life. These are also simple rules that will enrich your daily wellbeing.

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