Cancer Survivor Finds Healthy Answers with New Nutraceutical Research

 

A healthy lifestyle and diet can help in prevention of cancer … National Center for Biotechnology Information

Who hasn’t faced the scourge of cancer in your family? It starts with shock, emotional betrayal, pain, treatment, remission or death and a deep protracted loss for family and community.

My grandfather was a homesteader who never smoked or drank, a lifelong vegetarian who died from bone cancer in a skeletal frame. My brother who never smoked, drank beer the odd time, and grew a yearly garden in his nursery died from bowel cancer within a 3 month diagnosis. My mother died from an aggressive inflammatory breast cancer as a diabetic with less recovery options.

At 62, with no other symptoms other than loosing my appetite, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. I had no idea what a lymph node was or that I had approximately 800. After 6 months of chemotherapy and 3 months of radiation, the doctor says I am in remission after 8 years.

Is cancer a genetic factor in our family? Is damage to the genetic nucleus DNA caused by harmful substances in the environment or food we eat?

Cancer is simply defined as a disease caused by changes to the genes where some of the bodys cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body.

Cancer prevention has been progressive with early detection and treatment. Research has included radiation, pap tests, hormone therapies and continues unabated with new cancer immunotherapeutic treatments that focus on using the patients’ own immune system to fight the disease with molecularly targeted therapeutics and adoption of evidence based policies. See cancer progress report.

But still much work needs to be done as it is the second leading cause of death (2 million Americans — 2024). Cancer is a group of diseases that may never be able to cured completely but there is optimism that personalized medicine and smart lifestyle choices will prevail even as researchers predict a 77% increase in 2050.

An estimated one in four cancer cases diagnosed is result of potentially preventable risk factors.

What if, new breakthroughs can go beyond specific cell therapies and clinical trials to increase research on nutraceuticals or plant’s natural phytonutrients or phytochemicals? Without doubt, even now, more scientific research is discovering the potential of nutraceuticals with safe and therapeutic effects.

Nutraceuticals are defined as “products which other than nutrition are also used as medicine … provides protection against chronic disease … improves health, delays the aging process, prevents chronic diseases, increases life expectancy, or supports the structure or function of the body.

So it was with great interest that I noted this article: New Concepts in Nutraceuticals as Alternative for Pharmaceuticals

Currently, new concepts are presented about how nutraceuticals can modify disease implications. There is emphasis on how to present herbal nutraceuticals effective on hard curative disorders related to oxidative stress, including allergy, Alzheimer, cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, eye, immune, inflammatory and Parkinson’s diseases, as well as obesity.

These recently published papers about different aspects of nutraceuticals as alternatives for pharmaceuticals can be found in scientific sites such as Medline, PubMed and Google Scholar.

As a cancer survivor, I was keen to check out newest data research on cancer and how I can use food or lifestyle choices to prevent a relapse.

Cancer — has emerged as a major public health problem in all countries. Nowadays more high attention is paid on phytochemicals with cancer-preventive properties.

Chemopreventive components in fruits and vegetables, among other beneficial health effect, have potential anticarcinogenic and antimutagenic activities.

Chronic inflammation is associated with a high cancer risk. Chronic inflammation is also associated with immune-suppression, which is a risk factor for cancer.

A healthy lifestyle and diet can help in prevention of cancer … examples

— Carotenoids are a group of phytochemicals responsible for different colors of the foods. They have antioxidant activities with a focused role on lycopene in cancer disease. This linkage between carotenoids and prevention of cancer heightened the importance of vegetable and fruits in human diet.

— Lycopene decreases oxidative stress and concentrates in the prostate, testes, skin and adrenal where it protects against cancer. It is found exclusively in tomatoes, guava, pink grapefruit, water melon and papaya.

— β-carotene has antioxidant activity and prevents cancer and other diseases. It is found in yellow, orange, and green leafy vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, lettuce, oranges, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots, spinach, and winter squash has anticancer activity.

— Soyfoods are a unique dietary source of isoflavones such as epigallcatechin that possess cancer chemopreventive properties against breast, uterine, lung, colorectal, and prostate cancers.

— Saponins are reported to possibly lower the risk of cancers by preventing cancer cells from growing. They are found peas, soybeans,soapberries, tomatoes, potatoes, alfalfa, spinach, and clover.

— Tannins can scavenge harmful free radicals and detoxify carcinogens. They are present in grapes, lentils, tea, blackberries, blueberries and cranberries as a proven anticarcinogen used in alternative medicine. Ellagic acid, present in walnuts, pecans, strawberries, cranberries, pomegranates and red raspberry seeds, is an anticancer agent.

— Pectin is a soluble fiber found in apples that has been shown to inhibit the cancer cells from adhering to other cells in the body as well as decrease cholesterol levels.

— Glucosinolates from a high intake of cruciferous vegetables have been associated with lower risk of colorectal and lung cancer. They block the enzymes that promote tumor growth, particularly in liver, colon, lung, breast, stomach and esophagus.

— Sulfur compounds called sulforaphane found in garlic is an antioxidant and stimulator of natural detoxifying enzymes that can boost the immune system, reduce platelet stickiness and inhibit breast and prostate cancer

Bottom Line

Large scale trials have shown evidence that various phytochemicals can elevate the levels of antioxidative capacity. However, more investigations are needed to determine their beneficial effects in cancer prevention or treatment. Ongoing trials may help define new avenues for chemoprevention.

It is interesting to note that nutraceuticals, in contrast to pharmaceuticals, are substances, which usually have no patent protection. Both pharmaceutical and nutraceutical compounds might be used to cure or prevent diseases, but only pharmaceutical compounds have governmental sanction. It begs the question if Big Pharma drugs will ever give allowance to Mother Nature.

In the meantime, as a cancer survivor, I pay close attention to the food I eat to make sure I am digesting plenty of whole food phytonutrients with names I don’t know but respect. It is also important to support a strong immune system with trusted bioavailable dietary supplements.

You cannot compromise with cancer; but, perhaps, some competition is possible with phytonutrients.

Comments and questions are always welcome.

Mary (Annemarie) Berukoff

250 304 9710 PST

info@newbetterchoices.com

PS: You can check out research about other chronic cellular diseases with limited cures here.

iStock: seamartini

Two Big Picture Questions and Teacher’s Answers that Matter for Parents and Teen Girls on Social Media

Two Big Picture Questions and Teacher’s Answers for Parents that Matter for Teen Girls on Social Media

"No teen girl should be like an insect nymph getting sustenance from the environment dominated by a Giant Clown Face. What kind of organism would destroy its youth society through mind control before reaching the adult stage? What kind of adulthood would result?"

Excerpt from Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand

On a recent podcast show for parents I was asked a pointed question upfront:

What is the one thing about you that would make parents want to listen to you?  

The answer was simple, drawn from a long background of pride and achievement.  I am a  teacher, now retired, with 24 years of teaching experience. I am a disciplined teacher with total faith in the teaching principles such as asking questions, analyzing content, making a decision with multiple viewpoints. 

Good teaching results in good learning such as comprehension, association, critical and creative thinking. My main job as an educator was to show the Big Picture of any unit study … how all the parts fit together to make any system function as a whole.

However, we are now faced with a new unprecedented unit of study…it’s new, only 20 years old, it’s a technological revolution affecting humanity. Social media has absorbed our communication systems for better or for worse. 

As adults, with wisdom, we can try to cope and handle the changes. But what about teenagers, especially teen girls, how do they find their way without rules, discipline or foresight? How do their adolescent brains know what is right or wrong, dangerous or doable without consequences? What viewpoint do they have to see the Big Picture of how social media has impacted their normal social rites of passage and potential?

And so, I wrote this short e-book with a Big Picture. A teen girl narrates her story of making some bad choices about Selfies and drugs pointing to a symbol of the Social Media Circus impacting an adolescent brain in a dream. She keeps asking, “Is it my fault?”  Her grannie helps to explain the transition of time as experiences with symbols in the sand and the power of choice made in reference to a timeline with 3 essential questions. 

My deep fear is that young teen girls can find too much sustenance on Social Media which can metamorphose into adult lifestyles that defy cultural norms.

The second important question was: what is the most important message you can give to parents? Such an important answer deserved two parts:

First, there is an image in the story that shocked me even to think about it where symbols can mean so much more than words. One of the main characters is a symbol of the Social Media Clown Face … a huge, amorphous, hatch-tagged, cell-phone slinging organism that appears again and again. Another real symbol is the damselfly that represents the fragility of life and self-survival skills of even the smallest being.

In the last chapter, the two symbols meet. The teen girl relates to the damselfly nymphs that survive in their underwater environment with their special appendages for many years only to emerge as adults, to mate, lay eggs and die within weeks. The shocking image shows a nymph with a teenager’s profile finding nourishment and sustenance from this huge Social Media Clown face. The words ring loud and clear:

   Yes, perhaps, like a nymph, I, too, have struggled with my adolescent brain. However, my food supply was scavenged from a giant clown face imposing sexualized Selfies, trying to molt me into grand media impositions, a classification where I never belonged. It never gave me the strength or confidence as a child to metamorphose into a strong capable adult.

As a society, we need to take a closer look at this Big Picture and what matters to our youth as they transition into adulthood to build a sustainable culture.   

Second, parents always ask for advice about better ways to communicate with teenagers in competition with social media. There is much advice to be found on the internet. My best message, however, is to spend as much time as possible with your teenager doing anything that doesn’t involve a cell phone in your hand … making dinner, playing a game, helping a community project, building a  sandcastle.  Since learning is based so much on experience and repetition to form new pathways in the brain, it  is so important to replace ONLINE time with OFFLINE time together. It might even be fun enough to do again and again.  

The heavy-duty social media wavelength is here to stay in sickness and in health. What we all need is the key to better choices to value our personal timeline as our most valuable commodity. This is the theme of the story called Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand.

Ask yourself the same question: what is the one thing that would make people want to listen to you?

Questions and comments are always important. For more podcast questions check this blog. What other questions would you ask this teacher? Challenge her experience because she is the first to admit she has never posted a Selfie! 

 Sincerely,

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

833 471 4661

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com 

Excerpt: "I idly trace a square shape in the slightly damp sand.  Yes, I can call this yesterday … can't relive it but learn from it.  Fill it up so many bad choices, so many regrets without the context of present and future. I was so young to be powered by a rash and brash developing brain. I am now so much better informed about new vocabulary and protection in our changing society.

.

Then, something different, I trace a long deep line in the sand and mark off a short section near the beginning. This is my total lifeline and this very short segment shows my teenage years. Six short years can make a profound difference on a long lifeline, that's for sure.

Now I draw a heavier more rippled line above my lifeline. This, I think, is the internet's social media timeline.  It is powerful and here to stay forever; but I will not allow its size and influence to affect this small section of my life called teen years. I will not fall into a hole created by the Media monster."