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Cancer Fighting Botanicals

© Karyn Siegel-Maier

Cancer Fighting Botanicals: Medicine for the 21st Century

For years you've been told to eat your greens. Perhaps now there is more incentive for you to do so, other than Mother's good wisdom of the past. Vegetables, herbs, and fruits, will not only help to produce a glowing, vibrant "you," but will help you to beat the odds of developing cancer as well.

A few years ago, the American Cancer Society led a $6 million study of beneficial phytochemicals to pursue the treatment, and more importantly, the prevention of cancer. Phytochemicals are naturally occurring agents found in plants, which help the body to guard against carcinogenesis at the cellular level. Several groups of phytochemicals have been identified, which produce different benefits. The class of phytochemicals termed indoles, inhibit the actions of excess estrogen, possibly reducing the incidence of breast cancer. Sulforaphane, a member of this same class, promotes the production of anti-cancer enzymes. Polyacetylenes (found in parsley) prevent the synthesis of carcinogens, and isoflavones (from legumes) appear to offset cancer-gene enzymes.

Breast Cancer

Thirty to 60% of all cancers, including breast cancer, cannot be blamed on environment or genetics, but on a poor diet. In Japan, for instance, where the diet is primarily low-fat vegetarian, women rarely experience breast cancer. Yet, population studies have shown that Japanese women who relocate to the U.S. soon face the same cancer risk as their American sisters, at a rate nearly 400% higher than in Japan. Why?

Several studies have shown that women of western nations typically consume a diet liberal in fat, and that leads to an over production of estrogen in pre-menopausal women. Estradiol, the principal estrogen hormone, is also produced in increased amounts. When a high-fat diet is consumed, the excess estradiol hormone is enabled to break free from carrier molecules and becomes biologically active. The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) likens this action as being "like soldiers jumping off a jeep and starting their attack." Research has unveiled that adequate amounts of sulforaphane inhibits the mechanisms of excess estrogen levels, thereby diminishing the risk of breast cancer.

Prostate Cancer

Men are also at risk for cancer due to hormonal imbalance. Sixty percent of men between the ages of 40 and 60 suffer from BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia), or enlargement of the prostate. One of the primary reasons for this is the fall off of testosterone levels in men of this age group. As testosterone levels decrease, other hormones, especially dihydrotestosterone, are on the rise and concentrate in the prostate. Dihydrotestosterone is a potent androgen, formerly metabolized with testosterone in the prostate and excreted. However, as testosterone levels dwindle, and other hormones increase, this metabolism is prevented, and what testosterone is present is converted to dihydrotestosterone. This results in the overproduction of prostate cells, and eventually, enlargement of the prostate.

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