New research from Japan: Green tea fights blood and liver cancer, as well as pneumonia

Natural News
S. L. Baker
Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Three new studies by Japanese scientists add even more evidence to what already is an astounding mountain of data showing green tea protects and heals the human body. All of the research is based on findings from the huge Ohsaki National Health Insurance Cohort Study in Japan which involved 41,761 Japanese adults between 40 and 79 years of age. None of the research subjects had a history of cancer when the study started and their diets, along with other lifestyle factors and any health problems they developed, were followed for about ten years.

In a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, Dr. Toru Naganuma of Tohoku University School of Medicine in Senda and colleagues reported that drinking at least five daily cups of green tea was found to slash the risk of blood cancers by 42% and lymph system cancers by 48%. What’s more, these enormous reductions in cancer were consistent in both men and women and in people with various body mass sizes.

While Dr. Naganuma was looking at blood and lymph cancer rates, another research team in the Division of Epidemiology in Tohoku University’s Department of Public Health and Forensic Medicine was also searching the Ohsaki National Health Insurance Cohort Study and they discovered yet another link between green tea and cancer prevention. Their study, published in the September issue of the journal Cancer Causes and Control found that green tea consumption was inversely associated with the incidence of liver cancer. The study documented that the more green tea consumed, the more the risk plummeted — five cups or more offered the most protection from liver malignancies.

Yet another study of the Ohsaki data by scientists at the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, published in the September edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found a strong link between drinking green tea and protection against pneumonia in women. The researchers noted in their paper that experimental and animal studies have previously shown that catechins, antioxidant phytochemicals found abundantly in green tea, are active against infectious agents — so that could be a possible explanation for green tea’s apparent pneumonia-fighting ability.

They excluded any research participants who were missing information on their green tea consumption or who had reported a history of cancer, heart attack or stroke. In all, the scientists followed the research subjects’ health for over 12 years. The results showed, at least for women, a dramatic reduction in the risk of pneumonia for green tea drinkers. Once again, drinking five or more cups a day appeared to offer the most benefit. Full article here…

Medicinal mushrooms like reishi, maitake can help fight cancer

Natural News
Mike Adams
Friday, October 23, 2009

The cure for cancer already exists. But it wasn’t created in a lab, and it wasn’t funded by pink-ribbon products or walkathons. It was created for free by Mother Nature, and it exists as a collection of literally thousands of powerful anti-cancer phytonutrients found in medicinal mushrooms.

Medicinal mushrooms contain some of the most potent medicine in the world. They are living pharmaceutical factories, but they file no patents and ask for no royalties. They just mind their own business, manufacturing healing medicines day by day, and waiting for someone wise and humble enough to come along and pick them.

Here, we’ve assembled a unique collection of supporting statements about medicinal mushrooms and cancer from some of the top authors in the industry. If you (or someone you know) suffers from any form of cancer, make sure to send them this information so they can learn what their conventional cancer doctor won’t dare tell them… that medicinal mushrooms make chemotherapy virtually obsolete!

Beating cancer with the help of medicinal mushrooms
Many of the medicinal mushrooms, including chaga mushroom, maitake mushroom, ganoderma mushroom, and cordyceps mushroom, contain cancer-preventive and cancer-fighting actions. Research has focused on the polysaccharides with beta 1,3 glucan linkages. Indole-3-carbinol is a nutrient found in large quantities in cruciferous vegetables. It is a potent antagonist of breast cancer, reducing formation of cancerous compounds from hormones and participating in blockage of cancer cell progression.
- The One Earth Herbal Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Chinese, Western, and Ayurvedic Herbal Treatments by Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.

Other mushroom extracts that have been shown to have clinical effectiveness against human cancers are D-fraction extracted from the Maitake mushroom, and extracts from the split gill, turkey tail and Reishi mushrooms. In 1998, Maitake Products received FDA approval for an Investigational New Drug Phase II pilot study of maitake mushroom extract in the treatment of advanced breast and prostate cancer. There is also some evidence that the consumption of mushrooms in the diet may ward off cancer.
- You Don’t Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore by Bill Sardi

As with many of the medicinal mushrooms, Shiitake has been shown to be of benefit as an adjuvant cancer therapy. It has been shown to improve specific immune markers (including natural killer cells, tumor necrosis factor, T-helper cells, and a variety of interleukins), and patient outcomes.
- The Health Benefits Of Medicinal Mushrooms by Mark Stengler

Reishi is one of the most versatile medicinal mushrooms. It has long been used in Asia as an energy tonic to promote longevity and overall health. Studies indicate that reishi is an antioxidant and contains polysaccharides and other compounds that may boost the immune system. Reishi is taken to counter bacteria and viruses and has shown promise as an agent to help prevent or treat cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, and other conditions. Russian researchers at the Cancer Research Center in Moscow have had positive results using reishi extracts to boost the immunity of cancer patients.
- The Health Benefits Of Medicinal Mushrooms by Mark Stengler

Cancer patients may also wish to investigate medicinal mushrooms (such types as reishi, shiitake, cordyceps, maitake, agaracus, and coriolus) as immune-boosting companions to chemotherapy. These medicinal mushrooms are sources of antitumor and immunity-modulating polysaccharides (a type of carbohydrate) that have been extensively researched. Formulas containing concentrated extracts of medicinal mushrooms are available; talk with your oncologist about which he or she might recommend.
- Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know About Nutrition by Hyla Cass, M.D.

Like many other medicinal mushrooms, reishi mushroom can be used to treat cancer patients due to its ability to activate NK cells, macrophages, T-lymphocytes, and cytokines, all important immune system components. Kee Chang Huang reports that reishi “exerts a synergistic effect with other anticancer chemothera-peutic agents or radiotherapy, to augment the clinical therapeutic effect in the treatment of cancer patients.”
- The One Earth Herbal Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Chinese, Western, and Ayurvedic Herbal Treatments by Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.

It takes about 15 pounds of reishi mushrooms to produce 1 pound of the powdered concentrate. Medicinal mushrooms make a significant contribution to the healing process by enhancing and stimulating the body’s own immune system. This is a very important factor in diseases like cancer and HIV, which have components unique to each individual. In my protocols for people with cancer, I always include one or more medicinal mushroom extract products. Descriptions of some of the more frequently used mushrooms follow.
- Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer: A Comprehensive Program for Prevention and Treatment by Donald R. Yance, j r.,C.N., M.H., A.H.G., with Arlene Valentine

Although the Mayo Clinic regards the use of medicinal mushrooms as more traditional than scientific, they operate in a manner similar to prescription drugs known as monocle. Cancer patients need to understand the disconnect between the supposed mission to cure cancer and the objective of the companies that make monoclonal antibodies, which appears to be profits above delivery of an effective treatment. The total therapeutic monoclonal antibodies market was estimated at $296 million in 2002, and was projected to surge to $2.8 billion by 2010.
- You Don’t Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore by Bill Sardi

In another study, researchers exposed mice to a known urinary bladder carcinogen, N-butyl-N’-butanolnitrosoamine (BBN), every day for eight weeks and then fed them medicinal mushrooms, including maitake, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms. All of the mice treated with BBN developed bladder cancer. While each of the mushrooms reduced the number of bladder cancers, maitake was clearly most effective (carcinomas were observed in 46.7 percent of the maitake-treated mice compared to 52.9 percent and 65 percent for shiitake and oyster, respectively).
- Natural Cancer Cures: The Definitive Guide to Using Dietary Supplements to Fight and Prevent Cancer by Freedom Press

There have been 150 species of medicinal mushrooms found to inhibit the growth of different kinds of tumors, especially cancers of the stomach, esophagus, and lungs, but chaga seems to stand out from the rest. I learned about this mushroom from herbalist David Winston, who told me it has been used traditionally to treat different forms of cancer in Siberia, Canada, Scandinavia, the United States, and Russia. Chaga is a fungal parasite that draws its nutrients out of living trees, rather than from the ground.
- The One Earth Herbal Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Chinese, Western, and Ayurvedic Herbal Treatments by Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.

Japanese products containing LEM, a polysaccharide-rich extract from the shiitake mushroom, and similar extracts from maitake are currently undergoing trials in Japan and the U.S. to test their effectiveness in treating various forms of cancer. They show promise for treating people suffering from various forms of cancer and AIDS and are currently in strong demand in Japan.
- Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, & Culture (Herbs and Health Series) by Christopher Hobbs

Goro Chihara notes that medicinal mushrooms such as shiitake can play an important role in augmenting “intrinsic host defense mechanisms” – boosting the body’s inherent abilities to fight off invading agents. He says that such “host defense potentiators” should be a more important focus for cancer research than the current fascination with cell-killing substances. Shiitake and reishi are the most common medicinal mushrooms in the United States today, though other varieties are beginning to become available either in fresh or packaged forms.
- Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, & Culture (Herbs and Health Series) by Christopher Hobbs

In Japan, pushcart vendors on the streets still sell medicinal mushrooms to the average citizen who uses them to maintain health and promote longevity. Some Japanese people have even been said to travel hundreds of miles in order to collect wild mushrooms that only grow on very old plum trees – such as the Reishi – renowned as a cure for cancer and degenerative diseases. Likewise, for over 3,000 years the Chinese have used and revered many fungi for their health-giving properties, especially tonics for the immune system (Liu and Bau, 1980; Yun-Chang, 1985).
- Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, & Culture (Herbs and Health Series) by Christopher Hobbs

Often called the “king of mushrooms,” shiitake is just one of a number of medicinal mushrooms currently under study at research centers in Germany, the United States, Japan, and China. Shiitake is being used for a wide variety of conditions involving depressed immune function, from frequent colds to cancer. In Japan, physicians prescribe shiitake in two different forms to treat many health conditions, including asthma, hepatitis B, ulcers, high cholesterol, AIDS, kidney inflammation, herpes, and various skin problems.
- The Encyclopedia of Popular Herbs by Robert S. McCaleb, Evelyn Leigh, and Krista Morien

In the 1980s, Japanese researchers began to investigate the folklore behind medicinal mushrooms and found that many had truly remarkable properties. For example, maitake mushroom stimulates the immune system by activating T-cells, the body’s natural defenders against viruses and cancer cells. Recent animal studies have shown that maitake extract can shrink tumors in mice even better than a common chemotherapy drug.
- Earl Mindell’s Supplement Bible: A Comprehensive Guide to Hundreds of NEW Natural Products that Will Help You Live Longer, Look Better, Stay Heathier, … and Much More! by Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.

Here is a brief summary of published studies on medicinal mushrooms and beta glucans: Mushroom polysaccharides have remarkable anti-tumor activity. Mushrooms have anti-hyperlipidemic, hypotensive, and hypoglycemic actions. Beta-glucan from maitake mushrooms may induce apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. Shiitake extracts have reduced cholesterol and have anti-viral effects. Mushrooms are high fiber and function as prebiotics, antioxidants, and antibiotics.
- The Anti-Aging Solution: 5 Simple Steps to Looking and Feeling Young by Vincent Giampapa, Ronald Pero, and Marcia Zimmerman

As with most of the medicinal mushrooms, unique polysaccharides present in H. erinaceus have immune-enhancing properties, and preliminary studies are demonstrating some anticancer effects. The most intriguing potential of H. erinaceus is that it may stimulate the production of a substance known as Nerve Growth Factor (NGF). This specialized protein is necessary for the growth of sensory neurons. An in vitro study found that an extract from Hericium erinaceus mushroom promoted myelin sheath growth on brain cells.
- The Health Benefits Of Medicinal Mushrooms by Mark Stengler

Two species of medicinal mushrooms employed for healing purposes by Mazatec Indian shamans in southern Mexico have gone extinct in the past half century. And tribes themselves continue to disappear. This is just as great a tragedy, because almost every plant or plant derivative employed for medicinal purposes by Western society was investigated scientifically after being observed in use by “primitive” cultures. Everything from codeine for pain to quinine for malaria to podo- phyllotoxin for cancer is based on plants discovered by ancient healers.
- Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature’s Healing Secrets by Mark J. Plotkin

Shiitake and reishi offer a diverse range of potential health benefits. You can take all of these supplements in perhaps eight to ten pills or capsules daily. If you take just three or four of these natural supplements at breakfast and the same number later in the day, you will have substantially increased your energy levels, boosted your immune system, lowered your risk of heart disease and cancer, and strengthened and balanced your overall system.
- Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature’s Healing Secrets by Mark J. Plotkin

Vitamin D prevents breast cancer

Natural News
Mike Adams
Friday, Octovber 9, 2009

You’ve heard the good news about vitamin D for years: It’s a “miracle” medicine that reduces cancer rates by 77% according to previous research. It also happens to be a powerful anti-cancer medicine that can both prevent and help reverse breast cancer.

Yet, bewilderingly, the cancer industry still refuses to teach women about vitamin D. Ever wonder why?

Today, we bring you a compilation of expert quotations on vitamin D and breast cancer, cited from some of the most authoritative books and authors in the world. Feel free to share what you learn here with others who may also be suffering from breast cancer.

Vitamin D and breast cancer
Sunlight triggers the formation of vitamin D in the skin, which can be activated in the liver and kidneys into a hormone with great activity. This activated form of vitamin D causes “cellular differentiation” – essentially the opposite of cancer. The following evidence indicates that vitamin D might have a protective role against breast cancer: Synthetic vitamin D-like molecules have prevented the equivalent of breast cancer in animals.
- The Natural Pharmacy: Complete A-Z Reference to Natural Treatments for Common Health Conditions by Alan R. Gaby, M.D., Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., Forrest Batz, Pharm.D. Rick Chester, RPh., N.D., DipLAc. George Constantine, R.Ph., Ph.D. Linnea D. Thompson, Pharm.D., N.D.

Two equally effective sources of vitamin D in humans are derived from plant ergosterol, which is converted to ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) by the action of sunlight on the skin. The body uses vitamin D3 for normal immune system function, to control cellular growth, and to absorb calcium from the digestive tract. Vitamin D3 can inhibit the growth of malignant melanoma, breast cancer, leukemia, and mammary tumors in laboratory animals. Vitamin D3 can also inhibit angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels that permit the spread of cancer cells through the body.
- Permanent Remissions by Robert Hass, M.S.

There’s surprising new evidence that older women who skimp on foods rich in vitamin D are more likely to develop breast cancer, according to Frank Garland, Ph.D., of the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the University of California at San Diego. This may also help explain fish’s anticancer protection, because fatty fish is packed with vitamin D. Specifically, Dr. Garland finds that dietary vitamin D wards off postmenopausal breast cancer in women over fifty, but not in women who get cancer at younger ages.
- Food Your Miracle Medicine by Jean Carper

In animals fed a high fat diet, which normally would produce a higher incidence of colon cancer, supplements of calcium and vitamin D blocked this carcinogenic effect of the diet. Vitamin D inhibits the growth of breast cancer in culture, and also seems to subdue human breast cancer. Cells from human prostate cancer were put into a “…permanent nonproliferative state”, or shut down the cancer process, by the addition of vitamin D. Human cancer cells have been shown to have receptor sites, or stereo specific “parking spaces” for vitamin D.
- Beating Cancer with Nutrition by Patrick Quillin

Even though vitamin D is one of the most powerful healing chemicals in your body, your body makes it absolutely free. No prescription required. Diseases and conditions caused by vitamin D deficiency: Osteoporosis is commonly caused by a lack of vitamin D, which impairs calcium absorption. Sufficient vitamin D prevents prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, depression, colon cancer, and schizophrenia. “Rickets” is the name of a bone-wasting disease caused by vitamin D deficiency.
- Natural Health Solutions by Mike Adams

George’s Hospital Medical School in London finds local production of vitamin D in breast tissue reduces the risk for breast cancer. For women with low breast tissue levels of vitamin D the risk for breast cancer rose by 354%! This study suggests women sunbathe with breast tissue exposed to the sun to enhance local vitamin D production. The provision of 400 IU of vitamin D per day has been found to reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer by 43%.
- You Don’t Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore by Bill Sardi

Taken together, these facts suggest that vitamin D and its derivatives may play a role in regulating the expression of genes and protein products that prevent and inhibit breast cancer. The cancer-stopping power of vitamin D has been documented in osteosarcoma (bone cancer), melanoma, colon cancer, and breast cancer. These cancer cells contain vitamin-D receptors that make them susceptible to the anticancer effects of this vitamin-hormone made by the skin when it is exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D-rich foods include salmon, tuna, fish oils, and vitamin D-fortified milk and breakfast cereals.
- Permanent Remissions by Robert Hass, M.S.

Low levels of vitamin D may also increase the proliferation of white blood cells and may accelerate the arthritic process in rheumatoid arthritis. Vitamin D supplements are likely to be useful in retarding these adverse effects of alterations in metabolism. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to several cancers including those of the colon, prostate and breast. Laboratory experiments show that vitamin D can inhibit the growth of human prostate cancer and breast cancer cells. Lung cancer and pancreatic cancer cells may also be susceptible to the effects of vitamin D.
- The New Encyclopedia of Vitamins, Minerals, Supplements and Herbs by Nicola Reavley

Laboratory experiments show that vitamin D can inhibit the growth of human prostate cancer and breast cancer cells. Lung cancer and pancreatic cancer cells may also be susceptible to the effects of vitamin D. Sunlight also seems to be protective against several types of cancer including ovarian, breast and prostate cancers; and this effect may be mediated by vitamin D levels. Synthetic vitamin D-type compounds are being investigated for their potential as anticancer drugs.
- The New Encyclopedia of Vitamins, Minerals, Supplements and Herbs by Nicola Reavley

If mutations aren’t corrected or if a cell has already undergone malignant transformation, activated vitamin D can team up with other proteins to stimulate programmed death of abnormal cells. This evidence, along with animal studies, suggest that a girl who lacks adequate vitamin D during puberty years will have abnormal breast development. This, in turn, may increase a woman’s susceptibility to risk factors such as alcohol for breast cancer development. In other words, the window of greatest opportunity for vitamin D to reduce breast cancer risk may be during childhood and puberty.
- The Vitamin D Cure by James Dowd and Diane Stafford

A key development for vitamin D was the appearance of increasing evidence that experts had detected a strong relationship between vitamin D and breast cancer risk. The important Nurses Health Study found a 30 percent lower risk of breast cancer in pre-menopausal women when comparing the highest to the lowest intakes of vitamin D, calcium, and low-fat dairy, especially skim milk.
- The Vitamin D Cure by James Dowd and Diane Stafford

Out of every 100 women who might get breast cancer, 50 of them can avoid breast cancer by simply getting adequate levels of vitamin D in their body, and that’s available free of charge through sensible exposure to natural sunlight, which produces vitamin D. This vitamin, all by itself, reduces relative cancer risk by 50 percent, which is better than any prescription drug that has ever been invented by any drug company in the world. Combine that with green tea, and your prevention of breast cancer gets even stronger.
- Natural Health Solutions by Mike Adams

There’s so much more to vitamin D than enhancing calcium absorption; its anticancer benefit is just one other possibility. Most of 63 recently reviewed studies found a protective effect between vitamin D status and cancer risk. A study presented at the 2006 American Association for Cancer Research meeting suggested that an increase in vitamin D lowered the risk of developing breast cancer by up to 50 percent. How might vitamin D help?
- Food Synergy: Unleash Hundreds of Powerful Healing Food Combinations to Fight Disease and Live Well by Elaine Magee

Place sunshine or vitamin D pills on your list of preventive or therapeutic measures. A daily intake of 2,600 units of vitamin D (65 mcg) is recommended to attain blood concentrations that will optimally protect against disease. There is no way the diet can provide this much vitamin D. Sun-starved females are at great risk for breast cancer, particularly women living in northern latitudes where wintertime sun exposure produces little vitamin D because of a decline in UV radiation in solar light.
- You Don’t Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore by Bill Sardi

Sunlight produces vitamin D in humans. A deficiency of vitamin D is linked with breast cancer. Was the increase in male breast cancer caused by magnetic fields or by lack of vitamin D? These are the types of questions that make it difficult to ascertain if there is a link between EMF exposure and cancer. To make matters worse, a cell biologist doing work on EMFs for the Department of Energy, faked data linking cancer to electromagnetic fields in order to gain $3.3 million worth of grants for scientific research.
- You Don’t Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore by Bill Sardi

The dosage of vitamin D required to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer may be much higher than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 400 international units per day. Since vitamin D can be toxic in doses that greatly exceed this value, researchers have developed synthetic analogues of vitamin D that retain the ability to inhibit cancer cell growth without the toxicity associated with high doses. These analogs have been successfully used in animal models of leukemia and breast cancer. Vitamin D may be related to other cancers.
- Permanent Remissions by Robert Hass, M.S.

Sunlight exposure, which leads to an increased level of vitamin D, correlates with a reduced risk of breast cancer. I usually recommend small amounts of vitamin D (400 to 1,000 IU) for those people without sunlight exposure, especially during the winter. I also occasionally recommend cod liver oil during the winter months as a source of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids. Vitamin D deficiency is very common in the elderly and in people who live in parts of the world with little sunlight; it is also one of the major contributing factors to osteoporosis.
- Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer: A Comprehensive Program for Prevention and Treatment by Donald R. Yance, j r.,C.N., M.H., A.H.G., with Arlene Valentine

But how does vitamin D actually work? For many years that was a mystery. The “revolution of information” on vitamin D began in 1968, when J.W. Blunt and colleagues discovered the form of vitamin D that actually circulates in the blood (25-OH-D3). This hormonal form of the vitamin, created in the kidneys, is ultimately responsible for the classical action of the vitamin. At the molecular level, some cancer cells appear to have receptors on their surfaces that are capable of receiving the vitamin D molecule. Scientists studied cancer cells from 136 patients with breast cancer.
- Cancer Therapy: The Independent Consumer’s Guide To Non-Toxic Treatment & Prevention by Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

Symptoms of vitamin D toxicity include anorexia, disorientation, dehydration, fatigue, weight loss, weakness, and vomiting. New analogues of vitamin D3 allow cancer victims to take high doses of the vitamin without fear of elevating calcium in the blood to dangerous levels. These new forms of vitamin D have very high potency in controlling cell proliferation and differentiation. One of these, calci-potriol, can be used topically to treat psoriasis and inhibit the growth of metastatic breast cancer in patients with whose tumors have vitamin D receptors.
- Permanent Remissions by Robert Hass, M.S.

In an investigation into the relationship of breast density as measured by mammography to serum-vitamin D levels, it was found that there was a strong inverse correlation; the higher the density, the lower the vitamin D levels. Does the blood level of vitamin D at the time of diagnosis of breast cancer make a difference in a woman’s time of survival? Yes, it does.
- The Clinician’s Handbook of Natural Healing by Gary Null, Ph.D.

Although not part of the study, outdoor exercise where you are getting some (but not too much) sun exposure also raises vitamin D levels. Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with a greater risk of cancer. Relaxation techniques such as writing, meditation, yoga, or massage therapy can aid in battling breast cancer. There is a clear link between alcohol consumption and an increased risk of breast cancer. A study reported in The New England journal of Medicine has stated that consuming as few as three alcoholic drinks a week increases the potential for breast cancer by 50 percent.
- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Can aloe vera prevent and cure cancer?

Natural News
Mike Adams
Thursday, October 01, 2009

If you’re looking to prevent cancer, you need to know about aloe vera. More resarch on aloe vera is taking place all around the world as word spreads about its natural healing potential. You’ll learn a wealth of information about this in this article.

Here, we present a collection of quotes and observations about aloe vera and cancer, documented in some of the best health books ever written. Read and remember these quotes, and feel free to share what you learn here with others who may also need this information.

Some clinics have used aloe vera to increase the effectiveness of cancer treatment with the chemotherapy agents cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan, Neosar) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Several studies indicate that aloe vera gel can protect both the immune system and the skin from the effects of radiation treatment. In addition, at least one study suggests that taking aloe internally can reduce the likelihood of lung cancer in smokers.
- Prescription for Herbal Healing: An Easy-to-Use A-Z Reference to Hundreds of Common Disorders and Their Herbal Remedies by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Radiation burns cause skin ulcerations that had been nearly incurable until physicians began trying the old folk remedy of the aloe vera leaf. Today, aloe vera has gained such great popularity that it is being used in many cosmetics and health products. Aloe vera juice that is taken internally has been found to be effective in almost every illness, including cancer, heart disease and AIDS. In fact, there is hardly any disease or health problem for which aloe vera has not been proven successful.
- Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You by Andreas Moritz

Added to the juice, we should take aloe vera. Aloe vera is the single most healing of all the herbs. It’s anti-cancer, anti-parasitic, and it repairs DNA. It protects us from viruses and bacteria. Every time I take juice, I take aloe, and it makes a big difference.
- Gary Nulls Ultimate Anti Aging Program by Gary Null, Ph.D.

Hyland commented that normal cells appeared protected and abnormal cells appeared more sensitive to treatment, when Aloe vera was a part of an integrated approach. Various cancer patients have experienced remarkable reversals in health status after adding aloe to their protocol. It was, in fact, triumphant accounts of Aloe vera enhancing the efficacy of previously failed treatments that spurred the glyconutrient movement.
- Disease Prevention and Treatment by The Life Extension Editorial Staff

Ivan Danhoff of the North Texas Research Laboratory in Grand Prairie, Texas, discovered large 9,000-molecule Aloe Vera polysaccharides, he freeze-dries to inactivate enzymes, called “Albarin” used in I.V. treatment of terminal cancers. He was in application and raided by the FDA. in October 2001 at the Medical Centers for Preventive & Nutritional Medicine in Florida, after having put 94 of the first 100 cancers studied into remission in terminal patients given 2-3 months to live, with 80% of remaining patients in remission.
- Anti-Aging Manual: The Encyclopedia of Natural Health by Joseph E. Mario

Acemannan, extracted from the aloe vera plant, appears to be one of its most active ingredients. It is used both orally and intravenously, and has uses from antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial to helping with symptoms from AIDS and cancer.
- Smart Medicine for Healthier Living : Practical A-Z Reference to Natural and Conventional Treatments for Adults by Janet Zand, LAc, OMD, Allan N. Spreed, MD, CNC, James B. LaValle, RPh, ND

Reports of Aloe vera being life-saving to cancer patients are not scarce. Dr. Julian Whitaker reported that a 10-year-old boy diagnosed with a rare brain tumor (a meningioma) went into total remission after drinking 8 oz of whole-leaf Aloe vera concentrate a day for 3 months. Because surgeons were unable to remove the entire tumor, its continued growth rendered an uncertain prognosis. At the time of the Whitaker report, the child was living a normal life and participating in sports but drinking Aloe vera juice every day (Whitaket 1995a).
- Disease Prevention and Treatment by The Life Extension Editorial Staff

Taken internally, 98 or 99 percent pure aloe vera juice is known to aid in the healing of stomach disorders, ulcers, constipation, hemorrhoids, rectal itching, colitis, and all colon problems. Aloe vera can also be helpful against infections, varicose veins, skin cancer, and arthritis, and is used in the treatment of AIDS. We have had excellent results using colon cleansers containing psyllium husks in combination with aloe vera juice. We have found this combination to be good for food allergy and colon disorder sufferers.
- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

One tablespoon of aloe vera juice, diluted with a little water, before meals or at least once in the morning before breakfast, helps to break down old deposits of waste and bring basic nutrients to cells and tissues. Those who feel their liver is still releasing many toxins several days after a liver flush may greatly benefit from drinking aloe vera juice. Aloe vera has been found to be effective in almost every illness, including cancer, heart disease, and AIDS.
- The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush: A Powerful Do-It-Yourself Tool To Optimize your Health and Wellbeing by Andreas Moritz

Pesticides Cause Childhood Brain Cancers

Natural News
David Gutierrez
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Children living with parents who use pesticides around the home are significantly more likely to develop brain cancer than children who are not exposed to such chemicals, according to a study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Researchers matched each of 400 fathers and 250 mothers who reported having been exposed to pesticide products — including insecticide, herbicide and fungicide — with a non-exposed person of the same sex, age and status. All participants lived in residential areas of Florida, New Jersey, New York or Pennsylvania. None of them lived in New York City. All were parents of children who had participated in the Atlantic Coast childhood brain cancer study.

The scientists further evaluated each participant’s level of exposure over the two years prior to the birth of their child by means of a phone interview featuring more detailed questions about home or work use of pesticides. Most “exposed” participants were exposed to pesticides through home use — such as garden or lawn care — rather than professionally.

The researchers found that children whose parents had been exposed to pesticides were significantly more likely to develop brain cancers, including astrocytomas and primitive neuroectodermal tumors. The risk of astrocytoma was especially increased by the use of herbicides.

Among “exposed” fathers, those who wore protective clothing or who washed immediately after pesticide use were significantly less likely to have children who developed brain cancer.

Prior studies have linked prenatal pesticide exposure to brain cancer, and the chemicals have also been linked to cancer in a number of animal studies. Researchers do not know exactly how the chemicals lead to cancer, but many pesticides are known to exhibit mutagenic, hormone mimicking or immune-hampering effects. The developing bodies of fetuses and children are especially susceptible to these effects.

Brain cancer is the second most common childhood cancer, after leukemia. Full article here…

Green Tea Nutrients Prevent Leukemia

Natural News
David Gutierrez
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

One of the potent antioxidants found in green tea may slow and possibly even reverse the progress of leukemia.

Scientists have been aware since 1970s that green tea can help fight cancer, as demonstrated by lower cancer rates in countries with high consumption of the beverage. In 2004, a study showed that the naturally occurring tea chemical epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) could actually kill leukemia cells.

In a new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers from the Mayo Clinic found a significant improvement in the symptoms of cancer patients treated with EGCG extract.

Researcher Tait D. Shanafelt and colleagues became interested in carrying out a clinical trial when they noticed that chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients self-medicating with tea polyphenols actually began showing signs of improvement. They designed a study in which 33 CLL patients were treated with between 400 and 2,000 milligrams of EGCG extract twice per day.

“We found not only that patients tolerated the green tea extract at very high doses, but that many of them saw regression to some degree of their CLL,” Shanafelt said.

Treatment with EGCG led to noticeable decreases in two symptoms of CLL — increased white blood cell (lymphocyte) count and enlarged lymph nodes. Lymphocyte levels decreased by 20 percent or more in 15 of 33 patients, an improvement that lasted for two months in 11 of them. Of 12 patients who began the study with swollen lymph nodes, 11 experienced a 50 percent or greater decrease in swelling.

Few side effects were observed from the treatment.

CLL is currently incurable, and is aggressive and fatal in 50 percent of patients. There is also currently no therapy capable of slowing or halting the progression of the disease.

The researchers expressed hope that EGCG could be used to stabilize early-stage CLL, increasing survival time at worst and improving the effectiveness of other treatments at best.

Daily Dose of Broccoli Halts Ulcers and Cancer

Natural News
David Gutierrez
Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Eating just a few ounces of broccoli each day may significantly reduce a person’s risk of ulcers and stomach cancer, researchers from Johns Hopkins University have found.

In a study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, scientists assigned 50 people in Japan to eat either 2.5 ounces of broccoli sprouts or 2.5 ounces of alfalfa sprouts each day for two months.

Broccoli, a cruciferous vegetable, contains high levels of the protective phytochemical sulforaphane. Alfalfa is not a cruciferous vegetable and contains no sulforaphane.

At the beginning and end of the study, the researchers analyzed participant stool samples for a chemical called HpSA, known to be a reliable marker of infection with the Heliobacter pylori bacterium. H. pylori causes chronic inflammation of the stomach lining, significantly increasing the risk of stomach cancer and duodenal or stomach ulcers.

While 25 to 30 percent of people in the United States carry the bacteria in their stomachs, 80 percent show no symptoms of the infection. Infection rates are much higher in Japan, at nearly 90 percent, due in part to crowding.

The researchers found that among those who ate broccoli sprouts, HpSA levels decreased 40 percent by the end of the experiment. Participants were then told to stop eating broccoli sprouts. After another two months, HpSA levels had returned to pre-study levels.

Consumption of alfalfa sprouts had no effect on HpSA levels.

“H. pylori is a known carcinogen,” Fahey said. “The fact that we were able to reduce the effects of an infectious agent that is also a carcinogen gives us hope that if someone were to eat broccoli sprouts or broccoli regularly, it would reduce levels of H. pylori and, over a period of many years, reduce the chance that they would get that cancer. It is not proven, but the results are highly suggestive.”

The researchers also found that inflammation levels in the stomach were reduced by consumption of broccoli sprouts.

“The fact that the levels of infection and inflammation were reduced suggests the likelihood of getting gastritis and ulcers and cancer is probably reduced,” Fahey said.

“The evidence is all pointing toward broccoli or broccoli sprouts being able to prevent cancer in humans.”

The researchers believe that much of broccoli’s protective benefit comes from its high levels of sulforaphane. In addition to functioning as an antibiotic, this chemical stimulates the body to reduce a number of enzymes with different health benefits. Prior research has shown that some of these enzymes protect the skin from sun damage, while others act to reduce inflammation or prevent heart disease.

In a second experiment, the same team of researchers fed H. pylori-infected mice either plain water or broccoli-sprout smoothies for eight weeks. They then examined the animals’ stomachs for levels of H. pylori. Infection levels had not changed in mice drinking water, but were significantly reduced in the broccoli group. When the researchers genetically engineered another group of mice for inability to activate certain protective enzymes, however, a diet of broccoli-sprout smoothies had no effect on H. pylori infection.