http://www.care2.com/greenliving/anticancer-crusaders.html
Anticancer Crusaders
By Lindsey Galloway, Natural Solutions
The order “Eat your broccoli!” was one most of us probably heard growing up. Mom’s explanation always boiled down to the fact that it was simply “good for you.” But now researchers at UCLA have discovered precisely why broccoli (and other cruciferous vegetables) and soy have been linked to preventing certain cancers.
The answer comes in the compound diindolylmethane, created through the digestion of broccoli, and the isoflavone genistein found in soy, both of which combat the replication of two proteins that help spread cancer cells in ovarian and breast tissue. Scientists are also studying the compounds’ effects on 23 other types of cancer.
These two compounds may make preventative and chemotherapy treatments for breast and ovarian cancers more effective, though additional testing is necessary. Encouraging news, for sure, but don’t expect ornery toddlers to start gobbling up broccoli any time soon.
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16 comments
add your comment »Hi Elizabeth! I got the info 5.5 from a school site!! OMIGOD!! Thanks for pointing out to me!
I asked a biotechnologist and she said 7.4 so pretty close. NO NO you were not harping on me - not all all. The right info should be spread and shared! :) Thank you Eliz!
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I don't mean to keep harping, but 7 is neutral ph and anything above is alkaline; anything below is acidic. Therefore, a 5.5 ph would be acidic and entirely hospitable to illness and not conducive to health at all.
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I agree with Lars! More research usually means more pharmaceutical companies paying scientists to extract substances from foods to research. More drugs!
But what is ABSOLUTELY oxymoron about "disease research" (in my opinion) is that once certain substances are extracted for research, they don't always work the same way.
For example, vitamin A (from apples and carrots), when extracted into vitamin supplement format may be toxic in huge amounts. But this vitamin A is totally harmless when you eat many apples and carrots in their whole forms.
Another example, is when natural sucrose from fruits are extracted to flavor other foods. I am not good in chemistry but a food biotechnologist told me that the extracted sucrose does not function quite the same way anymore as natural sucrose. It has become a new sugar all by itself "artificial sugar".
While this cannot be helped (changing of substances of natural foods when extracted and added to other foods), it pays to eat some fruits and possibly vege in their whole form - and that is, to eat them with their fibre (p.s. does not apply to all foods, aloe vera skin for example has toxic sap).
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Hi Elizabeth A., THANK YOU for bringing my typo error to attention! I correct it here: Cancer cells CANNOT thrive in an alkaline environment.
What I had also mentioned is that our normal (healthy) bodies have 5.5 pH - that is optimal to keep cells from mutating to abnormal cancerous cells.
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This article, while well-meaning, is like saying "there will probably be a new day tomorrow". Broccoli's cancer fighting traits has been a proven fact for many years. So there is certainly no need for "additional testing". To wait for conventional medicine's approval of natural remedies before taking action is a sure way to sickness and suffering.
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Kelly,
I always thought that our bodies were supposed to be more alkaline (over 7) for an optimal ph environment. As I understood it, a slightly alkaline level was ideal for health. I thought diseases THRIVED in an ACIDIC environment. Is it different for cancer?
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I never heard "eat your broccoli" when I was growing up. My mother's trick was to put cut up vegies on the table with dip made from cottage cheese and onion soups mix run through the blender. The she said "don't touch" and finished dinner.
Of course while her back was turned.............
I have eaten vegies my whole life. I know people whose vegetable intake consists of white potatoes, corn and green beans.
My daughter eats vegies. She grew up liking most of them.
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Thanks for all the useful comments - I really learn new things! Yes, Charli, Prof. Campbells' "THE CHINA STUDY" is the greatest thing next to Dr. Boyd Graves discovery that HIV are "super-mutated cancer cells".
And it's true, the earlier you introduce the taste of vege to your child the better. Cauliflower and broccoli are best minced and should be introduced one at a time (intro new vege weekly or monthly to "test" for allergies).
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More study? Really, "The China Study" among others has already proven that eating more fruits and vegetables, and not eating animal proteins of any kind reduces your risk of cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
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according to the EPA in a joint study with the NIH in 2003, which put the lie to the 'clean air act' just breathing the air in the average major american urban area is the equivalent intake of pollutants of smoking 18 cigarettes a day or more. at least i enjoy the five cigs i actually smoke a day... as for eating more broccoli, thanks anyway. i'll just keep doing my vitamin c and liquid selenium.
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