Alexandra Preston, Natural Society
Waking Times

A German study published in 2008 gives some direction to those wishing to prevent colon (and other) cancers – and it all revolves around utilizing potent anti-cancer compounds found in various whole foods.

For the study, 87 patients, with roughly half being colon cancer survivors and the other half being patients who had polyps removed after colonoscopy, were treated with either 20mg of apigenin (a compound found in parsley and celery) and 20mg of epigallocatechin-gallate (EGCG – a compound found in green tea), or a placebo for 3-4 years.

Among the 14 patients who had survived cancer and were treated, there was no recurrence of colon cancer and only one developed a polyp, which only have a chance of becoming cancerous. In the placebo group, 3 of the 15 patients suffered from recurrences of their cancers, and 4 developed polyps.

The article also stated that increasing fiber intake can only help to prevent primary colon cancers, and although they have negative side effects, anti-inflammatory drugs can prevent both primary and secondary colon cancers.

However, these could be replaced with one of many natural anti-inflammatories such as turmeric. What’s more, another study linking from it stated that folate supplementation reduced the reappearance of polyps to 36%, down from 82%.

Apigenin was also found in an in vitro study to be the ‘most potent anticancer compound’ out of various flavonoids, limonoids, phenolic acids and even vitamin C when tested against pancreatic cancer cells. These effects were noted to be from modifying the expression of several genes involved in cancer development.

It has also been found to reduce lipid peroxidation and replenish the activity and levels of antioxidants in rats exposed to carcinogens such as phenobarbital. This may indicate that apigenin’s antioxidant abilities are another mechanism behind its anticancer and preventative effects.

Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide, causing much unnecessary suffering and death. While the mainstream media and conventional medicine constantly encourage early detection to improve chances of survival, an increasing number of people are seeking real prevention strategies. This is due to reasons such as the ineffectiveness of chemo and the fact that even 40-50% of patients who have had a successful removal of colon cancers suffer from a recurrence within 5 years.

Green Tea and Cancer

As for EGCG and the green tea and cancer relationship, other research has also described an anticancer effect when used alone. Twenty-six men with prostate cancer who were scheduled for radical prostatectomies were given 800mg of EGCG along with 500mg of its derivatives (epicatechin, epigallocatechin and epicatechin-3-gallate), which are also tea polyphenols.

After what the authors described as a brief treatment, PSA levels as well as vascular endothelial and hepatocyte growth factors (HGF & VEGF) significantly decreased. Five patients experienced a worsening of their PSA levels, while the others all showed an improvement. The authors also wrote that epidemiologic studies have found a reduced colon cancer risk, gastric cancer risk, and possibly lower lung and prostate cancer risks.

Additionally, patients with stage 1 and 2 breast cancer who drank at least 5 cups of green tea daily have been found to have an improved prognosis.

Overall, green tea polyphenols and apigenin are far more promising prevention strategies than fatalistically waiting for cancer to possibly appear or ridiculous “awareness” stunts such as bedpan tossing.

(This article is dedicated to Farrah Fawcett, unnecessarily taken from us by the pharmaceutical industry and its suppression of the use and improvement of safe natural alternatives on the 25^th of June 2009).

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