Putting out the Fire Within:
Anti-Inflammatory Agents as “Centsible” Treatment for Cancer
and all other Chronic Degenerative Diseases.
by Bradford S. Weeks, M.D. © 2014
Inflammation, an oft maligned symptom increasingly blamed for many patients’ woes merits a closer look. These conditions include cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, autism, and the entire spectrum of psychiatric illnesses. We’ll now look at the double-edged sword which is inflammation. Mae West’s notorious comment: “Too much of a good thing is wonderful” may apply to certain human ventures, but certainly not to inflammation.
Inflammation (in moderation) is necessary. Properly controlled inflammatory responses facilitate restoration and regeneration of all tissues. In addition, they’re our first line of attack against parasites and various infectious agents. However when inflammation is chronic and excessive it destroys health.
Before we examine the destructive aspects of inflammation, let’s examine its benefits. Dr. Samuel Hahnemann MD, a 19th century medical genius reminds us in his revolutionary tome The Organon: “All symptoms are healing gestures.” [1] These are wise words because any student of anatomy and physiology must agree that we humans are “fearfully and wonderfully made”. The built-in wisdom of our “physician within” exceeds that of any medical expert or researcher. The past 50 years of pharmaceutical research are filled with examples where the well-intended goal of simply suppressing symptoms while ignoring the cause, has tragically backfired; harming millions of trusting patients.
A brilliant medical school professor made a comment I’ve never forgotten: “The dumbest kidney is smarter than the smartest doctor.” In other words, one is wise to work with and not against nature. Symptoms are natural and contain indications of therapeutic opportunities.
Having urged doctors to not simply suppress an adaptive symptom such as short-term, moderate inflammation, let’s now familiarize ourselves with the problems created by inflammation when excessive and chronic.
AGING
When trained to sleuth out inflammation 25 years ago in medical school, we were taught that inflammation equated to pain – joint pain in particular. A red swollen painful joint was an inflamed joint and most inflammation we treated was related to arthritis. Now we know that everyone is inflamed and even aging itself is now rightly understood to be the result of excessive inflammation.
Dr. McGowan states it quite clearly in his paper: Can We Cure Aging? “Controlling inflammation could be the key to a healthy old age: Aging is not the simple result of the passage of time. According to a provocative new view, it is actually something our own bodies create, a side effect of the essential inflammatory system that protects us against infectious disease.” [2]
Modern society has seen a rapidly growing proportion of elderly citizens. Coupled with this growing population has been a huge increase in the incidence of chronic diseases associated with age. There is growing evidence that the immune system is implicated in nearly all of these age related illnesses. The inflammatory response is the triggering mechanism that leads to age-related tissue damage.
An identical twin whose lifestyle and nutrition promotes anti-inflammation will look, feel and perform in measurably younger ways than the twin who lived an inflammatory lifestyle.
Inflammation promoting lifestyle factors include 1) inadequate exercise resulting in less than ideal blood and tissue oxygenation 2) insufficient deep-restorative stage 3 & 4 sleep; often the result of using sleep drugs which disrupt “sleep architecture”, 3) dehydration (either from inadequate intake of healthy water or excessive intake of dehydrating liquids – coffee, tea, soda pops etc.), 4) acid promoting foods such as sugar, artificial sweeteners and refined carbohydrates, 5) allowing unchecked stress to play havoc with your brain, immune system, heart and blood vessels. Remedy these imbalances and you’ll age less while thriving more.
Aging aside, when it comes to other chronic degenerative illnesses, we now know that excessive and chronic inflammation drive each and every one of them; regardless of the specific metabolic insults.
These include: DNA mutation spawning a line of cancerous cells, air borne allergens triggering asthma or hay fever, genetic and toxic insults resulting in autism, wear and tear on joints manifesting as osteoarthritis, inflammatory cytokines driving schizophrenia and Post-Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the ravages of multiple-chemical sensitivity, even the epidemic of diabetes and Obesity.
You name it, conditions damaging to health are mediated by inflammation. It’s as Simple as that and irrefutable. All illnesses from A to Z (asthma to zits) are driven by inflammation. Quench these fires and all these illnesses will be less damaging.
Let’s take a few of these examples where inflammation is causative before we focus on the all-important role of inflammation and cancer.
HEART DISEASE
It’s been more than twenty years since the hypothesis of cholesterol causing heart disease came under attack by rigorous scientists. Pioneering that revolution was then Harvard’s M.D., Ph.D. Kilmer McKully whose brilliant research identifying homocysteine as an independent risk factor was published
This work was so disruptive to the lucrative Big Pharma marketing of cholesterol lowering drugs that Dr. McKully was exiled to the Providence VA hospital. [ 3] Since then, it has been clear from a biochemical perspective that high cholesterol is not the problem. It’s excessive oxidation of cholesterol as a result of inflammation. [ 4 ] Then in the 1990’s another assault on the sacred cholesterol hypothesis was launched by Tracy and his colleagues. They demonstrated that the most lethal predictor of future heart attacks was an inflammatory protein called C-reactive protein (CRP). Remedying this was more critical than the usual suspects of high blood pressure or high cholesterol. At least in heart disease, inflammation isn’t just a bystander. It’s the major driver. This is the time when Aspirin a common anti-inflammatory agent, was increasingly recommended for those with heart disease.
Though relatively unheeded by conventional doctors, research supporting the importance of quenching inflammation to save hearts continues to mount. The well-known Harvard educated medical doctor Andrew Weil adds this:
“C-reactive protein (CRP) is a substance found in blood that is a marker for inflammation in the body. High levels of this protein are associated
with an increased risk of heart disease and low levels with a low risk. The notion that inflammation plays a central role in heart disease is relatively new, although we’ve long known that CRP levels go up to signal any type of inflammation. So far, no one knows exactly what contributes to the inflammation that might trigger or worsen heart disease.”[ 5]
And finally, Dr. Deepak Bhatt, M.D. chief of cardiology for the VA Boston Healthcare
System, director of the Integrated Interventional Cardiovascular Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital & VA Boston Healthcare System, and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School concurs: “Exactly how inflammation plays a role is heart attack and stroke remains a topic of ongoing research. It appears that the inciting event in many heart attacks and some forms of stroke is buildup of fatty, cholesterol-rich
plaque in blood vessels.” [ 6 ]
ASTHMA
Asthma or reactive airway disease is a life-threatening illness characterized by inflammation in the lung tissue. It’s typically treated with a potent steroid which acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. [ 7 ]
Asthma which effects more than 10% of American children is defined as an inflammatory illness. One would hope that physicians and families would take the easiest and safest steps first. They would prescribe an anti-inflammatory diet such as healthy contaminant free water, green leafy veggies, seeds and nuts. Of course they would prescribe avoiding pro-inflammatory foods including sugar, soda pop, coffee, processed meats and refined carbohydrates.
These would be the first intelligent and risk free steps of prevention. Why first resort to expensive addictive and dangerous drugs for something like asthma when more “centsible” options exist in the kitchen?
DIABETES
Inflammation fuels diabetes in four well-understood mechanisms but rare indeed is the medical doctor who recommends anti-inflammatory agents to diabetic patients. Why?
Because in 1876, a certain Dr. Ebstein discovered that sodium salycilate could “eliminate all symptoms of diabetes” and in 1901 a Dr. Williamson found that sodium salicylate could “greatly diminish sugar excretion.” [ 8 ]
The problem was that the treatment also killed the patient. Reminding us once again that while anti-inflammatory agents are tremendously beneficial for all chronic degenerative illnesses, the drugs typically used have terrible side-effects.
In a concise article entitled: How inflammation makes you fat and diabetic (and vice versa) Dr. Chris Kresser writes: “Diabesity is an autoimmune, inflammatory disorder.…Inflammation creates obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) ….Inflammation may be the single-most important mechanism driving the diabesity epidemic.” [ 9 ]
INFERTILITY
I would wager that no one reading this article can report any fertility specialist every suggesting to a couple having trouble getting pregnant to try a cheap anti-inflammatory agent yet we know that inflammation causes infertility. Dr. Thomsen published evidence that “Women who suffer from asthma are more likely to have difficulty becoming pregnant due to the bronchial disease’s inflammation “ because inflammation limits circulation and inadequate circulation to the womb inhibits conception.[ 10 ]
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
At the core of the neurofibrillary tangles and plaques which are found in brains of Alzheimer’s patients we find mummified herpes viri. The neurofibrillary tangles and plaques don’t cause memory problems, they are the result of an excessive inflammatory process happening in the brain which arises in response to the infection of the herpes virus. [ https://weeksmd.com/2013/09/copper-pros-cons/
This discovery, ignored by clinicians to this day, is congruent with Dr. Akiyama’s excellent article written 14 years ago: Inflammation and Alzheimer’s Disease.
In this article he states: “Inflammation clearly occurs in pathologically vulnerable regions of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain, and it does so with the full complexity of local peripheral inflammatory responses. In the periphery, degenerating tissue and the deposition of highly insoluble abnormal materials are classical stimulants of inflammation…By better understanding AD inflammatory and immuno-regulatory processes, it should be possible to develop anti-inflammatory approaches that may not cure AD but will likely help slow the progression or delay the onset of this devastating disorder.” [ 11 ]
MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY
We live, undeniably, in a toxic world. Pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, petrochemicals, GMO foods, polluted water, radiation and electrical pollution assault our immune systems throughout our life. Certain more vulnerable people suffer with the environmental disease multiple chemical sensitivity; also and inflammatory condition.
Dr. Dantoft clarifies the importance of anti-inflammatory agents in his article and concludes: “MCS individuals displayed a distinct systemic immune mediator profile with increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and interleukin-2 and inverse regulation of Th2 associated cytokines interleukin-4 and interleukin-13 suggestive of low-grade systemic inflammation, along with a deviating Th2-associated cytokine response not involving IgE-mediated mechanisms.” [ 12 ]
PSYCHIATRIC DISEASE
As Dr. Michael Berk explains in his 2013 paper entitled “So Depression is an Inflammatory Disease, but where does the Inflammation come from?”
“We now know that depression is associated with a chronic, low-grade inflammatory response and activation of cell-mediated immunity, as well as activation of the compensatory anti-inflammatory reflex system. The identification of known sources of inflammation provides support for inflammation as a mediating pathway to both risk and neuro-progression in depression…Most, but not all, of the above mentioned sources of inflammation may play a role in other psychiatric disorders, such as 1) bipolar disorder, 2) schizophrenia, 3) autism and 4) post-traumatic stress disorder. [ 13 ] More specifically, a January 2014 headlining article in The Psychiatric Times awakens doctors to the role of anti-inflammatory agents in the treatment of the dehumanizing and inadequately remedied illness schizophrenia “The Potential for Adjunctive Anti-Inflammatory Therapy in Schizophrenia: Quenching the Fire?” where Dr. Brian Miller, M.D. Ph.D. MPH concludes: “These findings begin to create a vision of rational adjunctive anti-inflammatory therapy to “quench the fire” in schizophrenia.” [ 14 ]
CANCER
The War against Cancer is like a huge ocean liner whose bulk and momentum make altering its course difficult and time consuming. Typically, a new life-saving scientific discovery may require up to 20 years before doctors – tethered as they are to the insurance company mandated (i.e. “reimbursable”) standard of care – are allowed to offer it to patients. The needless suffering and loss of lives is inexcusable. The standard of care for cancer comprised as it is of the unholy triad of “slash, poison, burn” (i.e. surgery, chemotherapy and radiation) is practically criminal since what oncologists offer does so much harm and creates so little benefit. This is not a surprising opinion.
“As a chemist trained to interpret data, it is incomprehensible to me that physicians can ignore the clear evidence that chemotherapy does much, much more harm than good.”
– Alan Nixon, PhD, past President of the American Chemical Society
“Most patients in this country die of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy does not eliminate breast, colon or lung cancer. This fact has been documented for over a decade, yet doctors still use chemotherapy for these tumors”. – Dr. Allen Levin, UCSF [15 ]
“A six- or twelve-month course of chemotherapy not only is a very unpleasant experience but also has its own intrinsic mortality…treatments now avert…perhaps 2 or 3 percent…of the 400,000 deaths from cancer that occur each year in the U.S.” ”¨- Prof John Cairns”¨ Scientific American, 1985
But perhaps you are thinking that my use of the term “criminal” is a bit excessive…. until you consider the inhumane conflicts of interest rampant in the cancer industry: “Why the growth in chemotherapy in the face of such failure? A look at the financial interrelationships between a large cancer center such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and the companies that make billions selling chemotherapy drugs is revealing:
1) James Robinson III, Chairman of the MSKCC Board of Overseers and Managers, is a director of Bristol-Myers Squibb, the world’s largest producer of chemotherapy drugs.
2) Richard Gelb, Vice-Chairman of the MSKCC board is Chairman of the Board at Bristol-Myers.
3) Richard Furlaud, another MSKCC board member, recently retired as Bristol Myers’ president.
4) Paul Marks, MD, MSKCC’s President and CEO, is a director of Pfizer.” [ 16 ]
Meanwhile, researchers have demonstrated superior (“centsible”) options which involve the use of anti-inflammatory agents. Dr. Cabodi recommends anti-inflammatory agents for people with breast cancer in her 2010 article: Interfering with Inflammation: a new strategy to block breast cancer self-renewal and progression. [ 17 ]
The discovery of cancer STEM cells is a revolutionary development which allows for the greatest potential to cure cancer, yet it is being ignored by conventional oncologists. The problem is the treatment of cancer STEM cell is inexpensive being accomplished as it is for the most part by anti-inflammatory agents! This discovery that anti0inflammatory agents can remedy cancer STEM cells is a highly disruptive event for the cancer industry. Just as arms dealers and arms manufacturers don’t typically march in peace rallies, so too are the captains of the cancer industry unwilling to promote any loss of income consequent to selling cheap and generic over-the-counter anti-inflammatory agents.
Yet, only anti-inflammatory agents can interrupt the recruitment via an inflammatory cytokine (IL-8) of lethal cancer STEM cells which are responsible for metastasis (an inflammatory process).
According to Dr. Max Diehn, M.D. Ph.D. “99.1% – 99.6% of the tumor cells are NOT dangerous (aside from steric, obstructive factors)….Similarly, usually less than 1% of primary tumor cells cultured in vitro can give rise to colonies.”
and
“For in vivo tumor transplantation, this is reflected in the large numbers of tumor cells that must usually be transplanted to form a tumor. For primary human and mouse tumors, this number often resides in the thousands or millions.” [ 18 ] This opinion is reinforced by Dr. Hill who asserts: “Considerable evidence suggests that tumors contain only a minority of cells which are capable of regrowing the tumor (i.e. tumor stem cells). [ 19 ] Further condemning chemotherapy is the research that the deadly cancer STEM cells are resistant to chemotherapy “Recent studies have shown that “cancer stem cell-like cells” present in some established cell lines and in long-term xenografts appear to be relatively resistant to cytotoxic chemotherapeutics.” [ 19 ]
Well how about using radiation therapy? Nope. Cancer STEM cells are resistant to radiation therapy: “Thus, CSC in some tumors appear to be resistant to cytotoxic chemotherapies. As is discussed elsewhere in this issue, CSC in some tumors also appear to be resistant to radiotherapy. These findings suggest that overcoming CSC resistance mechanisms to cytotoxic therapies may result in higher cure rates.” [ 19 ]
Just to clarify the debacle further, please advise your oncologist of the clarion words of Max Wicha, M.D. Distinguished Professor of Oncology Director, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center when he asserts that chemotherapy and radiation therapy make your cancer worse.
“The problem is, when we treat cancer cells with chemotherapy, the cancer STEM cells are being stimulated to grow too.” “When we take mesenchymal stem cells and mix them with tumor cells, the tumors grow much more quickly in animals.”
On February 24, 2010, Mark Roth, an astute reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interviewed Dr. Max Wicha who was quoted as follows: “Max Wicha hopes cancer treatments can avoid general chemo altogether and just use targeted therapies against the stem cells. Max Wicha is coming to Pittsburgh today to deliver a startling message. Standard cancer treatments not only often fail to eradicate cancer, but can make it worse. That argument isn’t coming from a fringe proponent of alternative medicine, but from the founder of the University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and a pioneer in research on why cancers recur and spread to other parts of the body… One tactic to address this problem is to kill off both types of cancer cells at once, Dr. Wicha said. A recent experimental trial with advanced breast cancer patients at the University of Michigan, Baylor University in Texas and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University used standard chemotherapy along with a substance designed to block one of the biochemical pathways of stem cells. The approach killed off more than 90 percent of the cancer STEM cells, Dr. Wicha said, and researchers now hope to expand the treatment to a much larger group of patients.” We now know that the successful agent was an anti-inflammatory agent “Reprotaxin”, a CXCR1 receptor blocker which interrupted the inflammatory cytokine IL-8, which the tumor secretes to recruit lethal cancer STEM cells to the tumor site. [ 20 ]
This criticism is confirmed by Dr. Mierelles who writes:“Women with late-stage ovarian cancer usually develop chemotherapeutic-resistant recurrence. It has been theorized that a rare cancer STEM cell, which is responsible for the growth and maintenance of the tumor, is also resistant to conventional chemotherapeutics. …….These results suggest that chemotherapeutics may be simulative to cancer stem cells and that selective inhibition of these cells by treating with MIS or targeting LIN28 should be considered in the development of therapeutics.” [ 21 ]
We also know (so please do share this with your oncologist) that chemotherapy increases cancer STEM cell proliferation – a lethal side-effect: “ … colon cancer STEM cells were enriched in xenografts that had been treated with cyclophosphamide compared to untreated control tumors.” [ 19 ] and it increases STEM cell virulence also! Dr. X. Li declares: “Enrichment was documented both as an increased percentage of cancer STEM cells as measured by flow cytometry and as higher tumor forming capacity in limiting dilution assays.” [ 22 ]
How inane! Why kick a hornet’s nest and inflame the cancerous situation (with chemo and radiation) when Corrective Cancer Care TM [ 23 ] offers cooler (more “centsible”) anti-inflammatory and immune enhancing options?
THE REMEDY
As alluded to above, Nature’s most powerful anti-inflammatory is pure, healthy water. Nothing is as important for health and vitality as being well-hydrated. It merits another article to convince you to avoid drinking water which is polluted by fluoride, chloride and other acid-forming contaminants but start with excellent quality water and you are moving towards a healthier, less inflamed life. Then, Corrective Cancer Care physicians, assess diet which, undeniably should be organic and real. What is real food? We recommend that you eat only what you can see was once growing in nature: chicken wings, Yes; chicken nuggets No; whole grain berries, Yes (optimal choice is oat groats before being rolled or steel cut); bread and pasta, No. (Have you ever seen a bread tree or pasta growing in nature?); organic fruits (not fruit juices for in this format the fruit is too concentrated!) and for reasons which may require a follow up article – no more dairy (great for baby cows but not humans: acid forming and 90% of the time polluted with antibiotics and bovine growth hormone). As for oils, avoid the pro-inflammatory and carcinogenic trans fatty acids but enjoy saturated coconut oil as well as olive oil and seed oils. Don’t forget to load up on organic, green leafy veggies and organic seeds and nuts. Particularly organic seeds.
Seed? What is special about seeds? Well the seed is the plant’s embryo, an actual ark or time capsule bringing the species into the future. Allowing for propagation and continuation of the species so we ought not be surprised that the seed is the treasure chest of the plant containing 20 fold more nutrients than the rest of the plant. The seed is also loaded with abundant genetic material and healthy stem cell precursors to maximize the chance for regeneration essential for survival. Protected from destruction by its bitter shell which itself a nutrient dense condensation of polymannose – rich in CD-14 which triggers healthy, adult, regenerative stem cell development. Eating the seed therefore is similar to sending in the architect, the general contractor and the skilled craftsmen.
So why don’t people eat most seeds? Recollect with me that Mother Nature never intended us to eat the seed as evidenced by its indigestible seek husk (shell) and its bitter taste. Rather than eat this essential reproductive effort by the plant thereby threatening it ability to propagate, we are tempted instead by the sweet, succulent fruit consuming therewith the seeds which pass undigested through us. In this manner, the fruit eater is co-opted as a farmer by “planting” the seeds at some distance remote from were the meal took place.
Intriguingly, seeds contain some of nature’s most potent and safe anti-inflammatory agents and recent research suggests we should be eating them on a daily basis. The Black Cumin seed, for example, has been described by Dr. Yu at the University of Maryland as 281 times more potent than aspirin and yet, when consumed, seeds impart none of the typical negative (and in some cases life-threatening!) side-effects which patients who take prescription patented or over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs suffer. In contrast, commonly prescribed anti-inflammatory agents are notorious for damaging kidney, liver and gastric function. Many have been recalled by the FDA for excessive deaths while steroids are so dangerous that they are generally prescribed only for life-threatening illnesses. “Steroid psychosis” and immune suppression as well as corrosion of injected joints are all serious side-effects which rightfully scare patients. Most intriguing and tragic is the new analysis by medical historians that the vast majority of poor souls who died during the 1918 Spanish influenza died not of infection but of over-dosage of a new drug just released on the market: aspirin. Today, all doctors know the lethality of high-dose aspirin, but when first released, the naïve assumption that “if some is good, more is better” resulted in trusting patients being overdosed with aspiring and bleeding to death. Iatrogenic (i.e. doctor caused) death blamed on an influenza virus. [ 24 ]
Consequently, smart doctors are telling patients today: “Eat the Seed” because, in addition to containing concentrated nutrients (living enzymes, essential vitamins, minerals and omega 6, 3, and 9 seed oils) the whole seed, contains a symphony of complementary biochemical with the following properties: anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, genetic reserves, stem cell precursors and stem cell stimulation, and anti-proliferation (anti-cancer).
What about using seeds as anti-cancer agents? Well here is what US patent #5653981 entitled Use of Nigella Sativa to increase Immune Function tells us about black cumin seed, the main ingredient in SOUL:
“A pharmaceutical composition for treatment of cancer and other conditions and the prevention of side effects of anticancer chemotherapy and increasing the immune function contains an extract of the plant Nigella sativa.” and here are the claims:
“1. A pharmaceutical unit dosage form for the inhibition of cancer cell growth in humans consisting essentially of a cancer cell growth-inhibiting amount of an extract from Nigella sativa wherein the amount is within a range of from about 0.3 g/kg body weight to about 0.6 g/kg body weight and a pharmaceutically-suitable carrier.
- A method for inhibiting the growth of cancer cells without affecting nontumor cells in a human cancer patient in need thereof comprising administering to the patient a cancer cell growth-inhibiting amount of an extract from Nigella sativa, wherein the amount is effective to inhibit the growth of the cancer cells without affecting nontumor cells.” [ 25 ]
Ladies and gentlemen, in case you missed it, that is “silver bullet” language: “to inhibit the growth of the cancer cells without affecting nontumor cells.” Pretty compelling!
Additionally, black cumin seed has been thoroughly studied and we know that it acts like a safe and effective chemotherapy agent since it kills cancers in numerous ways. According to Dr. Woo, its cytotoxic mechanism of action includes “anti-proliferation, apoptosis induction, cell cycle arrest, ROS generation and anti-metastasis/anti-angiogenesis….. modulation of multiple molecular targets, including p53, p73, PTEN, STAT3, PPAR-1, activation of caspases and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS).” [ 26 ]
Dr. Gali-Muhtasib published in 2004 on the ability of a black cumin seed ingredient Thymoquinone (TQ) to stimulate the cancer suppressor gene P53. He writes:
“For centuries, the black seed (Nigella sativa) herb and oil have been used in Asia, Middle East and Africa to promote health and fight disease… Apoptosis induction by TQ was associated with a 2.5-4.5-fold increase in mRNA expression of p53 and the downstream p53 target gene, p21WAF1. Simultaneously, we found a marked increase in p53 and p21WAF1 protein levels but a significant inhibition of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein. …. These results indicate that TQ is antineoplastic and pro-apoptotic against colon cancer cell line HCT116. The apoptotic effects of TQ are modulated by Bcl-2 protein and are linked to and dependent on p53. Our data support the potential for using the agent TQ for the treatment of colon cancer.” [ 27 ]
More intriguingly, seeds typically function selectively against cancer cells while at the same time protecting and nourishing your own non-cancerous cells. In this manner, seeds are like the silver bullet – they target only cancer cells without harming your cells and contrary to what your oncologist might assert, seeds do not interfere with the cytotxic oxidizing effect of conventional chemotherapy and radiation. In fact, the research reveals that people taking seeds have less side-effects from conventional cancer treatments and better overall outcomes. Again Dr. Woo publishes his findings that “The anti-tumor effects of thymoquinone have also been investigated in tumor xenograft mice models for colon, prostate, pancreatic and lung cancer….The combination of thymoquinone and conventional chemotherapeutic drugs could produce greater therapeutic effect as well as reduce the toxicity of the latter….The combination of TQ with clinically used anti-cancer drugs has led to improvements in their therapeutic index and prevents non-tumor tissues from sustaining chemotherapy-induced damage.” [ 28 ]
And if your oncologist recommends radiation therapy, listen to whether he or she is bothering to stay current with scientific developments. If so, he or she will recommend that you eat the black cumin seed to protect your own cells from the radiation while allowing it to kill the invading cancer cells. Dr. Cemek claims: “It has been shown that Nigella sativa L. (NS) and reduced glutathione (GSH) have both an anti-peroxidative effect on different tissues and a scavenger effect on ROS… These results clearly show that NS and GSH treatment significantly antagonize the effects of radiation. Therefore, NS and GSH may be a beneficial agent in protection against ionizing radiation-related tissue injury.”. [ 29 ]
Black raspberry seeds are potent as well.
1) “We found that non-toxic levels of black raspberry significantly inhibited the growth of human cervical cancer cells.”
2) “Black raspberries and their bioactive components represent promising candidates for future phytochemical-based mechanistic pathway-targeted cancer prevention strategies.”
3) “Black raspberries have been shown to inhibit multiple stages of oral, esophageal, and colon cancer.”
4) Anti-inflammatory effects of freeze-dried black raspberry powder in ulcerative colitis.
5) “Black raspberry extracts (BRE) have been shown to inhibit breast cancer cell growth and stimulate apoptosis.”
6) “The ability of topical BRE to reduce acute UVB-induced inflammation and to decrease tumor development in a long-term model provides compelling evidence to explore the clinical efficacy of BRE in the prevention of human skin cancers.” [ 30 ]
And researcher studying Chardonnay grape seeds have struck gold as well:
“Seed flours from chardonnay grape were examined as dietary sources of natural antioxidants and anti-proliferative agents for optimal human health.…Studies have found that grape seed extracts may prevent the growth of breast, stomach, colon, prostate, and lung cancer cells in test tubes. However, there is no clear evidence yet whether it works in humans. Antioxidants, such as those found in grape seed extract, are thought to reduce the risk of developing cancer. Grape seed extract may also help prevent damage to human liver cells caused by chemotherapy medications…” [ 31 ]
Now, having lauded the merits of adding seeds to your diet, the question arises, how can you “Eat the Seed” when we have agreed above that most seeds are encased in an indigestible husk and are exceedingly bitter to the taste? Well, some seeds are not problematic: lentils and beans, can be cooked; peas, almonds, walnuts can be shelled but many seeds defy our best efforts so we either spit them out (watermelon, apple, pear, grape) or toss them before bringing the food to the table (cantaloupe, pumpkin, lemon). Many seeds are considered waste products (berry seeds extracted to make jams) and many seeds need to be ground before being featured as spices. So eating seeds has been a challenge until one company, Rain International, formulated the world’s first nutritional supplement which is brilliantly comprised of three organic, non-GMO seeds with anti-inflammatory and other health benefits. The seeds are ground into a very fine dust and sweetened by the 5-carbon sugar D-Ribose as well as xylitol and cane sugar. Voila! Seeds for your health now fully digestible and absorbable in a delicious sweet drink diluted with pure water. The three seed product your doctor will soon recommend to you as the finest ant-inflammatory agent in addition to being loaded with nutrients, is called SOUL and is available from the person who shares this article with you.
GOOD FOR WHAT AILS YOU
Over 1400 years ago, the Prophet Mohammad wrote in his Hadith that “the blessed seed” and “love in a mist” both affectionate terms for the revered black cumin seed “cures everything except death”. That is a huge claim. However, as we have clarified above, chronic and excessive inflammation is the principle destructive force behind all chronic degenerative illnesses including aging! To my way of thinking, science has validated Mohammad’s teaching. In addition to the “blessed seed”, two other seeds, black raspberry seeds and Chardonnay grape seeds comprise the most “censible” (safe, effective and cost-effective) approach to helping the body address all illnesses. Sounds like a bold statement? I am not alone in asserting such over-arching claim. Professor Russell Tracy, MD University of Vermont College of Medicine writes:
“Inflammation seems to underlie not just senescence but all the chronic illnesses that often come along with it: diabetes, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s, heart attack….Inflammatory factors predict virtually all bad outcomes in humans. It predicts having heart attacks, having heart failure, becoming diabetic; predicts becoming fragile in old age; predicts cognitive function decline, even cancer to a certain extent.” [32]
Interested in some science and third party assessment of these amazing seed drinks from the scientists at Brunswick Labs? See these three links: About SOUL About CORE About FORM.
But the proof is in the (seed) pudding. So, treat yourself and your family to the healthiest experiment you will ever perform! Buy raw, organic, non-GMO seeds then freeze them in individual glass containers and every morning take a tablespoon of selected frozen seeds, grind them to a fine powder using a coffee grinder (you need to annihilate the husk so it too is bioavailable!) and add to your breakfast. There is no better more nutrient dense anti-inflammatory food on earth. Now, if that sounds like too much work or something you know that you’d only do occasionally, there is a high quality option available to you with a money back, satisfaction guarantee: eat a crushed whole seed pre-packaged drink which is as delicious as it is convenient. Where can you get these health-giving, anti-inflammatory seeds? They are the principal ingredients in the products SOUL, CORE and FORM available at http://www.safalab.com.
IN CONCLUSION
Contrary to what I was taught twenty-five years ago and what most doctors believe today, inflammation is not just related to painful joints. We must address inflammation because it is the major factor driving the aging process as well as chronic and degenerative diseases. The problem is that conventional anti-inflammatory agents carry significant risk of side-effects including death from internal bleeding and complications of kidney, liver and small blood vessel disease. So help your body be as healthy as possible by feeding it right. Eat the Seed! Naturally occurring, organic, non-GMO seeds offer incomparable benefit as regards being as they are filled with genetic material, centsible” (safe, effective and cost-effective) anti-inflammatory agents. And remember – eat the WHOLE crushed seed – not the extracted oils because those ground up husk fragments suspended in the drink radiate a chorus of protective chemicals which prevent the precious oil from going rancid.
It is time to stop aging. Now! And time to stop aching too. Well past time! Stop fueling the fires of inflammation. Drink healthy non-chlorinated, non-fluoridated water. Eat the Seed and once your health is restored, take time to enjoy yourself and your loved ones. And while we are on the topic of love, let’s agree with Mae West: “Too much of a good thing (like love) is indeed wonderful!
REFERENCES
1) http://homeoint.org/books/hahorgan/index.htm
2) http://discovermagazine.com/2007/dec/can-we-cure-aging#.Ut3L7P2tugQ
3) https://weeksmd.com/2014/03/vote-nobel-prize/
4) The Homocysteine Revolution http://www.amazon.com/The-Homocysteine-Revolution-Kilmer-McCully/dp/0879839759
5) http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA366280
6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiJIAI8FwF0
7) Kay AB, The role of inflammatory processes in airway hyper-responsiveness. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific, chap 5, 1989:151-178. and Asthma and Inflammation by A.B. Kay MD PhD Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Vol 87 number five 1991 ]
8) https://weeksmd.com/2014/03/future-cure-diabetes/
9) http://chriskresser.com/how-inflammation-makes-you-fat-and-diabetic-and-vice-versa
10) Thomsen S, et al. “Asthma affects time to pregnancy and fertility: a register-based twin study.” European Respiratory Journal. 2013.
11) Inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease Akiyama H, Barger S, Neurobiol Aging. 2000 May-Jun;21(3):383-421.
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Dantoft TM1, et al Ӭ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24485486 Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2014 Feb;40:140-50. ]
13) http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/11/200
14) https://weeksmd.com/2014/02/anti-inflammation-schizophrenia/
15) http://healthwars.co/tag/dr-allen-levin/]
16) http://www.cancerinform.org/chemotherapy.html
17) Interfering with Inflammation: a new strategy to block breast cancer self-renewal and progression. Cabodi and Taverna Breast Cancer Research 2010, 12:305 http://breast-cancer-research.com /content/12/2/305
18) Therapeutic Implications of the Cancer Stem Cell Hypothesis Maximilian Diehn, MD/PhD and Michael F. Clarke, MD https://weeksmd.com/?p=5465
19) Hill RP The proportion of stem cells in murine tumors. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 1989 Feb;16(2):513-8.
20) https://weeksmd.com/?p=5014 and
http://wn.com/professor_max_wicha__breast_cancer_stem_cell_regulation
21) https://weeksmd.com/2014/03/chemotherapy-stimulates-cancer-stem-cells/
22) Li X, Lewis MT, Huang J, et al. Intrinsic resistance of tumorigenic breast cancer cells to chemotherapy. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2008;100:672-9.
23) https://weeksmd.com/2010/03/corrective-cancer-care/ and https://weeksmd.com/2011/08/corrective-cancer-care-summary-and-references/
24) http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/49/9/1405.full and https://weeksmd.com/2014/02/safer-anti-inflammatory-agent/
25) http://www.google.com/patents/US5653981
26) Thymoquinone: potential cure for inflammatory disorders and cancer.
Source: Biochem Pharmacol. 2012 Feb 15 ;83(4):443-51. Epub 2011 Oct 10. PMID: 22005518 AU Chern Chiuh Woo
27) Thymoquinone extracted from black seed triggers apoptotic cell death in human colorectal cancer cells via a p53-dependent mechanism.
Gali-Muhtasib, H; et al International Journal of Oncology 2004
28) Thymoquinone: Potential Cure for Inflammatory Disorders and Cancer.
Source: Biochem Pharmacol. 2012 Feb 15 ;83(4):443-51. Epub 2011 Oct 10. PMID: 22005518 Abstract Author(s):Chern Chiuh Woo
29) In vivo radioprotective effects of Nigella sativa L oil and reduced glutathione against irradiation-induced oxidative injury and number of peripheral blood lymphocytes in rats.
Cemek, M; Photochem Photobiol. 2006 Nov-Dec 82(6):1691-6.
30) https://weeksmd.com/2014/03/eat-jam-throwing-away-seeds/
31) https://weeksmd.com/2014/03/eat-grape-seed-dont-spit/
32) http://discovermagazine.com/2007/dec/can-we-cure-aging#.Ut3L7P2tugQ ]
ABOUT the AUTHOR:
Bradford S. Weeks, M.D. has practiced holistic and integrative medicine for 25 years on Whidbey Island off the coast of Seattle, Washington.
A pioneer in Corrective Cancer Care, and widely respected international lecture, Dr. Weeks has offered “centisble” protocols to people seeking options to the standard of care conventional cancer treatments. Founder and Principal, Alternative Health Advocates, LLC., he now educates and advocates for people struggling with the challenges of maintaining health and autonomy amidst the corporatization of heath care today. For more of Dr. Weeks’ writings see www.weeksmd.com , http://www.weeksclinic.com and www.eattheseeds.com
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