Dr. Weeks’ Comment: Berries, not Chemo!
Organic raspberries tremendously healthy but are hard to find – and expensive. The seeds are indigestible which is unfortunate because 20 fold more nutrients are found in the powerful seeds than the rest of the plant. One cup of fresh ripe raspberries offer 40mg ellagic acid. What type of acid? Read below. A natural food ingredient which might make your chemotherapy and radiation redundant and obsolete. After you read the following references from the peer-reviewed scientific literature, you will want to shop for organic raspberries BUT, most commercial fruits are not organic, may be GMO altered and almost without exception are picked unripe before the nutrients are present. Informed health conscious friends and colleagues know this so their choice is to supplement with this 3 berry seed drink SOUL which offers the equivalent of 6-8 servings of organic fruits, 3 servings of organic omega oils and 6-8 servings of organic vegetables along with all the associated food-form trace minerals and essential vitamins. Are YOU nourishing yourself adequately? Take SOUL twice a day – first thing in the morning and last thing at night. And if you or someone you love is being told that toxic chemotherapy or radiation is required….. read below and start eating a food which might help your body heal without toxic drugs.
“…Ellagic Acid is a super antioxidant and a potent anti-carcinogen which protects the cells against free radical damage. It is also a very powerful anti-viral and anti-bacterial agent. Ellagic Acid has the ability to inhibit mutations within a cell’s DNA. It is also considered to be a cancer inhibitor with the ability to induce apoptosis or normal death in many different types of cancer cells…”
Many thanks to Prof. Berger and his fabulous research colleague Jeanie for sharing these references.
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1. Cancers (Basel). <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24216999#>2013 Jun 19;5(2):726-38. doi: 10.3390/cancers5020726.
Effects of ellagic Acid on angiogenic factors in prostate cancer cells.
Author: Vanella L
Source : Department of Drug Science, Section of Biochemistry, University of Catania, I-95125 Catania, Italy.
Abstract
Background: Several natural antioxidants, including ellagic acid (EA), have been reported to have chemotherapeutic activity in vivo and in vitro settings. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) activity and synthesis of both epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and 20-hydroxy-5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid(20-HETE), together with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and heme oxygenase system (HO) have emerged as important modulators of tumor growth and metastasis.
Results: EA treatment induced a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in HO-1, HO-2 and CYP2J2 expression, and in VEGF and OPG levels. Similarly CYP2J2, CYP4F2 and CYPA22 mRNAs were significantly (p < 0.05) down-regulated by EA treatment. The decrease in CYP2J2 mRNA was associated with an increase in sEH expression.
Conclusions: Results reported in the present study highlighted the ability of EA to modulate a new pathway, in addition to anti-proliferative and pro-differentiation properties, via a mechanism that involves a decrease in eicosanoid synthesis and a down-regulation of the HO system in prostate cancer.
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2.
Oncol Rep. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24085108#>2013 Dec;30(6):2804-10. doi: 10.3892/or.2013.2757. Epub 2013 Sep 30.
Apoptotic markers in a prostate cancer cell line: effect of ellagic acid.
Author: Vanella L
Source: Department of Drug Science, Section of Biochemistry, University of Catania, I-95125 Catania, Italy.
Abstract
Ellagic acid (EA) inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in cultured cells; however, the precise molecular mechanism involved in EA-induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells is unknown. The aim of the present study was to delineate possible apoptotic pathway(s) involved in the EA-mediated chemotherapeutic effects in the LNCaP human prostatic cancer cell line. EA produced anti-proliferative effects through inhibition of rapamycin (mTOR) activation and a reduction in intracellular levels of β-catenin. Moreover, we demonstrated that EA induced apoptosis via downregulation of the anti-apoptotic proteins, silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1), human antigen R (HuR) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). EA modulated the expression of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) resulting in a significant increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and the activation of caspase-3.
Finally, we demonstrated that EA reduced both transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels. EA treatment resulted in the increased expression of the tumor suppressor protein p21 and increased the percentage of apoptotic cells. In conclusion, the results suggest that EA treatment represents a new and highly effective strategy in reducing prostate cancer carcinogenesis
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3.
Carcinogenesis. 2005 Apr;26(4):821-826. Epub 2005 Jan 20.
Combined inhibition of PDGF and VEGF receptors by ellagic acid, a dietary-derived phenolic compound.*
Author: Labrecque L,
The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptors play essential and complementary roles in angiogenesis and combined inhibition of these receptors has been shown to result in potent antitumor activity in vivo. In this study, we report that ellagic acid (EA), a natural polyphenol found in fruits and nuts, inhibits VEGF-induced phosphorylation of VEGFR-2 in endothelial cell (EC) as well as PDGF-induced phosphorylation of PDGFR in smooth muscle cells, leading to the inhibition of downstream signaling triggered by these receptors. EA also specifically inhibited VEGF-induced migration of ECs as well as their differentiation into capillary-like tubular structures and abolished PDGF-dependent smooth muscle cell migration. Interestingly, EA presents a greater selectivity for normal cells than for tumor cells since the migration of the U87 and HT1080 cell lines were much less affected by this molecule. The identification of EA as a naturally occurring dual inhibitor of VEGF and PDGF receptors suggests that this molecule possesses important anti-angiogenic properties that may be helpful for the prevention and treatment of cancer.
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4.
Cancer Lett. 1999 Mar 1;136(2):215-21.
p53/p21(WAF1/CIP1) expression and its possible role in G1 arrest and apoptosis in ellagic acid treated cancer cells.
Author: Narayanan BA, Geoffroy O, Willingham MC, Re GG, Nixon DW.
Abstract
Ellagic acid is a phenolic compound present in fruits and nuts including raspberries, strawberries and walnuts. It is known to inhibit certain carcinogen-induced cancers and may have other chemopreventive properties. The effects of ellagic acid on cell cycle events and apoptosis were studied in cervical carcinoma (CaSki) cells. We found that ellagic acid at a concentration of 10(-5) M induced G arrest within 48 h, inhibited overall cell growth and induced apoptosis in CaSki cells after 72 h of treatment. Activation of the cdk inhibitory protein p21 by ellagic acid suggests a role for ellagic acid in cell cycle regulation of cancer cells.
Ellagic Acid is a nutraceutical. It contains a naturally occurring phenolic compound that has very strong anti-oxidant properties. It is a potent anti-carcinogen. Ellagic Acid has the ability to inhibit mutations within a cell’s DNA. It is also considered to be a cancer inhibitor which has the ability to restore apoptosis or normal cell death in cancer cells. In addition, research has found it to be antibacterial and anti-viral.
Dr. Daniel Nixon of the Hollings Cancer Institute at the Medical University of South Carolina has been working with Ellagic Acid from red raspberry seed in his cancer studies.
Dr. Nixon found that ingesting 40mg of Ellagic Acid daily, which is the amount of Ellagic Acid contained in 1 cup of red raspberries, can cause cancer cells to undergo apoptosis (natural cell death). This is important because when cancer cells undergo apoptosis it effectively stops their geometric reproductive progression. The cancer cells die a normal death and are not reproduced. In other words, Ellagic Acid reinstates the apoptosis (natural cell death) causing action of the P53 gene.
Dr. Nixon also has shown that human cervical cells which are infected with the human papilloma virus (which is considered to be the main cause of cervical cancer) are also killed.
Other investigations and researchers, both in the United States and in Europe, found that daily consumption of Ellagic Acid from red raspberries had positive responses in:
– reduction of perodontal disease
– protection of the liver from toxic injury
– promotion of liver regeneration
– promotion of faster wound healing
– reduction of radiation induced chromosomal damage
– slowing the spread of the HIV virus in the human body
– slowing the degenerative process of aging
– prevention of neural tube birth defects
– reduction of neurodegenerative diseases
– reduction of diabetic retinopathy
Ellagic Acid is a super antioxidant and a potent anti-carcinogen which protects the cells against free radical damage. It is also a very powerful anti-viral and anti-bacterial agent. Ellagic Acid has the ability to inhibit mutations within a cell’s DNA. It is also considered to be a cancer inhibitor with the ability to induce apoptosis or normal death in many different types of cancer cells.