8th August 2013
By John Phillip
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
Largely fueled by a diet of processed convenience foods and a sedentary lifestyle void of regular exercise, colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States, with more than 100,000 new diagnoses and 52,000 deaths attributed to the disease each year. Could natural compounds help ward off this deadly disease?
Natural compounds including curcumin and resveratrol have proven effective in the prevention of colon cancer, and now scientists have determined that grape seed extract (GSE) specifically targets damaged cells in the digestive tract to provide an effective treatment for colorectal cancer.
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Grape Seed Extract Promotes Programmed Cancer Cell Death to Prevent Colon Cancer Progression
A research team from the University of Colorado Cancer Center have published the results of a study in the journal, Cancer Letters demonstrating that the more advanced colorectal cancer cells are, the more GSE inhibits their growth and survival. Conversely, GSE does not affect healthy cells and is shown to specifically target only cancerous cells. The authors note that this is an important finding in light of the increased number of late stage colon cancer cases currently being diagnosed.
Lead study author and doctoral candidate Molly Derry commented “We’ve known for quite a while that the bioactive compounds in grape seed extract selectively target many types of cancer cells. This study shows that many of the same mutations that allow colorectal cancer cells to metastasize and survive traditional therapies make them especially sensitive to treatment with GSE.” This research could provide a critical starting point to encourage the use of natural therapies to treat colon cancer, rather than the traditional slash, burn and poison methods that cause more harm than good for many who suffer from the disease.
Supplement Daily with a Standardized GSE Formulation to Help Prevent Digestive Cancers
Scientists studied the effect of GSE on various stages of colon cancer cell lines, ranging from Stage 1 to Stage IV. They found that similar concentrations of GSE exerted a more profound effect in eradicating more advanced stages of colon cancer, indicating that the natural compound may provide an effective treatment option for more advanced forms of the disease. The Ms. Derry noted “It required less than half the concentration of GSE to suppress cell growth and kill 50 percent of stage IV cells than it did to achieve similar results in the stage II cells.”
The study team discovered that GSE targets colorectal cancer through inducing oxidative stress that leads to the programmed cell death known as apoptosis. Ms. Derry concluded “the many bioactive compounds of GSE are able to target multiple mutations. The more mutations a cancer presents, the more effective GSE is in targeting them.” Nutrition experts recommend supplementing with a standardized whole grape seed extract (150 to 250 mg) daily to provide a protective shield against colon and digestive cancers.
Article Sources:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/255077
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130117105843
Previous articles by John
- Feeling Forgetful? Better Lay Off These Foods
- Green Tea Compound Shrinks Cancerous Tumors
- Processed Fructose Found to Cause Liver Damage
- Black Tea Slashes Triglyceride Levels by 36%
About the Author
John Phillip is a Certified Nutritional Consultant and diet, health and nutrition researcher and author with a passion for understanding weight loss challenges and encouraging health modification through natural diet, lifestyle and targeted supplementation. John’s passion is to research and write about the cutting edge alternative health technologies that affect our lives.
Discover the latest alternative health news concerning diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and weight loss at My Optimal Health Resource
This article was republished with permission from Live in the Now, one of the fastest growing natural health newsletters. Visit LiveInTheNow.com to browse their complete library of articles, or join the nearly 60,000 readers subscribed to their Newsletter.
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