Micah Stanley
The condition of the intestines can be controlled very easily through diet and also with dietary supplements, such as e.g. B. affects resveratrol. After all, it is the digestive system that comes into contact with our food first. Resveratrol is a phytochemical found primarily in grapes. When taken with grape seed extract, it appears to be able to suppress colon cancer stem cells, according to a 2016 study. The plant substances from purple-colored potatoes proved to be just as effective against colon cancer.
Colorectal cancer: diet and lifestyle are important causes
Colorectal cancer is a very widespread form of cancer, especially colon cancer, which leads to around 60,000 to 70,000 new cases and around 27,000 deaths in Germany alone every year.
The media likes to name genetic predisposition as the main cause, which quickly pushes those affected into the role of victim and leaves little room for prevention and holistic therapy measures. On the other hand, the German Cancer Information Service reports:
Colon cancer is currently the third most common tumor in men and the second most common in women in this country. In an international comparison, Germany is at the top of the list when it comes to new cases. Experts blame dietary and lifestyle habits, among other things…”.
Furthermore, it cannot be ruled out that a bad lifestyle can also change the hereditary disposition over generations. It is therefore not very intelligent to dismiss a change in diet and lifestyle as unnecessary or ineffective from the outset.
Resveratrol and grape seed extract against colon cancer
A diet that prevents colon cancer or nutritional therapy for the treatment of colon cancer should always contain grapes or products made from them. Because grapes contain resveratrol, a substance that can slow down colon cancer cells.
A team of researchers led by Jairam K.P. Vanamala, professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences, studied the effect of various compounds found in grapes on colon cancer stem cells. The focus was on the use of resveratrol – a polyphenol from grapes, red wine, peanuts, and some types of berries – in combination with grape seed extract. The results of the study were published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Cancer stem cells are the germ cells of new tumors
The effect of the resveratrol/grape seed extract combination was studied on cancer stem cells because the authors believed that most, if not all, tumors originate from cancer stem cells.
Cancer stem cells are able to regenerate themselves, to differentiate from other cells, and to retain their stem cell-typical properties even long after invasive cancer with metastasis has occurred,” explains Prof. Vanamala.
Cancer stem cells are said to be responsible for the fact that cancer keeps reviving after it has been fought with chemotherapy. Because cancer stem cells – according to the theory – are often resistant in contrast to ordinary cancer cells. They survive chemotherapy and can give rise to new cancerous growth at a later point in time. They are, so to speak, the germ cells of new tumors.
You can compare cancer stem cells to the roots of weeds,” explains Vanamala. “You can cut the weeds as many times as you want. It will grow back as long as you keep the roots in the ground.”
So if it were possible to find a remedy against the cancer stem cells, then cancer could possibly be fought in such a way that it would not come back.
Resveratrol and grape seed extract as well as drugs
Prof. Vanamala gave mice with colon cancer a combination of resveratrol and grape seed extract. A control group did not receive the drug, and a third group received an anti-inflammatory drug that had been shown to inhibit cancer in humans.
In the resveratrol/grape seed extract group, as in the drug group, the number of tumors decreased by 50 percent. However, the drug group suffered from gastrointestinal problems, while the resveratrol group did not. The in vitro experiments were very similar.
It is better to combine plant substances instead of taking them individually
Vanamala’s team also found that when taken separately and in small doses, resveratrol and grape seed extract were not as effective as when taken together. The best results were seen when both substances were taken together.
“The combined administration of resveratrol and grape seed extract is very effective in killing colon cancer cells,” says Professor Vanamal. “Moreover, the combination of these two substances is not toxic to healthy cells.”
He suspects that frequent consumption of brightly colored fruits and vegetables could explain why some peoples have lower rates of colon cancer. Nigeria, for example, shows that the West African diet is the reason why people from Nigeria – the country with the lowest cancer rates in the world – develop colon cancer so rarely compared to white people.
Plant-based diet ideal for cancer prevention
Plant-based diets in particular provide the substances that can kill cancer stem cells, says Professor Vanamala. He, therefore, recommends consuming a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, which not only benefits the intestinal flora and not only colon cancer, but also other chronic diseases such as e.g. B. prevent type 2 diabetes.
The variety of plant-based foods provides a person with different plants, different plant parts, different plant colors, and thus completely different plant substances. These now act synergistically again, i.e. they increase their effect – just like resveratrol and grape seed extract does.
Researchers are now hoping to soon get the green light for human clinical trials to directly test the effects of grape compounds on patients suffering from colon cancer. If these studies are successful, then combined resveratrol-grape extract supplements in pill form can be taken to prevent colon cancer in the future, even if colon cancer has already been successfully operated on or treated to avoid recurrence.
Potatoes also eliminate colon cancer stem cells
Certain potatoes – namely purple ones – also contain substances that can eliminate colon cancer cells and stop the spread of cancer, as Professor Vanamala discovered in August 2015. It is u. a. around anthocyanins, chlorogenic acid, and resistant starch. The latter serves as food for the intestinal flora. Resistant starch builds up in potatoes if they are allowed to cool after cooking.
The beneficial intestinal bacteria then convert the starch into short-chain fatty acids, which in turn helps regenerate and heal the intestines. Short-chain fatty acids regulate the immune functions in the intestine, suppress chronic inflammatory processes (which are considered a contributing factor to colon cancer), and even ensure that cancer cells are driven to suicide.
Botanicals are heat stable
Since potatoes are almost never eaten raw, the researchers investigated the effects of baked potatoes right from the start – and lo and behold, they still had anti-cancer properties. The proliferation of cancer stem cells was suppressed while at the same time the death rate of these cells increased.
To achieve this effect – according to the scientists – it is enough to eat a medium-sized purple potato every day. However, Professor Vanamala also emphasizes here that it is important to practice a so-called rainbow diet, i.e. to eat food of every color every day, as this way you take in thousands of plant substances – and each of these substances works in other ways for human health and anti-cancer.
For example, alongside purple potatoes and blue grapes, you might eat yellow mangoes, orange apricots, bright red squash, dark green leafy greens, purple red cabbage, and jet black blackberries.
If you take additional dietary supplements, e.g. B. wants to buy grape seed extract, so please pay attention to high quality, because the amounts of active ingredients in the extracts are often too small to achieve an effect. For example, if the daily dose (e.g. 2 capsules) is 500 mg of grape seed extract, the proportion of polyphenols should be around 475 mg and that of OPC 200 mg.
Colorectal cancer: prevention and holistic therapy
Other foods that contain plant compounds that are effective in colon cancer include apples, turmeric, prunes, walnuts, and, of course, cabbage. Curcumin and also milk thistle are therefore suitable as food supplements that are hostile to colon cancer.
