5 Cancer Fighting Spices
The healing power of nature. While it is always important to take measures to prevent cancer in the first place, adjunctive natural cancer therapy can be a powerful tool. Cancer is the second leading cause of death amongst American’s and is rapidly climbing. When it comes to fighting cancer, spices can have a profound effect on regulating cell proliferation and up regulating the bodies programmed ability to destroy and remove cancerous cells. One of the most note worthy spices is fresh ground ginger. The active component (6-gingerol) has the ability to not only kill human cancer cells (in a petri dish), but also kill the progenitor or stem cells of the cancer! While chemotherapy can kill the cancer cells, it cannot target the stem cells (6-Gingerol Induces Cell Cycle Arrest and Cell Death of Mutant p53-expressing Pancreatic Cancer Cells). This was a huge discussion at a conference I attended back in 2016 on Spices as Natural Medicine. Curcumin has been demonstrated to up regulate p53, a gene responsible for apoptosis of cancerous cells. It also reduces proliferation, invasion, and angiogneic potential of the cell through down regulation of Nrf2 (limits ability to metastasize) and inhibits NF-kB, the master switch of inflammation. Green teas high concentration of EGCG makes it a potent phase II liver detoxifier, thereby reducing carcinogens, stimulating DNA repair, and inducing the bodies own mechanism for destroying cancerous cells. A study titled Cancer-preventive Effects of Drinking Green Tea showed strong preventative effects against all major cancers in Japanese people when 80 oz of green tea was consumed daily. Other potent anti-cancer spices/herbs include, cayenne pepper, ceylon cinnamon, garlic, milk thistle, chinese skull cap, magnolia, chamomile, slippery elm, and ginseng. Always best to purchase whole, fresh, dried, cracked, organic spices/herbs and grind yourself for the most volatile and potent benefits. Best to buy in 1-2 oz bags/bottles. Keep away from heat and store in a cool dark place since moisture, light, and heat degrade the potency. Ground spices keep for 1 year while whole spices keep for 2 years.
