Introduction
Herbs & spices have been known since ancient times to provide nutritional benefits for a wide range of diseases & illnesses. The Chinese have used medicinal herbs for 5,000 years to heal diseases & promote wellness. And many spices are not only used as a food additive, colouring or preservative but they are also used to help prevent chronic diseases such as cancer.
Below are some herbs & spices that cancer survivors can use in their daily diet to help them fight cancer.
Lemongrass Tea
In 2005, researchers at Ben Gurion University in Israel discovered that the lemon aroma in herbs like lemongrass kills cancer cells in vitro, while leaving healthy cells unharmed. The researchers found that a drink with as little as one gram of lemongrass contains enough citral to prompt the cancer cells to commit suicide in the test tube.
Citral is the key component that gives the lemony aroma and taste in several herbal plants such as lemongrass. The success of their research led them to the conclusion that herbs containing citral may be consumed as a preventative measure against certain cancerous cells.
Many physicians in Israel began to believe that while the research certainly needed to be explored further, in the meantime it would be advisable for their patients, who were looking for any possible tool to fight their condition, to try to harness the cancer-destroying properties of citral. The cancer patients were "told to drink eight glasses of hot water with fresh lemongrass steeped in it on the days that they went for their radiation and chemotherapy treatments."
Here are some tips on how you can include lemongrass in your daily anti-cancer diet.
Recipe
Ingredients : 3 stalks of lemongrass & 8 glasses of water (2,000ml or 2 litres).
Method : Cut the stalks in halves & boil them in water for about 20 min.
When to drink : On the day you go for radiation or chemo treatment, drink this tea within 2 hrs & stop drinking half-hour before treatment starts. On the day when you don't have treatment, you can boil just 1 stalk of lemongrass with 2 glasses (500ml) of water for 10 min and drink it while it's fresh & warm.
For cancer survivors : you too can include lemongrass tea in your daily diet as part of your health maintenance. Boil 1 stalk of lemongrass with 500ml of water & drink the tea while it's fresh & warm. I make & drink this tea everyday.
Benefits : prevent mouth ulcers and nausea; prevent good cells from being killed by radiation and chemo drugs; prevent growth of cancer cells.
Additional tips : You can include one or two stalks of lemongrass when you cook your rice.
Useful Info (taken from : WebMD website, see "References" for link)
1. Lemongrass is a plant. The leaves and the oil are used to make medicine.
2. Lemongrass is used for treating digestive tract spasms, stomachache, high blood pressure, convulsions, pain, vomiting, cough, achy joints (rheumatism), fever, the common cold, and exhaustion. It is also used to kill germs and as a mild astringent.
3. Some people apply lemongrass and its essential oil directly to the skin for headache, stomachache, abdominal pain, and muscle pain.
4. By inhalation, the essential oil of lemongrass is used as aromatherapy for muscle pain.
5. In food and beverages, lemongrass is used as a flavoring. For example, lemongrass leaves are commonly used as “lemon” flavoring in herbal teas.
6. In manufacturing, lemongrass is used as a fragrance in soaps and cosmetics. Lemongrass is also used in making vitamin A and natural citral.
7. How does it work? Lemongrass might help prevent the growth of some bacteria and yeast. Lemongrass also contains substances that are thought to relieve pain, reduce fever, stimulate the uterus and menstrual flow, and have antioxidant properties.
Turmeric and Black Pepper
Turmeric is a spice commonly used in Indian cooking. Is it a coincidence that the rate of cancer among Indians is lower than that of the Chinese & Malays in Singapore? (Chinese males : 250 per 100,000 population compared to Indian males 113; Chinese females : 209 per 100,000 population compared to Indian females 128). I don't think so. I can’t help but feel that turmeric may be the reason for the disparity between the rates of cancer among Indians and the other two main ethnic groups in Singapore.
And interestingly, when cancer rates from India are compared with those from Western countries, it also tells the same story. In India, the rates for breast, lung, colorectal, prostate & kidney cancers are one of the lowest in the world. Turmeric could be the reason as it is consumed in large amounts in India. An Indian consumes an average of 1.5g to 2g of turmeric per day (one-quarter to half a teaspoon).
Turmeric is grown in India and other tropical regions of Asia. Since the seventh century AD, turmeric has long been used as an anti-inflammatory herbal remedy. Some practitioners prescribe turmeric to relieve inflammation caused by arthritis, muscle sprains, swelling & pain caused by injuries or surgical incisions. It is also promoted as a treatment for rheumatism & as an antiseptic for cleaning wounds.
Supporters of turmeric also claim that turmeric protects against liver diseases, stimulates the gallbladder and circulatory systems, reduces cholesterol levels, dissolves blood clots, helps stop external and internal bleeding, and relieves painful menstruation and chest pains that often occur with heart disease. It is also used as a remedy for digestive problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, Crohn’s disease and illnesses caused by toxins from parasites and bacteria.
Turmeric is a plant in the ginger family. Turmeric (Indian saffron) is known as Haldi in India or jianghuang (yellow ginger) in Chinese. Turmeric contains an active ingredient called curcumin, an antioxidant that has shown to have numerous anticancer properties. Laboratory studies have found that carcumin inhibits & slows the growth of a number of cancers, particularly tumours of the oesophagus, mouth, lung, liver, prostate, stomach, colon, intestines, breast, skin & leukaemia. It also inhibits angiogenesis (#) & forces cancer cells to die.
A research done by Dr Beliveau & Dr Gingras on turmeric discovered that curcumin has one drawback – its low bioavailability (the extent to which it can be absorbed into the bloodstream). They found that piperine, a molecule contained in black pepper, increases the body’s absorption of curcumin by a factor of 1,000. To be assimilated by the body, turmeric must therefore be mixed with black pepper.
Dr Servan-Schreiber, a physician-scientist and a 20-year brain cancer survivor, said in his “Anticancer” blog, “Given that turmeric and pepper, taken as part of a normal diet, are practically never toxic in any way, it seems to me to be perfectly reasonable to recommend that all of us regularly consume a soupspoon of turmeric every day, with a pinch of pepper. You can use it in all your cooking, just like I've been doing for years.”
Here is the recipe for tumeric-black pepper mixture which was given me by Jimmy, one NPC survivor who had done some research into this anticancer spice.Recipe
Ingredients : ten (10) teaspoons of turmeric powder and one (1) teaspoon of ground black pepper.
Method : Mix the 2 ingredients thoroughly in a glass container. Use a glass container with a tight lid, one that you can use to store the mixture for daily use.
How to consume : sprinkle turmeric-black pepper powder in your cooking or in your bowl of rice, noodles or soup, in fact in all the food you consume each day.
How much to take : Although there is no standard dose for turmeric, some practitioners recommend taking a teaspoon with each meal.
Benefits : inhibit, prevent & slow the growth of cancer. In the words of Dr Beliveau & Dr Gingras, "The daily addition of a teaspoon of turmeric to soups, salad dressings or pasta dishes is a simple, rapid & inexpensive way of providing a curcumin intake sufficient to help prevent cancer from developing."
Caution & Contraindications :
1. “Note that it is often safest to avoid turmeric during chemotherapy as well as three days before and after the treatment. This is because it can – rarely, but it can – interfere with some chemotherapy treatments and reduce their benefits.” (Dr Servan-Schreiber)
2. A study by some researchers had suggested that curcumin changes metabolism of oxalate, a substance that can form kidney stones. The researchers urged caution in use of this supplement by people with conditions that make them susceptible to kidney stones. (American Cancer Society)
3. People taking blood-thinning medications, drugs that suppress the immune system or non-steroidal pain relievers (such as ibuprofen) should avoid turmeric because of the risk of harmful drug interactions. In animal and laboratory studies, turmeric made certain anti-cancer drugs less effective. Antioxidant supplements can interfere with the effectiveness of chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Patients who are in cancer treatment should talk to their doctor before taking vitamins, minerals, herbs or other supplements. (American Cancer Society)
4. People with bleeding disorders, obstructions of the bile duct or a history of ulcers also should avoid turmeric. Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding should not use this herb. The amount of turmeric found in foods is thought to be safe for those who are not allergic to it. (American Cancer Society)
5. When used as a spice in foods, turmeric is considered safe. But allergic reactions are possible. People who are allergic to ginger or yellow food colourings are more likely to be allergic to turmeric. (American Cancer Society)
Sabah Snake Grass (or Clinacanthus nutans) (work-in-progress)
notice
dear readers, I'm in the process of doing research on this herb but may have to delay publishing it on this blog as I have to attend to my ageing dad who is very sick with pneumonia. I will be back as soon as I can.
Meanwhile, if you google "Sabah snake grass" on the internet, you will be able to find several blogs on this subject. I append below some of the blogs you can visit.
Some recommended websites
http://sabahsnakegrassclinacanthus.com/
http://detox4cure.blogspot.com/
http://blog.ongsiwkim.com/en/
http://goodguy.hubpages.com/hub/Herbal-cure-for-cancer
http://upekah.blogspot.com/2011/09/sabah-snake-grass-update.html
http://healthiswealthwithherbs.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-plant-sabah-snake-grass.html
(watch out for more remedies ......)
Eat right. Exercise daily. Rest adequately.
shuqin
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References
Lemongrass
http://www.israel21c.org/health/fresh-lemon-grass-fields-in-israel-become-mecca-for-cancer-patients
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-719-LEMONGRASS.aspx?activeIngredientId=719&activeIngredientName=LEMONGRASS
Turmeric
Singapore Cancer Registry Interim Report - Trends in Cancer Incidence in Singapore 2004-2008
http://www.nrdo.gov.sg/uploadedFiles/NRDO/Publications/Cancer_Trends_Report0408_web_v2.pdf
Dr David Servan-Schreiber’s “Anticancer” blog
http://www.anticancerbook.com/research.html
American Cancer Society
http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/turmeric
Book - “Foods to fight cancer” by Prof R Beliveau & Dr D Gingras
