Originally published August 19 2005
Vegetable extracts can deter cancer, researchers find
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
New research has shown that the extracts from certain vegetables can help prevent breast cancer.
It is well known that Asian women have lower rates of breast cancer compared with their Western counterparts, and one theory is they get ample amounts of protective phytochemicals from the vegetables in their diets.
Two of these phytonutrients are indole 3-carbinol (I3C) and sulforaphane, which are most abundant in vegetables such as kale, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.
They are gaining particular attention from scientists because of their relevance to breast cancer prevention.
I3C, for example, has been shown to cause cancer cells to self-destruct without harming healthy cells.
Of the three forms of estrogen made by the human body, estradiol (E2) has the strongest ability to turn on the growth signals that can make breast cells cancerous.
I3C has been shown to increase the conversion of strong E2 to weak E3 by 50 percent in women, and this has been shown to inhibit the growth of human cancer cells by 54-61 percent.
Another important metabolite of estrogen is 2-hydroxyestrone (2-HE), which has been shown to protective against cancer.
I3C promotes the formation of this protective chemical from estrogen, while reducing the formation of other estrogen metabolites that have been linked to cancer.
Research conducted at the Strang Cancer Research Laboratory in New York showed that in every case studied, protection against breast cancer was directly linked to the amount of this beneficial 2-HE present.
Prostate, breast and bladder cancer cells transplanted into mice all have been shown to stop growing in the presence of sulforaphane.
Unlike I3C, however, sulforaphane activates enzymes that detoxify cancer-causing chemicals from the body.
When you compare the last mammogram with one taken a year earlier, the three cysts circled by her doctor in the 2004 mammogram had disappeared.
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