On Science Nutrition News (.http://www.newhope.com/nutritionsciencenews/NSN_backs/Aug_00/cancer.cfm).
From The August 2000 Issue of Nutrition Science News
Nutritional Soup for Cancer
An enormous amount of scientific literature shows beyond a reasonable doubt that many components of fruits, vegetables, herbs and mushrooms have the ability to retard and treat cancer—at least in animals and test tubes.1-5 Similar results in human studies, on the other hand, are few and far between, primarily because human studies have yet to be performed. One exception was the fish-oil study reported in the January 1998 issue of Cancer, in which a large, well-designed, double-blind study showed fish oil more than doubled the survival time of patients with advanced cancers of the breast, colon, lung and pancreas.6 Tragically, these encouraging results did not catch the interest of the medical profession, the media or the public. Nor did the big cancer organizations and institutions put their prestige or money on the line in order to replicate the study. Perhaps their interest will perk up with news of a nutritional broth that may have tripled the survival time of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
Non-small cell lung cancer kills more than 400,000 Americans each year. Knowing conventional therapies are only marginally effective in treating this condition,7 researchers at the Connecticut Institute for Aging and Cancer in Milford along with those at the Czech Republic's University of Palacky tested an experimental nutritional treatment on six patients with advanced (Stage III or Stage IV) non-small cell lung cancer compared to 13 comparable lung cancer victims who did not receive the treatment. The design, however, was not double-blind, meaning both patients and doctors knew who had received the therapy and who had not. Regardless of which group patients were in, each continued their standard chemotherapy treatments.
The researchers' experimental cancer treatment was nothing more or less than 30 g a day of soup stock prepared from a broad array of herbs, vegetables and mushrooms, including soybeans, shiitake mushrooms (Lentinus edodes), mung beans, red dates, scallions, garlic (Allium sativum), lentils, leeks, hawthorn fruit (Crataegus pinnatifida), onions, ginseng (Panax spp.), angelica root (Angelica spp.), licorice (Glycyrrhiza spp.), dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale), senegal root (Polygala senega), ginger (Zingiber officinalis), olives, sesame seeds and parsley. The complex is now a commercially available product produced in Milford, Conn.
Although vegetable soup chemotherapy may sound silly, a 24-month follow-up revealed remarkable results. For example, control patients lost an average of 11.6 percent of their body weight, while those taking the vegetable soup lost only 2.1 percent. Moreover, vegetable soup patients scored much higher on their day-to-day quality of life function tests as measured by the standard Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS). Among control subjects, KPS scores fell from a respectable 78 at the start to a struggling 55 within three months, while the vegetable soup patients' average score actually improved from 75 at the start to a follow-up value of 80.
The most impressive result of this study, however, was the apparent survival advantage of those taking the experimental broth. Excluding three patients who died early, the median survival among the remaining 10 control patients was 4.5 months, with a 95 percent confidence range of four to seven months. In contrast, half the soup patients were still alive at 15.5 months, with a 95 percent confidence range of nine to 18 months. Thus, the broth treatment more than tripled the median survival rate, far surpassing the power of any conventional therapy.
Of course, these wonderful results could be a fluke. Larger, double-blind and better-controlled studies may show that vegetable soup is not, in fact, effective as a cancer treatment. But considering there is a chance that it may be, the question is whether such pivotal research will actually be performed.
Preliminary signs do offer a smidgen of hope, as the research report itself acknowledges several internationally respected leaders of the orthodox cancer elite. Perhaps one or more of these "union" leaders will place their personal prestige on the line in order to vouch for continued research into the role herbs, fruits and vegetables play in cancer prevention and cure. If so, a large double-blind study could start promptly, and, given the deadly nature of lung cancer, the results would follow quickly. The interests of both patients and scientists would be served by determining if a bowl of mere vegetable soup has the power to double as a chemotherapy treatment.
Richard N. Podell, M.D., M.P.H., is director of the Podell Medical Center in New Providence, N.J.
References
1. Hartwell JL. Plants used against cancer: a survey. (Lloydia; 1971. p 30:379-416; 31:71-170, 32: 70-107, 153-205, 247-96—1969. 33:97-194, 288-92—1970. 34:103-60, 204-55, 301-60, 368-438—1971.
2. Evans SM, et al. Protection against metastasis of radiation-induced thymic lymphosarcoma and weight loss in C57BL/6NCrlBR mice by an autoclave resistant factor present in soybeans. Radiat Res 1992;132:259-62.
3. Peterson G. Genistein and biochanin A inhibit the growth of human prostate cancer cells not epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine autophosphorylation. Prostate 1993;22:335-45.
4.Shamsuddkin AM, Ullah A. Suppression of large intestinal cancer in F344 rats by inositol hexaphosphate. Carcinogenesis 1988;9:577-80.
5. Chihara G, et al. Antitumor and metastasis-inhibitory activities of lentinan as an immunomodulator: an overview. Cancer Detect Prev Suppl 1987;1:423-43.
6. Gogos C, et. al. Dietary Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids plus vitamin E restore immunodeficiency and prolong survival for severely ill patients with generalized malignancy: a randomized control trial. Cancer 1998;82:395-402.
7. Sun AS, et al. Phase I/II study of stage II and IV non-small cell lung cancer patients taking a specific dietary supplement. Nutr Cancer 1999;34(1):62-9.
It seems like Soup is indeed more than just for the soul, it is good the vessel that carries your soul too. Here’s a recipe I’d like to share
1/2 fresh chicken, chopped and skin removed (or 2 chicken drumsticks/thighs, or 200g pork ribs)
- 200g watercress (ends trimmed, separate stems & leaves)
- 80g carrots, peeled & cut to pieces (I used peeled baby carrots as a short cut)
- 15 red dates (pitted)
- 1 tbsp wolfberries
- 1200ml water
- 10 short american ginseng (aka ‘Pao Shen, 泡参) [optional]
- a small pinch of salt [optional]
Directions
1. Blanch chicken in boiling water for 5 minutes (so that you are rid of the icky small bits). Set aside.
2. Place water, watercress stems, carrots, red dates and short american ginseng in pot and bring to a boil. Add the previously blanched chicken, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Add watercress leaves and wolfberries. Continue boiling for 10-15 minutes*.
4. Season with salt if needed.
* Watercress leaves are added later so that they stay crunchy. If you prefer them soft or don’t intend to eat the watercress, you can place it together with the other ingredients in step 2. Wolfberries are added later so that they stay firm and will not burst.
From The August 2000 Issue of Nutrition Science News
Nutritional Soup for Cancer
An enormous amount of scientific literature shows beyond a reasonable doubt that many components of fruits, vegetables, herbs and mushrooms have the ability to retard and treat cancer—at least in animals and test tubes.1-5 Similar results in human studies, on the other hand, are few and far between, primarily because human studies have yet to be performed. One exception was the fish-oil study reported in the January 1998 issue of Cancer, in which a large, well-designed, double-blind study showed fish oil more than doubled the survival time of patients with advanced cancers of the breast, colon, lung and pancreas.6 Tragically, these encouraging results did not catch the interest of the medical profession, the media or the public. Nor did the big cancer organizations and institutions put their prestige or money on the line in order to replicate the study. Perhaps their interest will perk up with news of a nutritional broth that may have tripled the survival time of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
Non-small cell lung cancer kills more than 400,000 Americans each year. Knowing conventional therapies are only marginally effective in treating this condition,7 researchers at the Connecticut Institute for Aging and Cancer in Milford along with those at the Czech Republic's University of Palacky tested an experimental nutritional treatment on six patients with advanced (Stage III or Stage IV) non-small cell lung cancer compared to 13 comparable lung cancer victims who did not receive the treatment. The design, however, was not double-blind, meaning both patients and doctors knew who had received the therapy and who had not. Regardless of which group patients were in, each continued their standard chemotherapy treatments.
The researchers' experimental cancer treatment was nothing more or less than 30 g a day of soup stock prepared from a broad array of herbs, vegetables and mushrooms, including soybeans, shiitake mushrooms (Lentinus edodes), mung beans, red dates, scallions, garlic (Allium sativum), lentils, leeks, hawthorn fruit (Crataegus pinnatifida), onions, ginseng (Panax spp.), angelica root (Angelica spp.), licorice (Glycyrrhiza spp.), dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale), senegal root (Polygala senega), ginger (Zingiber officinalis), olives, sesame seeds and parsley. The complex is now a commercially available product produced in Milford, Conn.
Although vegetable soup chemotherapy may sound silly, a 24-month follow-up revealed remarkable results. For example, control patients lost an average of 11.6 percent of their body weight, while those taking the vegetable soup lost only 2.1 percent. Moreover, vegetable soup patients scored much higher on their day-to-day quality of life function tests as measured by the standard Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS). Among control subjects, KPS scores fell from a respectable 78 at the start to a struggling 55 within three months, while the vegetable soup patients' average score actually improved from 75 at the start to a follow-up value of 80.
The most impressive result of this study, however, was the apparent survival advantage of those taking the experimental broth. Excluding three patients who died early, the median survival among the remaining 10 control patients was 4.5 months, with a 95 percent confidence range of four to seven months. In contrast, half the soup patients were still alive at 15.5 months, with a 95 percent confidence range of nine to 18 months. Thus, the broth treatment more than tripled the median survival rate, far surpassing the power of any conventional therapy.
Of course, these wonderful results could be a fluke. Larger, double-blind and better-controlled studies may show that vegetable soup is not, in fact, effective as a cancer treatment. But considering there is a chance that it may be, the question is whether such pivotal research will actually be performed.
Preliminary signs do offer a smidgen of hope, as the research report itself acknowledges several internationally respected leaders of the orthodox cancer elite. Perhaps one or more of these "union" leaders will place their personal prestige on the line in order to vouch for continued research into the role herbs, fruits and vegetables play in cancer prevention and cure. If so, a large double-blind study could start promptly, and, given the deadly nature of lung cancer, the results would follow quickly. The interests of both patients and scientists would be served by determining if a bowl of mere vegetable soup has the power to double as a chemotherapy treatment.
Richard N. Podell, M.D., M.P.H., is director of the Podell Medical Center in New Providence, N.J.
References
1. Hartwell JL. Plants used against cancer: a survey. (Lloydia; 1971. p 30:379-416; 31:71-170, 32: 70-107, 153-205, 247-96—1969. 33:97-194, 288-92—1970. 34:103-60, 204-55, 301-60, 368-438—1971.
2. Evans SM, et al. Protection against metastasis of radiation-induced thymic lymphosarcoma and weight loss in C57BL/6NCrlBR mice by an autoclave resistant factor present in soybeans. Radiat Res 1992;132:259-62.
3. Peterson G. Genistein and biochanin A inhibit the growth of human prostate cancer cells not epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine autophosphorylation. Prostate 1993;22:335-45.
4.Shamsuddkin AM, Ullah A. Suppression of large intestinal cancer in F344 rats by inositol hexaphosphate. Carcinogenesis 1988;9:577-80.
5. Chihara G, et al. Antitumor and metastasis-inhibitory activities of lentinan as an immunomodulator: an overview. Cancer Detect Prev Suppl 1987;1:423-43.
6. Gogos C, et. al. Dietary Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids plus vitamin E restore immunodeficiency and prolong survival for severely ill patients with generalized malignancy: a randomized control trial. Cancer 1998;82:395-402.
7. Sun AS, et al. Phase I/II study of stage II and IV non-small cell lung cancer patients taking a specific dietary supplement. Nutr Cancer 1999;34(1):62-9.
It seems like Soup is indeed more than just for the soul, it is good the vessel that carries your soul too. Here’s a recipe I’d like to share
1/2 fresh chicken, chopped and skin removed (or 2 chicken drumsticks/thighs, or 200g pork ribs)
- 200g watercress (ends trimmed, separate stems & leaves)
- 80g carrots, peeled & cut to pieces (I used peeled baby carrots as a short cut)
- 15 red dates (pitted)
- 1 tbsp wolfberries
- 1200ml water
- 10 short american ginseng (aka ‘Pao Shen, 泡参) [optional]
- a small pinch of salt [optional]
Directions
1. Blanch chicken in boiling water for 5 minutes (so that you are rid of the icky small bits). Set aside.
2. Place water, watercress stems, carrots, red dates and short american ginseng in pot and bring to a boil. Add the previously blanched chicken, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Add watercress leaves and wolfberries. Continue boiling for 10-15 minutes*.
4. Season with salt if needed.
* Watercress leaves are added later so that they stay crunchy. If you prefer them soft or don’t intend to eat the watercress, you can place it together with the other ingredients in step 2. Wolfberries are added later so that they stay firm and will not burst.
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