We are tremendously excited about this new development in cancer treatment. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were natural nutrients that would:
1. Be excellent in preventative ability,
2. Be very good in early stage cancer,
3. Be a helpful addition to medical later stage protocols?
Science is discovering them! (For both prevention and supporting standard medical procedures.)
Summary
1. Most cancer micro-tumors are dormant and cannot grow larger without first developing a network of blood vessels to feed itself (“angiogenesis“).
2. If we can prevent cancer tumors from forming a network of blood vessel supply – or remove their blood vessels (anti–angiogeneses) – they can be rendered harmless. Drugs designed for this have had partial success – and potentially serious side effects!
3. However, research is showing some food nutrients also have strong anti-angiogenesis compounds within them and are displaying powerful cancer preventative abilities.
4. By combining the active extracts of these foods further concentrates these anti-angiogenensis!
(Listen to a fantastic 20 minute summary by Dr. Li on TED Talks.)
The Discovery that Changed Everything
As we age, studies show that the majority of healthy men and women have microscopic tumors within their bodies. Fortunately, most cancer micro-tumors begin to die from the inside out from a lack of nutrients because they do not have an internal blood supply.
In the 1960’s, Dr. Folkman noticed that larger tumors in living animals were filled with thousands of tiny networks of blood vessels. (Tumor cells in petri dishes had no such blood supply.)
Dr. Folkman eventually showed cancer cells could not develop into a large tumor mass unless it had developed a network of small blood capillaries to feed itself. The process of building new blood vessels was called “angiogenesis” (angio = ‘blood vessels’, genesis = ‘new’).
Dr. Folkman thought that if we could prevent tumors from developing this blood supply, we could stop tumor growth. We might even be able to shrink existing tumors! More importantly, if tumors could not develop a blood supply, they would not be able to spread to other parts of the body.
This discovery led to the development of a new class of cancer drugs called anti-angiogenesis drugs. The results have been mixed as some tumors responded quite well but others not as well (as well as some serious side effects). The big question is, “What causes the difference in response?”
Dr. Li’s Angiogenesis Foundation explains that doctors can’t prescribe the drugs until after an illness is diagnosed. It is often too late for these drugs to catch up with the cancer tumor blood system. Dr. Li says it makes much more sense to use non-toxic nutrients to:
Help prevent the cancerous cells from
forming a blood supply in the first place!
Even in stage 2 or 3 cancer, anti-angiogenesis nutrients could be a powerful natural helper for standard treatments!
Cancer – the Ultimate Angiogenesis Disease
The body has the ability to produce protein chemicals which stimulate the growth of new blood capillaries (as in menstruation, pregnancy, and injuries). Afterward, the body can produce anti-angiogenesis chemicals to stop the growth and even prune back the temporary blood vessels.
Dr. Folkman said the key to controlling cancer growth (especially metastatic and aggressive cancer) is to shut down the tumor blood vessels – without affecting the healthy tissue! But, how does the body know the difference?
Well, regular blood vessels are pretty firm compared to the fragile blood vessels found in short-term tissue (such as cancer tumors). Tumor blood vessels are built in a hurry and are much more fragile. This makes them much more susceptible to anti-angiogenesis action than normal blood vessels.
Fragile cancer blood vessels are good news –
as are foods with powerful anti-angiogenesis ability!
A wonderful aspect of natural compounds is the ability of the body to regulate and normalize the angiogenic balance within the body. (Drugs don’t know when to stop and can cause bleeding issues!)
Now, people like Dr. Li have made great strides in narrowing down the foods that have the most potent anti-angiogenesis activity. They include:
Soybeans Artichokes Parsley
Dark berries Tomatoes Red grapes
Citrus fruit Lavender Green tea
Cumin Papaya Celery
(Taken from a Dr. Li lecture at a TED conference.)
Dr. Li says “nutritional synergy” applies here – meaning a smaller amount of many different nutrients is likely better than a higher amount of a few nutrients. Obviously, an enzyme extract blend that can combine the best of the active nutrients discovered so far could do wonderful things!
The Angiogenesis Answer!
As usual, nature is very balanced. Research is discovering the natural compounds nature offers doesn't block angiogenesis altogether (a part of the cause of drug side effects), they normalize it!
Tumor growth begins when blood vessel growth isn’t regulated by the natural systems of checks and balances within the body. These natural anti-angiogenesis nutrients give the body what it needs to regulate and normalize the angiogenic balance within the body.
These extracts can be used for preventative purposes but people often use considerably more since our body can regulate what it wants to use the nutrients for! Many of the nutrients are often used by people for other purposes like antioxidant or weight loss. However, the body now has access to nutrients it uses to make angiogenesis-related compounds! This gives people flexibility in how much they wish to use!
If a maintenance dose of a blend may be 3-4 capsules a day. This helps provide a foundation of what might be found in a normal good anti-angiogenesis diet. However, an upper dosage of these nutrients has not been defined, especially if taken with other food (other than if your stomach says, “Enough”). This allows more aggressive usage if needed!
(Note: In all cases of diagnosed cancer, we encourage people to seriously consider standard medical treatment as recommended by your physician(s). We also think it would be wise to ask your physician about including these nutrients with the standard medical protocols.)
(Link to: A-Z Index for angiogenesis and cancer articles.
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Step 2 Inflammation Control
If a person is concerned that conditions have gone beyond just cancer prevention, they may want to consider a Chronic Inflammation blend of nutrients that we recommend.
Dr Li, and quite a few other researchers have firmly linked the relationship of angiogenesis building of new blood vessels to inflammation. Chronic Inflammation is not a good thing in the first place but, if it stimulates new blood vessel growth,
You do NOT want Inflammation around
when dealing with Cancer!
We have a little more information in a more technical article on how this works but would recommend adding our recommended Inflammation Relief Blend (Nutrient Blend #6) if active cancer is a concern.
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