Manataka
American Indian Council
RED RASPBERRIES... Yummmmmy!
The truth about Ellagic Acid
by Jon Barron
Red
Raspberries Kill Cancer
The Buzz
If you pay any attention at all to the alternative-health information-grapevine,
you've heard the buzz on ellagic acid. If you believe the rumors flying around
the Internet, the cure for cancer is at hand!! This is the greatest discovery
since sliced bread!! Well, like most rumors, there's some truth to it - and a
whole lot of nonsense.
The Truth
Two years ago, I wrote in the Barron Report on antioxidants about the value of
including berries in your diet because of the benefits of the ellagic acid
derived from them. This recommendation was based on work being done at the
Hollings Cancer Institute by Dr. Daniel Nixon, who had been studying the
benefits of red raspberries for some 6 years at that time. Since then, two
things have changed dramatically.
First, the study results are now becoming, for lack of a better word,
remarkable. Second, it is now possible to get high quantities of ellagitannins
without having to consume a cup of berries every day.
Dr. Nixon's
published results show: Consuming one cup of red raspberries per day (40 mg of
ellagitannins) prevents the development of cancer cells. At low concentrations,
it slows the growth of cancer cells; at higher concentrations, it tells cancer
cells to kill themselves. For example, cells infected with the human papilloma
virus (which is linked to cervical cancer), when exposed to ellagic acid
experienced apoptosis, or normal cell death.
Red raspberry ellagitannins slow the growth of abnormal colon cells in humans.
Tests reveal similar results for breast, pancreas, esophageal, skin, and
prostate cancer cells. The ellagitannins also produce a breakdown in human
leukemia cells.
Another way
that ellagitannins protect your body is through G-Arrest. G-Arrest means that
the ellagitannins stop cells from mutating in the first place. If cells don't
mutate, then we don't get cancer. This is very important when you understand
that that every single day of your life you produce anywhere from a few hundred
to as many as 10,000 cancerous cells in your body as part of your normal
metabolism. In tests conducted by the Hollings Cancer Institute with Ellagic
Acid, G-Arrest began in 72 hours in both breast and cervical cancer.
Red raspberry ellagitannins prevent destruction of the P53 gene by cancer
cells. P53 prevents mutagenic activity in cervical cells.
Red
raspberry ellagitannins protect human cells against cancer-causing agents in
tobacco smoke, food additives, and petroleum-based substances. Ellagitannins act
as scavengers to "bind" cancer-causing chemicals, making them inactive.
The ellagitannins inhibit the ability of other chemicals to cause
mutations in bacteria.
Red Raspberry ellagitannins also protect DNA by blocking carcinogens from
binding to the DNA.
European medical studies also demonstrate that red raspberry ellagitannins lower
the incidence of birth defects, promote wound healing, reduce heart disease, and
may reduce or reverse chemically induced liver fibrosis. In addition, the
ellagic acid produced from the ellagitannins has anti-bacterial and anti-viral
properties
Note: It is
important to understand that most of the above studies have been conducted in
two phases. First, in test tubes on isolated cells using ellagic acid. Later
(and ongoing, even now) in live human beings using the full ellagitannin complex
as found in red raspberry puree. It is, of course, the human studies that are of
interest to us.
Apoptosis
The problem with cancer cells is that when they divide, the original cell does
not die. The normal process of cell division, on the other hand, results in the
replicating cell being "carried off" as trash just as if a bacterium had died.
The body signals the dismantling of the old cell and the new cell takes
over its processes. This is called apoptosis, or natural cell death. Cancer
cells, as mentioned above, are different. Cancer cells do not die; they rapidly
multiply by cell division (mitosis), making 2 cancer cells, then 4, 8, 16, 32
and so on.
What Dr. Nixon found is that in both lab and clinical studies, red raspberry
ellagitannins caused cancer cells to go through a nontoxic, normal
apoptosis process without damaging the healthy cells. This is a remarkable
improvement over standard treatments. Chemotherapy and radiation do the same
thing - kill cancer cells, that is. But they have a devastating side effect that
does not happen with the ellagitannins: they kill healthy cells too - destroying
the immune system in the process. More people probably die from the side effects
of chemo and radiation than actually die from the original cancer.
This is why Dr. Nixon's studies on ellagitannins are so exciting. Potentially,
we're talking about an all-natural cancer treatment/ preventative that provides
ALL of the benefits of chemo and radiation and NONE OF THE SIDEFFECTS. An
all-natural
supplement, if you will, that can literally be taken every single day to prevent
most cancers from ever even forming in your body.
Enough of the Nonsense
Ellagic acid supplements are now appearing everywhere, and most of them are pure
nonsense. As for those products that truly contain pure ellagic acid, you don't
want them.
First of all, ellagic acid doesn't work as well as the complete ellagitannin
complex. Although ellagic acid alone has been shown to inhibit carcinogenesis in
vitro (in a test tube with isolated cancer cells), several studies have reported
that the other phenolic compounds in the berries also contribute to the observed
inhibitory effect. Those compounds are only present in a complete
ellagitannin complex, not in a synthetic ellagic acid isolate. In other words,
an ellagitannin complex works better than pure ellagic acid. Or as stated
on the USDA Agricultural Research Services website:
"In pure form, ellagic acid is highly insoluble and biologically unavailable...ellagic
acid, as it is biosynthesized in plants, occurs in combination with glucose as
ellagitannins. These compounds are quite water soluble and biologically
available. This means that relatively small amounts of ellagitannins may be more
effective in the human diet than large doses of ellagic acid,"
Or to quote from Dr. Nixon himself, "What is interesting to note is the
superior efficacy of eating red raspberries as opposed to taking the individual
phytochemicals in the form of dietary supplements. Though we do not yet fully
comprehend why this is so, it is clear the nutraceutical whole is greater than
the sum of its parts."
Second, synthetic ellagic acid is too harsh for the human body to accept, and
has some potentially serious side effects - not the least of which is its
tendency to raise blood pressure.
And third. Dr. Nixon's human studies are being done with the complete complex,
not with isolated ellagic acid. If you want the same results, you need to use
the same source. (Yes, the in vitro, or test tube studies on individual cells,
were done with ellagic acid because individual cells have no way to break down
ellagitannins into ellagic acid; but all in vivo, or human studies, have been
done with red raspberry puree - and it is, after all, results with human beings
that we're concerned with here.)
And as for those companies selling some form of berry-based ellagitannin complex
and either calling it ellagic acid or claiming that it contains ellagic
acidÉdon't be fooled. It isn't ellagic acid, and it doesn't contain any (unless
synthetic ellagic acid has been added to the formula). The fact of the matter is
that ellagic acid itself is not naturally present in plants.
Instead, polymers of gallic acid and hexahydroxydipenoyl (HHDP) are linked to
glucose centers to form the class of compounds known as ellagitannins. Ellagic
acid is formed when the HHDP group is cleaved from the tannin molecule and
spontaneously rearranges - as happens in the digestive tract.
The bottom line is that it is the ellagitannins that are present in various
fruits - not the ellagic acid. Again, to quote from the Washington State Red
Raspberry Commission: "Some articles in which ellagitannins are quantified refer
to ellagic acid because quantitation of ellagitannins is done by breaking them
down into ellagic acid subunits and quantifying the subunits."
Understand, that when researchers refer to the ellagic acid content of foods,
they are referring to the amount of ellagic acid that can be derived from a
food-based supplement. That's entirely different than saying the
supplement contains ellagic acid.
Why does this matter? Well, for three reasons:
If the company selling the supplement truly doesn't know what's in the product
they're selling, why would you want to buy from that company in the first place?
If they do know, and they're willing to be "inaccurate" for "marketing
purposes," doesn't that call into question everything else they say?
And finally, if you understand that it's really the ellagitannins that you're
after (and not the ellagic acid), then you realize that the source of your
ellagitannins is vital - since the source will determine the exact mix of
ellagitannins and how effective that
mix is.
The bottom line is you don't want to buy your supplements from a company that
doesn't have a clue about what they're selling. Look for a company that uses
accurate literature and labeling.
The Cure for Cancer?
Are ellagitannins the cure for cancer? No, of course not. But they are an
important piece of the puzzle. You still want to do all parts of the Baseline of
Health.
* You want to build your immune system. Your immune system is your body's prime
defense against cancer.
* You want to detox your liver and clean your blood - make them hostile to the
presence of cancer.
* You still want to alkalinize your body. Cancer thrives in an acid environment.
* You still want to maximize nutrition levels
* You still want to include a full spectrum antioxidant that contains known
anti-carcinogens such as green tea, alpha lipoic acid, selenium, lycopene, and
curcumin. They all work synergistically with red raspberry ellagitannins -
making them that much more effective.
What Source
As we've already discussed, the source of ellagitannins that you use matters.
First of all, the availability to the body of ellagic acid from dietary sources
has only been confirmed with red raspberries. Other foods such as strawberries
and walnuts either contain far lesser amounts of ellagic acid producing
ellagitannins, and/or their bioavailability has not been confirmed.
One interesting source, however, is pomegranate. Although not proven in clinical
studies, the anecdotal evidence is extremely strong - and the concentration of
ellagitannins is much higher in pomegranate than raspberries
The other key issue is that each source of ellagitannins has its own individual
mix of ellagitannins. A useful way to think about this is that the active
ingredients in both green tea and grape seeds are a group of bio-chemicals
called polyphenols (the same group of bio-chemicals that includes ellagic acid)
- but because the mix of polyphenols is different in green tea and grape seeds,
they each have an entirely different range of effects on the human body. Of the
different sources of ellagitannins, the only "mix" that has been verified is the
mix in red raspberries. In other words, for now, you want a red raspberry
source.
(Note: at some point, future studies will likely verify the efficacy of other
sources such as pomegranate - but those studies do not exist at this point in
time. Then again, the anecdotal evidence is building strongly.) For the moment
then, the Meeker red raspberry is the most proven source of ellagic acid
producing ellagitannins, with pomegranates probably a good alternative.
The bottom line, though, is that if you want to duplicate Dr. Nixon's protocol,
then you need to use the ellagitannin source that he uses - red raspberries.
Which brings us to the question of how to supplement with red raspberries. To be
sure, Dr. Nixon used 1 cup of red raspberry puree per day in his studies.
However, that is not practical for most people. Fortunately, it turns out the
raspberry seeds have a much higher concentration of ellagitannins than the
puree.
Seeds Pulp
WholeMeeker 8.40 3.36 4.31
Chilliwack 7.78
2.58 3.39
Willamette 8.13 2.05 2.91
Average 8.10 2.66
3.54
As you can see in the above table from the Washington State Red Raspberry
Commission, over 70% of the ellagitannins present in the Meeker red raspberry
are found in the seeds.
Bottom Line - One gram of red raspberry seed powder, taken twice a day, provides
40 mg of ellagitannins - equivalent to the amount of ellagitannins found in one
cup of fresh red raspberries.
http://www.jonbarron.org/documents/brellagic.htm
http://www.red-raspberry.org/references.htm
http://www.focus-on-nutrition.com/cancerellagic.shtml
~Submitted by Cheryl Dusty
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