Holistic Health Articles and Research Related to Herbal Medicines, Foods and Phytochemicals

Thursday, 1 August 2019

Collard Greens Inhibits the Fat Accumulation in Obese Patients

By Kyle J. Norton

Obesity is a chronic condition characterized by excess body fat has accumulated over time. People with a BMI of over 30 is considered obese.

Similarly, overweight is a condition of excess body weight relative to height. People with a BMI ranged from 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight.

According to the statistics, 68% of the American population is either overweight or obese. Obesity has been found to induce adverse effects nearly every system of the human body, leading to increased risk of numerous diseases, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Furthermore, the rate of obesity in the US and Canada continues to climb at an alarming rate, leading to significant burdens to the country economy and health care system.

Epidemiologically, most common symptoms of obesity are breathlessness, increased sweating, inability to cope with physical activity, feeling very tired every day, back and joint pains, low confidence, and self-esteem and feeling isolation

According to the CDC, most common complications associated with obesity are coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer of breast, colon, endometrial, gallbladder, kidney, and liver and sleep apnea.

Currently, there is no effective treatment of the disease. However, some researchers suggested that combat the powerful environmental factors that influence eating and physical activity may be the best approach to reduce the risk of obesity.

Bariatric surgery is used as an option for management that causes a reduction in the amount of food you are or a reduction in the absorption of calories from the food you eat, or both.

The surgery has been proposed to patients with extreme obesity (BMI of 40 or higher) due to weight-induced a serious weight-related health problem, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

Furthermore, this type of surgery has posted a serious risk of many patients if the commitment of making lifelong changes in the eating and exercise habits cannot be followed through.

Collard Green is a species of Brassica Oleracea, belongings to the family Brassicaceae with unknown origin. Today, the plant is cultivated commercially for its thick, slightly bitter edible leaves.

With an aim to find a natural food for the prevention and treatment of obesity, researchers examined the effect of sulforaphane found abundantly in collard greens.

In a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in C57BL/6N mice which were fed a normal diet (ND), HFD or HFD plus 0.1% sulforaphane (SFN) for 6 weeks, researchers found that SFN administration not only attenuated HFD-induced visceral adiposity that stored around a number of important internal organs such as the liver, pancreas and intestines, adipocyte hypertrophy associated with an enlargement of adipose tissue but also ameliorated fat accumulation in the liver.

Furthermore, SFN decreased the elevated levels of serum total cholesterol and leptin, and liver triglyceride in HFD-SFN-fed mice compared to HFD-fed mice.

SFN also inhibited the expression of a gene associated with the promotion of inflammation in the adipose tissue of HFD-SFN mice and increased the adiponectin function in regulating glucose levels and fatty acid breakdown.

Moreover, reductase expression associated with the production of cholesterol was decreased and an antibody associated with fatty acid utilization was increased in lycopene treat group compared with HFD-fed mice.

Taken altogether, collard green processed abundantly SFN may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of obesity, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of SFN in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca

Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Potential effects of sulforaphane to fight obesity by Martins T1, Colaço B1,2, Venâncio C1,2, Pires MJ1,3, Oliveira PA1,3, Rosa E1, Antunes LM. (PubMed)
(2) Sulforaphane attenuates obesity by inhibiting adipogenesis and activating the AMPK pathway in obese mice by Kyeong-Mi Choi, Youn-Sun Lee, Wonkyun Kima, Seung Jung Kimb, Kyong-Oh Shina, Ji-YeonYuc, Mi Kyeong Lee, Yong-Moon Lee, Jin Tae Honga, Yeo-PyoYuna, Hwan-SooYooa. (Science Direct)

Wednesday, 31 July 2019

Whole Food Onion Protects the Stomach Against Stomach Cancer

By Kyle J. Norton

Cancer is a class of chronic diseases associated with irregular cell growth in the tissues of the affected organ.

Stomach located between the esophagus and the small intestine is a muscular, hollow and an important organ of the digestive tract.

Stomach cancer is a medical condition characterized by abnormal growth of the mucus-producing cells of the inside lining of the stomach.

Depending on the location of cancer that starts the malignancy, stomach cancer can be classified into

* Adenocarcinoma arose from the glands in the mucosa, including
** Superficial spreading
It is an early stage of cancer and tends to be less aggressive.

** Polyploid
Cancer grows in a pattern like a polyp and is less aggressive.

** Infiltrating
If cancer grows in infiltrating pattern into the stomach wall and is more aggressive.

** Linitis plastica
Cancer grows diffusivity throughout the whole wall of the stomach.

Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of stomach cancer.

* Lymphomas
Cancer of the lymphocytes originated from the stomach behaves much like lymphomas of the other parts of the body but adenocarcinoma

* Sarcomas
Cancer originated from the connected tissue of the stomach behaves much like sarcomas of the other parts of the body but adenocarcinoma.

Most patients with stomach cancer in the early stage are asymptomatic. However, at the later stage, patients may experience symptoms of pain and/or discomfort in the stomach area, mild ache in the upper part of the body, difficulty swallowing, feeling full or bloated after a small mealy, and vomiting blood or having blood in the stool accompanied by general symptoms shared by other types of cancer, including unintentional weight loss, loss of energy, tiredness, nausea, and vomiting and loss of appetite.

If you have some of the aforementioned symptoms, please check with your doctor to rule out the possibility.

The onion is a plant in the genus Allium, belonging to the family Alliaceae, a close relation of garlic. It is often called the "king of vegetables" because of its pungent taste and found in a large number of recipes and preparations spanning almost the totality of the world's cultures.

Depending on the variety, an onion can be sharp, spicy, tangy, pungent, mild or sweet.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of stomach cancer, researchers examined the chemopreventive effects of Allium vegetables (onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, chives, and so forth) on gastric cancer risk.

The study includes the research of MEDLINE studies of Allium vegetable consumption and gastric cancer published in any language, from January 1, 1966, to September 1, 2010.

19 case-control and 2 cohort studies, of 543,220 subjects. were selected in the analysis. Onion and other allium vegetable consumption of large amounts reduced the risk for gastric cancer with the odds ratio of 0.54 in the comparison of the highest and lowest consumption groups.

More precisely, an increment of 20 g/day of Allium vegetables consumed (approximately the average weight of 1 garlic bulb) showed a summary odds ratio for 0.91 based on case-control studies from the dose-response meta-analysis.

These results strongly suggested that regular consumption of onion have an inverse association with the risk of stomach cancer in a dose-dependent manner.

In other words, risk of stomach cancer was reduced proportionally to the amount of onion intake regularly.

Taken altogether, onion used alone or combined with conventional medicine may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of stomach cancer, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Garlic and onions: Their cancer prevention properties by Holly L. Nicastro,1 Sharon A. Ross,2 and John A. Milner. (PubMed)
(2) Stomach Cancer/Gastric Cancer by Kyle J. Norton

Whole Food Cucumber Protects the Gut Microbiome Compostion Integrity

By Kyle J. Norton

Gut microbiome made up of the trillions of microorganisms is the bacterial composition found in the gut of the digestive tract.

In a healthy individual, the ratio of the bacterial composition is balanced. In other words, the bad bacteria in the digestive tract is totally countered by the presence of the good bacterias.

However, the imbalanced ratio of the composition of the gut microbiota has been associated with chronic diseases ranging from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), obesity, and allergic disorders, in both human and animal models.

Believe it or not, gut microbes have been found to influence many aspects of human health including immune, metabolic, and neurobehavioural traits.

In immunity, balanced of the gut microbes showed to stimulate the immune function against inflammatory immune disorders.

Digestively, balanced gut microbes protect the gut against gastrointestinal diseases and non-gastrointestinal diseases.caused by overexpression of bad bacteria.

In metabolism, gut microbes influence what the human host is able to extract from its diet, such as nutrients, thus reducing the risk of obesity and obese complication.

Neurologically, gut microbiota can control brain insulin signaling and metabolite levels that play a critical role in neurobehaviors.

Some researchers suggested, there are huge benefits that influence the function of the brain, immunity, heart, and the digestive system and reduce the risk of chronic diseases and conditions such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome by maintaining the good ratio of the gut microbiome.

The cucumber plant is a species of Cucumis Sativus, belongings to the family Cucurbitaceae and native to Western Asia. It is a creeping vine with roots in the ground and grows up with the support of frames.

With an aim to discover a natural ingredient for balancing the ratio of microbiota composition, researchers investigated evaluated cucumber phytochemical compositions along with their potential gut microbiota modulating, free radical scavenging, and anti-inflammatory capacities.

Seed flour extracts from cucumber enhanced total number of gut bacteria by altering the abundance of specific bacterial phylum or genus in vitro.

In other words, cucumbers improved the digestive functioning by enhancing the ratio of microbiota compositions in the gut.

Compared to broccoli and carrot seed flour extracts, cucumber seed extract showed the least effect in DPPH radical scavenging capacity, oxygen radical absorbing capacity, and hydrdoxyl radical (HO•) scavenging capacity values of 85, 634, and 270 μmol Trolox equivalent (TE)/g.

In the tested J774A.1 cells, cucumber suppressed the LPS induced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

The results strongly suggested that the administration of Cucumis prevented colonic inflammation and improved the digestive functioning by changing the gut microbiota composition.

In order to reveal more information of cumber in the improvement of gut microbiota, composition researchers examined Cucumis melo L. (Cucumis) on obesity-induced IR in genetically leptin-deficient Lepob/Lepob mice.

According to the tested assays, Cucumis improved IR and relieved inflammation in adipose tissue and blood that lead to the balance of the ratio of microbiota composition.

Dr. Lee D, the lead scientist after taking into account of co and confounders wrote, "administration of Cucumis improved IR by reducing inflammation, thereby changing the gut microbiota composition".

Taken altogether, fermented cucumber may be used for the treatment of digestive dysfunction by improving the ratio of gut microbiota composition, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca

Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Therapeutic Effect of Cucumis melo L. Extract on Insulin Resistance and the Gut Microbiome in Lepob/Lepob Mice by Lee D1, Yoo JH1, Lee BC. (PubMed)
(2) Chemical Compositions of Cold-Pressed Broccoli, Carrot, and Cucumber Seed Flours and Their in Vitro Gut Microbiota Modulatory, Anti-inflammatory, and Free Radical Scavenging Properties by Choe U1, Li Y1,2, Gao B2, Yu L1, Wang TTY, Sun J, Chen P, Liu J3, Yu L1. (PubMed)

Phytochemicals Lycopene Suppresses the Onset of Colorectal Cancer

By Kyle J. Norton

Colorectal cancer is a chronic condition caused cell growth irregularly in the tissue of colon and rectum. In other words, colorectal cancer includes colon and rectal cancer.

Colon and rectum formed parts of the digestive system with a function to reabsorb fluids and process and secrete waste products from the body.

Most cases of colorectal cancer start in the cells on the surface of the issue of either the colon or rectum. At the very early stage, due to the very small size of the tumor, colorectal cancer may not induce any symptoms.

However, at the advanced stage, the cancerous cells travel may travel a distance away from the colon and rectum to infect other healthy tissue and organ, leading to secondary metastasis.

According to statistics provided by WHO, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer occurring in men and the second most commonly occurring cancer in women. Over 1.8 million new cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed in 2018 worldwide.

Out of many prevalent factors associated with the risk of colorectal cancer, some researchers suggested that the rise of the incidence of the disease was linked to the promotion of the Western diet over the past few decades in the US and economic prosperity in South-East Asia.

More precisely, the increased colorectal cancer at an alarming rate is a result of replacing the traditional diet by the Western diet due to economic prosperity.

Dr. Alan Moss, the lead scientist wrote, "Dietary Patterns and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: Analysis by Tumor Location and Molecular Subtypes” by Mehta et al2 helps us to move beyond generalizations about Western diet and CRC risk, to a more detailed understanding of the association between diet and colorectal tumor location and also molecular subtypes".

And, "Processed meats result from salting, smoking, fermenting, or curing the meat, and common examples include ham, bacon, and sausage.5 Furthermore, red meat was declared as probably carcinogenic to humans, and red meat was listed as a group 2A substance.4 Red and processed meats are considered significant components of a “Western” diet".

Lycopene is a phytochemical in the class of carotenoid, a natural pigment with no vitamin A activity found abundantly in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables, such as red carrots, watermelons, and papayas,

Tomatoes provide about 80% of the lycopene in the world diet. In plants, lycopene protects the host against excessive photodamage and perform various functions in photosynthesis.

With an aim to find a plant-based compound for the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC), researchers examined the effect of lycopene in the risk of colorectal cancer developing.

The study was conducted by searching the studies published in the PubMed and EMBASE medical database.

According to 15 included in the meta-analysis,
* The comparison of summary relative risk (RR) for the highest versus lowest category, there was no significant association between lycopene consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer.

* However, lycopene consumption showed a significant effect in reducing the risk of colon cancer.

In other words, lycopene not only is associated with the risk of colorectal cancer but also is a phytochemical that process anti-colon cancer property.

Additonally, according to the data on lycopene on HT-29 colorectal cancer cells and on animal models studies, injection of lycopene not only inhibited cell proliferation but also the progression of the CRC by interacting with various cellular signaling pathways, including proteins involved in pro-inflammatory production and cell death programming.

More precisely, lycopene suppresses colorectal cancer cells through its antioxidant activity.

Taken altogether, lycopene found in tomato may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer, pending on the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca

Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Lycopene Consumption and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies by Wang X1, Yang HH2, Liu Y3, Zhou Q4, Chen ZH. (PubMed)
(2) Colorectal cancer: an update on the effects of lycopene on tumor progression and cell proliferation by Carini F1, David S1, Tomasello G1,2, Mazzola M1,2, Damiani P3, Rappa F1,4, Battaglia L5, Gerges Geagea A1,6, Jurjus R7, Leone A. (PubMed)
(3) The Association Between Diet and Colorectal Cancer Risk: Moving Beyond Generalizations
Alan Moss, and Kumanan Nalankilli. (Gastroenterology)

Herbal Ashwagandha Inhibits the Onset of Breast Cancer Patients

By Kyle J. Norton

The breast formed part of the reproductive system consists of tissue overlying the chest (pectoral) muscles. In women, the breasts are made of produces milk (glandular tissue) and fatty tissue.

The size of women breast is totally depending on the amount of breast fatty tissue.

Depending on the menstrual stage induced by hormone expression, the breast ducts transport milk from the lobules out to the nipple.

In pregnancy, the changes to the breasts can start as early as 1 to 2 weeks after conception, leading to swelling or tenderness.

Breast cancer is a medical condition caused by the alternation of DNA of cells in the breast tissue.

According to the statistic, in 2010, over 250,000 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in women in the U.S. alone and the risk of getting invasive breast cancer during the lifetime of a woman is 1/8.

Most cases of breast cancer start with cell growth disorderly on the surface of the inner lining of the breast tissue. At the later stage, malignant cells can infected other healthy cells and tissue far the way from the breast through fluids and blood circulation.

The exact causes of breast cancer are unknown. However, aging, reproductive history, dense breast, family and personal breast cancer history, particularly in women with the genetic preposition of BRCA 1 and 2 are some of the most prevalent factors associated with the disease.

Women inherited the mutated gene BRCA 1 and 2 are associated with over 60% of breast cancer risk compared to women who do not.

Some researchers suggested the promotion of a high-fat diet-induced overweight and obesity over the past few decades may correlate to the increased incidence and motility of breast cancer in the US.

Dr. Carroll KK wrote, "High-fat diets are thought to increase the risk of breast cancer because animals develop mammary cancer more readily when they are fed high-fat compared to low-fat diets, and breast cancer incidence and mortality are higher in countries with high-fat as compared to those with low-fat diets".

And, "Studies on migrants have shown that breast cancer incidence and mortality increase in populations who move from countries with low-fat to those with high-fat diets, indicating that observed geographical differences in breast cancer are due to environmental rather than genetic factors".

These results strongly suggested the long-term high fat diet is associated with the increased risk of breast cancer.

Ashwagandha also is known as Withania somnifera is a nightshade plant in the genus of Withania, belonging to the family Solanaceae, native to the dry parts of India, North Africa, Middle East, and the Mediterranean. The herbal medicine has been considered as Indian ginseng and used in Ayurvedic medicine over 3000 years to treat tumors and tubercular glands, carbuncles, memory loss, and ulcers and considered as anti-stress, cognition-facilitating, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging herbal medicine.

With an aim to find a potent compound for the treatment of symptoms associated the chemotherapy in breast cancer patients, researchers examined the Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) anti side effects of chemo drug.

The open-label prospective nonrandomized comparative trial included a total of on 100 patients with breast cancer in all stages undergoing either a combination of chemotherapy with oral Withania somnifera at a dose of 2 g every 8 hours or chemotherapy alone.

Withania somnifera root extract was administered to patients in the study group throughout the course of chemotherapy.

According to the results, patients in the control arm or chemotherapy only treatment group experienced a statistically significant higher estimated marginal means of fatigue score compared to the study group.

Statistically, 7 out of 18 symptoms in the intervention group was significantly elevated in the control compared with the control group, according to the various symptom scales of the EORTC QLQ-C30.

More importantly, The 24-month overall survival for all stages in the study group was significantly higher at 72% compared to 56% of the control.

However, a median follow-up duration of 26 months.was not different in both groups. In other words, continued Withania somnifera root extract treatment may increase the survival rate of breast cancer patients in all stages.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "Withania somnifera has potential against cancer-related fatigue, in addition to improving the quality of life".

Taken altogether, Ashwagandha may be considered a functional herb for the prevention and an adjunct therapy combined with the primary medicine for reduction of chemo drugs side effects in breast cancer patients, pending to the result of larger sample size and multicenter study

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How-To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca

Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Effect of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) on the development of chemotherapy-induced fatigue and quality of life in breast cancer patients by Biswal BM1, Sulaiman SA, Ismail HC, Zakaria H, Musa KI. (PubMed)
(2) An anti-cancerous protein fraction from Withania somnifera induces ROS-dependent mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells by Dar PA1, Mir SA2, Bhat JA2, Hamid A3, Singh LR4, Malik F5, Dar TA. (PubMed)
(3) Dietary fat and breast cancer by Carroll KK. (PubMed)

Tuesday, 30 July 2019

Phytochemical Betacyanins Processes Cytotoxic Effect Against Cancer

By Kyle J. Norton

The cytotoxic effect is the process to kill cells through toxic substances, particularly in cancer cells.

Chemotherapy is a treatment that uses drugs to treat any disease, including cancer.

Chemo drug also has been used to shrink the tumor before surgery or combined radiotherapy to remove, kill, or damage cancer cells in a certain area,

Chemo travel along the bloodstream to kill cancer cells throughout the whole body.

There are over 100 different types of chemo drugs, including
* Docetaxel (Taxotere), is a type of chemo drug used for the treatment of a chemotherapy drug. It is used to treat many types of cancer including breast, prostate, stomach, head and neck, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

* Eribulin (Halaven) is used mostly for the treament of breast cancer by interfering with cancer cell division and growth.

* Ixabepilone (Ixempra) is used in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

* Paclitaxel (Taxol) has been used for the treatment of used to treat a number of types of cancers, including ovarian cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, Kaposi sarcoma, cervical cancer, and pancreatic cancer.

* Vinblastine is most commonly used for the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, brain cancer, melanoma, and testicular cancer.

Conventionally, chemo drugs have been found to induce serious side effects, including fatigue due to the loss of healthy cells, hair loss associated with the damage of hair follicles, easy bruising and bleeding, infection due to the weakened immune system, anemia is caused by the loss of red blood cells, digestive symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, appetite changes, and constipation.

Some of the symptoms may be going away as soon as the treatment stops. However, some symptoms may take months or years after the treatment stops before disappearing

Betacyanins are phytochemicals in the class of red and yellow indole-derived pigments, belonging to the group of Betalains, found abundantly in beets, chard, etc.

On finding a natural compound for the treatment of cancer, researchers examined the extract of red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.), the FDA approved red food color E162, cytotoxic effect.

Compared to the chemo drug doxorubicin (adriamycin), betanin, the major betacyanin constituent showed to exhibit a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on human prostate cancer cells (PC-3) and in the well-established estrogen receptor-positive human breast cancer cells (MCF-7), comparable to those of doxorubicin.

In time analysis, although the cytotoxicity of the beetroot extract was significantly lower compared to doxorubicin which completely inhibits the growth of the PC-3 cells in three days, the extract continued to decrease the growth rate of the PC-3 cells (3.7% in 3 days vs. 12.5% in 7 days) at the concentration of 29 µg/ml.urthe

Furthermore, in the normal human skin FC and liver HC cell lines, the extract showed a significantly lower cytotoxic effect compared to doxorubicin (8.6% vs. 100%, respectively, at 29 µg/ml concentration of each, three-day test period).

In chemical differentiation, the efficacy of beetroot extract was attributed to chemical compound betanin, the major betacyanin constituent in exerting the cytotoxicity.

Based on the finding, researchers said, "Further studies are needed to evaluate the chemopreventive potentials of the beetroot extract when used alone or in combination with doxorubicin to mitigate the toxic side-effects of the latter".

Taken altogether, betacyanins processed the major bioactive ingredient betanin may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of cancer, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of betacyanins in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Sources
(1) Cytotoxic effect of the red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) extract compared to doxorubicin (Adriamycin) in the human prostate (PC-3) and breast (MCF-7) cancercell lines by Kapadia GJ1, Azuine MA, Rao GS, Arai T, Iida A, Tokuda H. (PubMed)

Cranberry promotes postprandial blood glucose management

By Kyle J. Norton

Postprandial blood glucose is the range of blood glucose that is measured by the blood glucose test, taking after 2 hours of a meal.

At this point of measurement, postprandial blood glucose in a healthy individual usually gone back down. In other words, lower or equal to 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL) 2 hours after eating are normal blood glucose found in a healthy individual.

Glycemic response is a change in blood glucose after consuming a carbohydrate-containing food compared to Glycemic Index (GI) that ranks carbohydrate-containing foods, according to their effect on blood glucose levels.

In other words, the glycemic response is the change of blood glucose after the intake of a food or meal.

More precisely, healthy people who are not prediabetes or diabetes have normal blood glucose and insulin levels that rise within the range after eating, then return to the fasting levels over a short period of time.

According to the 2015 statistics by the American Diabetes Association, in the U.S. over 30.3 million Americans or 9.4% of the population are living with diabetes. Sadly, out of 30.3 million adults with diabetes, 23.1 million were diagnosed, and 7.2 million were undiagnosed.

In 2015, 84.1 million Americans age 18 and older had prediabetes.

According to the epidemiological studies, by managing postprandial blood glucose effectively, diabetics can decrease the risk of microvascular (retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy) and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Cranberry is an evergreen dwarf shrub, genus Vaccinium, belongings to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern America and Southern Asia. Because of its health benefits, cranberry has been cultivated in some parts of the world for commercial profit and used in traditional and herbal medicine to treat wounds, urinary disorders, diarrhea, diabetes, stomach ailments, and liver problems.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of diabetes, researchers investigated the postprandial effects of dried cranberries following a high-fat breakfast challenge in obese participants with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

The randomized crossover trial includes blood draw and vascular measurements such as fasting, 1, 2 and 4 hours (h), following the consumption of a fast-food style high-fat breakfast (70 g fat, 974 kcal) with or without cranberries (40 g).

According to the results of the analysis, biomarkers associated with inflammation and oxidative markers such as interleukin-18 and malondialdehyde were significantly lower at 4 h.

Serum total nitrite was found to be higher at 2 h in the cranberry compared to control group.

However, there were no significant differences levels of insulin, insulin resistance, lipid profiles and blood pressure between the cranberry and control group.

Furthermore, cranberries showed no effect on the levels of C-reactive protein or interleukin-6.

In other words, dietary cranberries inhibited the high-fat breakfast induced postprandial glucose and selected biomarkers of inflammation and oxidation in patients with T2DM without affecting other parameters associated with diabetes such as insulin, insulin resistance, lipid profiles, and blood pressure.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "adding whole cranberries to a high-fat meal may improve postprandial blood glucose management and warrant further investigation".

Taken altogether, cranberry may be considered a remedy used for the postprandial blood glucose management, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Cranberries improve postprandial glucose excursions in type 2 diabetes buSchell J1, Betts NM, Foster M, Scofield RH, Basu A. (PubMed)
(2) Impact of Cranberry Juice Enriched with Omega-3 Fatty Acids Adjunct with Nonsurgical Periodontal Treatment on Metabolic Control and Periodontal Status in Type 2 Patients with Diabetes with Periodontal Disease by Zare Javid A1, Maghsoumi-Norouzabad L1,2,3, Ashrafzadeh E1,2,3, Yousefimanesh HA4, Zakerkish M5, Ahmadi Angali K6, Ravanbakhsh M2, Babaei H. (PubMed)