As you may know, many of the drugs that doctors use are simply synthetic versions of herbal extracts. For instance, Arteether is a synthetic malaria drug that's taken from the herb Artemisinin, which I've discussed before. The herb is very effective, but drug companies must modify it to make a profit.
Two other drugs taken from plants are the pain relievers Dronabinol and Cannabidiol. I recently told you about these drugs, as they come from the cannabis plant (Cannabis sativa). While all-natural CBD works exceptionally well, drug companies can't patent it.
Another case in point is the herb Annona muricate (also known as the herb Graviola), which belongs to the Annonaceae family. Previous studies have shown that it contains biologically active substances called acetogenins. And the authors of a recent study state that some of these acetogenins “have demonstrated powerful antitumor activity.”
Apparently, there is a dose of acetogenins that kills tumor cells but is completely non-toxic to healthy cells.
The authors put it this way, “The cytotoxicity [cancer-killing effect] of acetogenins was found to be stronger in tumorous cells than in normal cells.” They reviewed one study that showed an application of Graviola extract significantly reduced the formation of aberrant crypt foci in colon cells. Why is this important? It’s because the formation of aberrant crypt foci is the earliest indicator of a developing colon cancer. Once a colon cell starts to form aberrant crypt foci, it can turn into a colon polyp, and ultimately end up as a colon cancer. But acetogenins are not the end of the story.
Another substance found in Graviola, annomuricin E, inhibited the growth of colon cancer cells. The cancer-inhibiting effect of annomuricin E happens because in cancer cells, it stops the G1 phase of the cell life cycle. The G1 phase is the growth phase during which the cancer cell synthesizes the enzymes and nutrients necessary for later DNA replication and cell division. Stop the G1 phase, and the cell stops multiplying. This is just what you want in an anti-cancer treatment. In addition to this, annomuricin E triggers the disruption of the mitochondrial membrane potential in cancer cells, which in turn triggers apoptosis, or programmed cell death.
Knowing all of these things, researchers recently set out to determine if the doses that have adverse effects on colon cancer cells are achievable by simply taking a Graviola supplement. Here’s what they did.
They enlisted the help of 28 patients who had colon cancer. Then they divided them equally into two groups. One group took 300 mg of a Graviola supplement, and the other group took a placebo. After eight weeks, they took blood from the patients in both groups and exposed various colon cancer cell lines to the blood (serum). Here’s what happened.
In the group taking Graviola, 97% of their serum exhibited an inhibitory property against one or all of the colon cancer cell lines. By contrast, only 58.3% of the serum in the placebo group showed inhibitory properties. They also exposed normal kidney cells to the serum and discovered that the serum from the Graviola group increased the growth rate of the healthy cells by 72% compared to the placebo serum. The authors concluded that, “The results of the present study also showed that serum from the ESFAM [Graviola] group exhibited selectivity in exclusively inhibiting the growth of colorectal cancer cells and not inhibiting the normal cells.” And here’s the best part.
This cancer cell inhibition was completely achievable at doses that are safe, easy, and inexpensive. The Graviola extract used in this study was an alcohol extract of Graviola leaves standardized to 0.36% acetogenin.
One last thing. In their report, the authors also state, “Previous studies have suggested that nutrition is a major concern in oncology.” They go on to say that patients with cancer are almost always nutritionally depleted either because of the disease or because of the treatments they are getting. They add that, “Cancer-associated malnutrition and a progressive loss of body weight are common features in most cancer patients, although prevalence rates vary from 9% to 85% depending on the tumor type and disease stage.”
This simple observation is something that is completely ignored by virtually every oncologist. I long for the day when every patient being treated for cancer not only sees an oncologist but also consults with a practitioner trained in nutrition and herbal medicine. The combined approach always works better. And here’s another reason to take Graviola if you’re fighting colon cancer.
In addition to the anti-cancer effects of Graviola, the researchers reported that supplementation with Graviola is beneficial for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Some of the patients in the study who were also undergoing chemotherapy felt better while taking the Graviola supplement and had fewer side effects than those on the placebo. And “one subject felt that the mass in her abdomen was less uncomfortable and she experienced reduced stimulation to strain.”
The problem is that I have not been able to find a standardized extract. When I do, I will let you know. Until then, I recommend 1,000-1,500 mg of pure Graviola leaf powder, taken twice daily. You can get this online.
Yours for better health,
Frank Shallenberger, MD
REF: Aidy Irman Yajid, Husna Syakirah Ab Rahman, et al. Potential Benefits of Annona muricata in Combating Cancer: A Review. Malays J Med Sci. 2018 Feb; 25(1): 5–15.