2 compounds in 1 fruit slay cancer 50 percent of the time

Did you know that, in the U.S., every man has a one in 22 chance of developing colon cancer?

The odds aren’t much better for women… one in 24 women will develop the disease over their lifetime.

Sadly, colon cancer is one of the most common malignancies in the U.S. and the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.

And, you’re at even higher risk if you carry around a few extra pounds, don’t get enough regular exercise or already deal with an inflammatory bowel condition.

But the right food — specifically, the right fruit — may hold the secret to eradicating this disease…

By suppressing 50 percent of cancer tumors

Scientists at Penn State set out to discover whether compounds found in grapes could help suppress colon cancer.

The researchers separated 52 mice with colon cancer tumors into three groups, including a control group and groups that were fed either the grape compounds (resveratrol and grape seed extract) or sulindac, an anti-inflammatory drug, which was chosen because a previous study showed it significantly reduced the number of tumors in humans.

Here’s what they found…

The incidence of tumors was suppressed in the mice consuming the grape compounds alone by 50 percent, the same rate as in the group on the prescription drug.

That’s right — natural compounds from a healthy fruit not only defeated colon cancer tumors 50 percent of the time, killing colon cancer stem cells, but they were also as effective at suppressing the tumors as a prescription drug that comes with side effects like dizziness, headache, blurred vision, nervousness, heartburn and constipation.

In fact, here’s what the researchers had to say, “The combination of resveratrol and grape seed extract is very effective at killing colon cancer cells and what we’re learning is the combination of these compounds is not toxic to healthy cells.”

However, the key was to take both resveratrol and grape seed extract together. When taken separately in low doses, resveratrol and grape seed extract are not as effective against cancer stem-cell suppression as when they are combined together.

The scientists even said that the combined effect of grape seed extract and resveratrol may offer clues as to why cultures with a plant-based diet tend to have lower colon cancer rates. These diets may naturally be providing a shotgun approach to cancer prevention by using a wide variety of beneficial compounds to target multiple pathways that cancer stem cells use to survive.

Grabbing the power of grapes

So, how can you get more of those beneficial grape compounds in your diet to fight off colon cancer?

Although resveratrol is found in red wine, don’t grab your glass and drink up just yet. Besides recent research that revealed alcohol, in any amount can damage your DNA, the scientists said that resveratrol alone was not as effective as when combined with grape seed extract.

Now you could also just eat the whole grape, seeds and all, but you would probably have to eat quite a bit, and grape seeds, like any seed not properly chewed can get stuck in pockets of your intestines and cause infection.

So, the easiest way to get the biggest benefit is to supplement resveratrol and grape seed extract. You can find these supplements separately but some high-end supplement companies combine the two for you. You may have to look harder, but it’s worth it.

Sources:

1. Key Statistics for Colorectal Cancer — American Cancer Society
2. Cancer Stat Facts: Colorectal Cancer — Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute
3. Colorectal Cancer: Risk Factors and Prevention — American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
4. Grape-based compounds kill colon cancer stem cells in mice — Penn State
5. Medications and Drugs — eMedicineHealth