Super Immunity (12 page)

Epidemiological studies have found that increased consumption of allium vegetables is associated with lower risk of cancer at all common sites. This protection is thought to be due to their organosulfur compounds, which are released when the vegetables are chopped, crushed, or chewed. Similar to the green cruciferous family, the cell walls of onions house an enzyme called alliinase, which is responsible for making that sulfuric acid smell that can make you cry. At the same time the chemical reaction is occurring on your kitchen counter and smarting your eyes, those immune-building sulfide compounds are forming. These compounds prevent the development of cancers by detoxifying carcinogens, and they also have angiogenesis-inhibiting effects that halt cancer cell growth by preventing tumors from obtaining a blood supply.
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New research suggests that these organosulfur compounds in members of the onion family also have anti-inflammatory actions that protect against osteoarthritis and ward off infections. When we eat the organosulfur compounds and glycoproteins in onions, those compounds work together with other micronutrients to improve immune function and to prevent disease. In fact, when onion intake was scrutinized in a case-controlled multicountry study, the highest consumers of onions had less than half as many cancers compared to people who rarely consumed onions. Here are the specific stats:
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• A 56 percent reduction in colon cancer

• A 73 percent reduction in ovarian cancer

• An 88 percent reduction in esophageal cancer

• A 71 percent reduction in prostate cancer

• A 50 percent reduction in stomach cancer

In this study the highest consumers were eating seven or more 80 gram portions per week (or about ½ cup of chopped onions per day); the lowest consumers were eating less than one serving per week. Imagine the protective effects of eating adequate amounts of the top three super food groups
together
—cruciferous greens, mushrooms, and onions—almost daily.

The pomegranate is a unique ancient fruit borne on a small, long-living tree cultivated throughout Asia and the Mediterranean region, as far north as the Himalayas. As a result of the increasing recognition of its health benefits, it is now also grown in California and elsewhere in the southern United States.

In the past decade, numerous studies on the antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, and anti-inflammatory properties of pomegranates have been published, focusing on the treatment and prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, erectile dysfunction, bacterial infections and antibiotic resistance, and ultraviolet radiation–induced skin damage.
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The juice and seeds of the pomegranate possess potent antioxidant and anticancer properties, including interference with tumor cell proliferation, cell cycle invasion, and angiogenesis. The phytochemistry of pomegranates suggests a wide range of clinical applications for the treatment and prevention of cancer, as well as other diseases in which chronic inflammation is believed to play an essential role. Pomegranate juice contains antioxidants such as soluble polyphenols, tannins, and anthocyanins, and has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and anti-atherosclerotic properties in mice and humans.

The following list highlights some of the benefits of pomegranate seeds and juice, as revealed by recent research:

1. Pomegranates inhibit breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, and leukemia, and prevent vascular changes that promote tumor growth in lab animals.
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2. Pomegranates inhibit angiotensin-converting enzymes and naturally lower blood pressure. (Angiotensin, as you may recall, is a hormone that promotes angiogenesis.)
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3. The potent antioxidative compounds in pomegranates reverse atherosclerosis and reduce excessive blood clotting and platelet clumping, factors that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
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4. Pomegranates have estrogen-like compounds that stimulate serotonin and estrogen receptors, improving symptoms of depression and helping build bone mass in lab animals.
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5. Pomegranates reduce tissue damage in those with kidney problems, reduce the incidence of infections, and prevent serious infections.
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6. Lastly but impressively, pomegranates improve heart health. Heart patients with severe carotid artery blockages were given a daily dose of less than an ounce of pomegranate juice for a year. Not only did their blood pressure decrease by over 20 percent, but there was a 30 percent reduction in atherosclerotic plaque.
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Interestingly, pomegranates offer significant active protection against breast cancer. Like mushrooms, they support anti-aromatase activity; that means they prevent estrogen and testosterone from rising too high in the body and block the stimulation of breast tissues with these hormones.
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An increasing body of evidence has underscored the cancer-preventive efficacy of pomegranates in animal models and human studies.
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Colorful berries have beneficial effects similar to those of pomegranates. Consider the following research: after exposure to a chemical carcinogen that damages DNA in rats, the animals were fed dried blackberries and showed a transformation of the damaged genes back to near-normal; the effects were just as marked as the benefits from cruciferous greens.
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The model of exposing rats to chemical carcinogens and then giving them berries has been repeated in many other studies as well, and exposure to berries or berry concentrates repeatedly shows a reduction in the occurrence of cancer at multiple sites, including esophagus, colon, and oral cancers. Similarly, when rats were implanted with estrogen to produce mammary tumors, blueberry and raspberry intake was able to limit the development of the tumors to begin with, and once tumors were induced, the berry extracts reduced tumor size.

The idea of berries as anticarcinogens was first conceived in the late 1980s, when scientists discovered that ellagic acid, found in many fruits and vegetables (including pomegranates), inhibited the formations of tumors. They then found that berries contained
markedly
high amounts of ellagic acid, and that black raspberries in particular had the most among berries and fruits. Later it was found that berries also contained many other anticancer phytochemical compounds, such as an assortment of anthocyanins with powerful anticancer effects.
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All berries and their juices—including blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, acai berries, goji berries, elderberries, and strawberries—are super foods.

Before we close this chapter on super foods, I must discuss the value of nuts and seeds, which we looked at briefly in a previous chapter. They are high in fat and protein, like animal products, but their effects on the body are completely different. Instead of promoting disease, as animal protein and animal fat do, they actually prevent and reverse it. They have been demonstrated in hundreds of medical studies to dramatically extend life and protect against disease.
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Nuts and seeds are not only tasty and healthy foods; they are portable and easy to take along while traveling. How else could you carry half a day's calories in your computer case on a business trip or in your daypack while on an all-day hike?

Seeds give you all the advantages of nuts, plus more. They are higher in protein than nuts and have many additional important nutrients, making them a particularly wonderful food. Unlike Wonder Bread, they really do build strong bodies twelve ways. Each seed is a living but rugged food, sealed in a package that, amazingly, can still germinate after two hundred years if stored in favorable conditions!

Let's look at what various kinds of seeds have to offer:

Flax seeds
don't just give you omega-3 fatty acids (essential for good health); they are also rich in anticancer lignans, and their mucilage lubricates and eases bowel movements. Flax seeds and sesame seeds contain more lignans than any other food. These plant compounds bind to estrogen receptors and interfere with the cancer-promoting effects of estrogen on breast tissue and they also have strong anti-oxidant effects. If you opt not to use them whole, it is best to grind your own fresh at home. Of special interest is a study that revealed that when flax seeds are given to women with breast cancer, the women show reduced tumor growth and enhanced survival, compared to women not given flax.
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Sunflower seeds
are exceedingly rich in vitamin E, selenium, iron, and other minerals. With 22 percent of calories from protein and rich in the amino acid tryptophan, sunflower seeds are a healthy way that vegetarians, vegans, flexitarians (near-vegans), and nutritarians can ensure that they get sufficient protein.

Pumpkin seeds
are a good source of omega-3s, are high in phytochemicals, and are rich in zinc, calcium, and iron.

Sesame seeds
have the highest level of calcium of any food in the world. Interestingly, they not only have a highly absorbable full spectrum of various vitamin E fractions, but they increase the bioactivity of vitamin E in the body.
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Natural vitamin E is a complex, fat-soluble chemical structure that includes alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-tocopherols and tocotrienols, present in the leaves and seeds of plants. It is not only a potent antioxidant and free-radical scavenger, but it also regulates immune system activity and is essential for life. Its benefits are not equaled by synthetic vitamin E supplements, which typically include only one or two vitamin E isomers. Comparing the many forms of vitamin E in sesame seeds to the vitamin E in a supplement is like comparing a real horse to a toy horse. Sesamin, a sesame lignan, also has beneficial effects to improve postmenopausal hormonal status, raise antioxidant activity in body cells, and at the same time decrease the risk of breast cancer and lower cholesterol.
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We have an opportunity to earn great health via what we eat. The powerful compounds found in nuts and seeds, berries, and pomegranates are potently protective; when they are combined with green vegetables, mushrooms, and onions in the diet, that aggregate begets Super Immunity, fueling the miraculous self-healing and self-protective properties already built into the human genome. A combination of these compounds is far more effective than any single agent, even in a high dose. Acting together, they fuel an assortment of mechanisms that both prevent cell damage and also kill cells that cannot be adequately repaired before they can become dangerous to the body.

This nutritarian approach, which mixes the most powerful and protective foods in the diet, is natural, is without toxicity, and can prevent many human tragedies—not just revving up our immune system against infection and cancer, but also preventing heart attacks, strokes, and dementia. The line of research testing a combination of super foods in humans needs much more funding and support. If it received that support, we would certainly find that a whole range of high-micronutrient super foods have a wide range of therapeutic possibilities against serious health conditions.

In the case of every one of the super foods, a moderate amount alone offers substantial benefits. However, as noted earlier, my argument and recommendations are for people to eat significant protective amounts of these super foods, and to include them
all
(or most of them) in your diet. Super Immunity is created by a diet with a portfolio of immune system–strengthening and cancer-fighting foods. Here's a good way to remember the essentials: