Victory Over Cancer:
Feeding Your Immune System

Powerful Immune Boost
How do we achieve and maintain a strong, healthy, balanced immune system. We are all aware that a vigorous immune system is important to our good health. It is even more important to those battling cancer. Many experts believe that a strong immune response may help to fight malignancy The good news from nutritional experts is that there are many tasty foods that stimulate the immune system.

Phytosterols
Many edible plants contain a class of immune-stimulating natural substances known as sterols and sterolins, also known as phytosterols. The most famous of this group is called beta-sitosterol. Please note, these are not the "steroids" used by body builders. They are instead a very healthful group of natural disease fighters that have a wide range of health benefits. Plant phytosterols seem to both stimulate and balance the various components of the immune system. It is especially interesting to note that recent scientific research indicates that immune system "helper" cells, known as Th1 and Th2 appear to achieve a more healthy balance if a diet rich in beta-sitosterol is consumed. An immune system ratio favoring Th1 over Th2 is thought to improve beneficial immune functions while simultaneously diminishing negative immune system effects such as pain, inflammation and allergies. Another quite intriguing benefit of beta-sitosterol is that it lowers blood cholesterol. In fact, it seems to lower harmful LDL cholesterol by perhaps as much as fifteen percent in some individuals. Beta-sitosterol is also famous for potential beneficial effects in prostate disease. It appears to fight BPH benign prostatic hypertrophy and is used by many alternative physicians as a treatment or potential preventive for prostate cancer. Foods containing an abundant source of plant phytosterols include sesame seeds or sesame oil, rice bran, and sunflower seeds or oil.

Arabinogalactans
Many healthy foods such as whole wheat flour, organic carrots, pears, and tomatoes contain another novel cancer fighting, immune stimulator. This natural substance is called arabinogalactan. Proven in scientific studies to stimulate the Natural Killer Cells {NK cells} which fight cancer, arabiinogalactan is truly a fascinating natural agent. It is a food fiber, and is approved by the FDA as source of dietary fiber. Science has long known that diets rich in soluble fiber such as arabinogalactan reduces the incidence of colon cancer , lowers cholesterol, and aids in elimination. Arabinogalactan soluble fiber may also aid the growth of benefical microorganisms in the colon, such as bifidobaceter and lactobacillus. Healthful bacteria in the colon have many beneficial effects, including the production of vitamins, the crowding-out of harmful bacteria, and protecting the colon wall from disease. They may also produce a beneficial type of fat, called short-chain fatty acid or SCFA. One of the most famous of these short chain fatty acids is butyrate. Butyrate or butyric acid, is thought to fight the development of colon cancer within the cells which line the interior of the colon.

When cancer spreads by traveling from the site within the body shere it originated, it may cause wide-spread damage to crucial organs and tissues. This process of malignant dispersal is called metastasis. Arabinogalactans may help to limit metastasis by interfering with the ability of cancer cells to travel and take up residence in a new location. Animal studies indicate that metastases to the liver, in particular, may be inhibited. The liver is one of the most common sites of metastatic spread of cancer, and is a vital organ essential to life. The potential anti-metastasis effect of arabinogalactan may therefore prove quite significant in the betterment of health in cancer patients.

Viruses have been implicated in the development and progression of malignancy. Viral transfection can introduce new and sometimes unwanted harmful genes into our cells. These harmful genes may stimulate oncogenes, those known to promote the development of cancer. Viruses also may simply damage our own cancer-fighting genes, the tumor suppressor genes, as they introduce their own viral genetic material into our cells for the production of new viral particles. Arabinogalatans are thought to fight viruses. In fact, recent scientific studies have shown anti-viral and immune stimulatory effects similar to those of the famous immune and anti-viral herb echinacea. Interstingly, echinacea is rich in natural arabinogalactan.

Many delicious and readily available foods provide a good source of arabinogalactans and phytosterols. Whole wheat flour, carrots, pears, and sunflower or sesame seeds are easy to include in our daily diets. Sesame oil and sunflower oil as well as the seeds from which those oils are produced are thought to be most healthful if fresh and not rancid or oxidized. Ingesting the whole fresh seeds after chewing them well may provide a tasty and nutritious source of these oils. Tomatoes are becoming ever more renowned for their many health-enhancing natural properties. Fortunately, most of us enjoy the taste of tomatoes, and they are found in many of our favorite foods. The addition of greater portions of these beneficial foods to our daily diet should be easy and enjoyable.