I'm not sure that I should be posting this sort of thing here (and would
be grateful for any comments about this), but I came across a message
that seemed interesting in an IBC mailing list. I don't know anything
about the subject or this message.

Best wishes,

========================

Elaine,

I am also impressed with the entire website.  One of the things that Dr.
Martin mentions is the following:

'use ONLY the brown flax seed. The golden flax seed contains NO oil.'

------------------------

He also wrote interesting information regarding Olive Oil.  You may
remember that olive oil recently received good publicity regarding
cancer,
but he has an alternative viewpoint that he posted on his blog.  You can
read it below.

Remember, anyone can post a comment or question at the end of each of
his
blogs on:  http://www.grouppekurosawa.com/blog/

=========================

Foods That Kill Cancer Cells

There is no question that a proper diet can contribute to a cancer free
life. However, once cancer becomes established specific foods cannot,
for
the most part, actually kill cancer cells. For the most part this is due
to the low concentrations of medical compounds in most foods.
Supplements
can help, but many supplements enter the body poorly. The prevention and
treatment of cancer are two drastically different processes.

I know of two foods that can powerfully kill cancer cells. If people can
think of others, please post a comment to this essay with the
information.
I will check it out.

The first food is flaxseed, ground into a meal. Twenty give grams of
flaxmeal baked into a muffin and eaten once a day for 30 days killed 31%
of the breast cancer cells in newly diagnosed women. Flaxseed contains a
high concentration of pre-lignans which are converted into lignans by
intestinal bacteria. There is a very large scientific literature
published
on the biochemistry of lignans. In addition to breast cancer cells,
lignans can also kill melanoma cells. In fact, the lignans from flaxseed
can probably kill any cancers.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/queryd.fcgi?
cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15897583

Now let's talk about fats. We all know that olive oil contains wonderful
anti-oxidants and very little saturated fat. It's good for us, right?
Yes,
in general olive oil is a wonderful, flavorful oil that has many
medicinal
values.

UNLESS, you have cancer. Then you are in trouble.

The two most pleniful fatty acids in body are the 16 carbon saturated
fat
palmitic acid and the 18:1 mono-unsaturated oleic acid. The medical
dogma
is that saturated fats are intrinsically bad for us while un-saturated
fats are good.

Wrong!!!

Saturated fatty acids like palmitic acid are VERY toxic to cancer cells,
while unsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid, the primary fatty acid in
olive oil, block apoptosis or programmed cell death in cancer and other
cells.

Although palmitic acid can be made in cells by an enzyme called fatty
acid
synthase (FAS), this palmitic acid is immediately converted to other,
growth promoting lipids. It's an interesting paradox that inhibiting FAS
(EGCG and flavonoids readily inhibit FAS) causes cancer cells to die at
an
accelerated rate, while FEEDING dietary palmitic acid to cancer cells
kills them by another mechanism.

The following paper shows that palmitic acid inhibits the synthesis of
cardiolipin, a lipid that is concentrated in the inner mitochondrial
membrane. This lipid complexes cytochrome C and prevents it from being
released out of the mitochondrial. The release of cytochrome C out of
mitochondria is THE signal for apoptosis or programmed cell death.
Cancer
cells go to great lengths to prevent this from happening. While dietary
palmitic acid promotes the release of cytochrome C, oleic acid (oleate)
prevents it by reactivating cardiolipin synthesis. This is not good news
if you have cancer.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/queryd.fcgi?
cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12805375

I am preparing a more extensive Blog on the biochemistry of palmitic
acid
on cancer cells.

Here is the problem. Triglycerides are fat molecules. They look like a
coat hanger that has three ties of unequal length hangling from it. The
ties are fatty acids. Olive oil contains primarily oleic acid, while
saturated fat in meat and milk products contains alot of palmitic acid.
The bottom line is that the palmitic acid and oleic acid tend to cancel
each other out, at least with respect to cancer growth.

A cancer diet would exclude all oils but flaxseed oil. The palmitic acid
must be fed as a free fatty acid in semi-pure form because there is no
other way to exclude the non-saturated fatty acids like oleic acid that
antagonize its anti-cancer abilities. Linoleic acid, the primary fatty
acid in most cooking oils, is a non-saturated fat that will also block
palmitic acid's cancer killing properties.

No, olive oil does not cause cancer. It's use is simply not appropriate
if
you are trying to kill cancer cells, and the oleic acid in olive oil is
working against you. Linoleic acid, in addition to blocking palmitic
acid's effects on mitochondrial integrity, is converted to
prostaglandins
and other molecules that contribute to cancer cell growth. We have
already
discussed in previous Blogs the horror and havoc these oils place on the
body.

In another Blog, I will tell you the story of the exciting new
anti-leukemia drug discovered in red algae. The scientists later
discovered it was just palmitic acid. I got the impression in reading
the
article that the authors were disappointed that they didn't discover
some
new exotic anti-cancer molecule. I mean, palmitic acid is NOT at all
sexy.
It just happens to work if other fats in the diet are minimized to
prevent
their interference with its anti-cancer properties.

So now you know. Foods can kill and they will if consumed under the
proper
conditions. In the case of flaxseed, the pre-lignans will not be
converted
to lignans in the intestines if the bacterial propulation is reduced due
to excessive antibiotic use or excessive fat intake. Palmitic acid in
free
fatty acid form will kill cancer cells, or at a minimum make them
incredibly unstable, if other interfering fats like linoleic acid and
oleic acid are rigidly excluded from the diet.

So eat lots of flaxmeal muffins and smoothies and be happy. But use ONLY
the brown flax seed. It can be purchased in bulk in most high end
markets
or health food stores. The golden flax seed contains NO oil.

Stay tuned...and don't forget to contact me if you find another
anti-cancer food. Be realistic...if you have to eat a ton of the stuff
to
get an affect it's worthless.

Grouppe Kurosawa, Medicine in the Public Interest
(http://www.grouppekurosawa.com)

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