Supplements and cancer: What can I take?

“Is it OK to take supplements during chemotherapy or radiation?”

As an integrative physician who specializes in cancer, this is the most common question I hear.

Dr. Isaac Eliaz

It’s an important area to explore, with the potential to make a significant difference in outcome. But with all the conflicting opinions among experts, many people skirt the issue altogether.

That’s too bad, because they’re foregoing the interactions between supplements and conventional cancer treatments out of fear.

The truth is however, that the use of certain supplements before, during and after chemotherapy and/or radiation may increase efficacy, protect healthy tissues and reduce side effects.

This is the essence of integrative medicine: Combining advanced modalities in strategic ways to fight the disease while supporting a patient’s overall health. This is how we work to optimize results against cancer.

There are three time frames I work within when recommending supplements for patients undergoing chemotherapy: Before the chemo begins, during the chemo cycles and after the chemo is finished.

One of the important principles is to cycle supplements based on the time within the chemo cycle, selecting supplements that have been shown to work well with the specific chemotherapy being used. This is where an integrative oncologist becomes an important asset on the patient’s team.

Anti-inflammatory approaches

In preparation for chemotherapy (and radiation as well), there are a few important steps. One is gentle detoxification: If you have any chronic toxicity or inflammation issues, it’s important to address them beforehand, since inflammation is a fuel for cancer.

An example is dental health. Did you know there are often unrecognized infections hiding in old root canals or under fillings?  Cleaning up the mouth will reduce inflammation and infection, which has the benefit of reducing side effects, limiting cancer’s aggressiveness and supporting natural defenses.

However, avoid doing an extensive detox involving fasting or extreme methods because it can be weakening, unless there’s time to build up your strength again before starting cancer treatment.

On the other hand, a simple, nourishing detox emphasizing an unprocessed diet and gentle cleansing supplements can help strengthen the body, reduce inflammation and boost immunity in preparation. You can also use antioxidants more liberally during this time, to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation.

Treatment enhancers

There are also supplements which can enhance the effects of certain chemo drugs, while providing additional benefits. Medicinal mushrooms are excellent supplements before, during and after chemotherapy. They help detoxify, support immune cells and enhance most types of chemotherapy. There are multiple mushrooms that can help, such as reishi, cordyceps, shiitake, maitake, and coriolus. I specifically recommend mushrooms grown on immune enhancing herbs which are shown to be more effective.

• One of the most researched supplements showing promising results with many types of chemotherapy – including doxorubicin, platinum and taxol drugs – is Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP), a specialized form of pectin backed by extensive research.

MCP works in part by blocking the pro-inflammatory, pro-cancer protein in the body, galectin-3. As such, MCP inhibits one of the primary mechanisms by which the cancer can grow, metastasize and shield itself from chemo drugs.

As the only natural agent which binds and blocks galectin-3 on the surface of cancer cells (and elsewhere in the body), MCP is shown through preclinical studies to work synergistically with chemotherapy drugs like doxorubicin, gemcitabine, paclitaxel and more; it also increases natural killer (NK) and T cells, and gently detoxifies heavy metals and environmental toxins. Furthermore, since MCP blocks galectin-3, it also inhibits inflammation and fibrosis, protecting against the damaging side effects of radiation treatments. To learn more about this important, versatile anti-cancer supplement, I recommend the new book, “New Twist on Health: Modified Citrus Pectin for Cancer, Heart Disease and More” by Karolyn A. Gazella.

• Another compound shown in pre-clinical studies to enhance many chemotherapies is honokiol, an active antioxidant and anti-inflammatory extract derived from Magnolia officinalis bark.

Honokiol fights aggressive cancers through a number of unusual mechanisms. One of its unique features is that it selectively targets cancer cells using oxidation, allowing it to work well with chemotherapies like platinum drugs, doxorubicin, etc. At the same time, it protects healthy tissues with powerful antioxidant benefits – truly unusual.

Another mechanism by which it works relates to the enzyme mTOR. The mTOR enzyme regulates important activities such as cell growth, proliferation and survival.  Cancer activates mTOR which allows the tumor cells to avoid apoptosis (cell death) and grow uncontrollably. However, honokiol inhibits mTOR, making chemotherapy more effective. Honokiol is also shown to increase radio-sensitivity in certain cancers, making tumors more vulnerable to radiation treatment.

• Other helpful chemotherapy enhancers are melatonin, high dose intravenous (IV) vitamin C (15+ grams) and ECGC from green tea.

The drug gemcitabine is sensitive to vitamin C plus vitamin K3, so combining these ingredients can help increase effectiveness of this particular drug. With agents that enhance chemotherapy or radiation, it’s important to take them around the time of chemo so they can work together.

Support digestion and circulation

It’s very important to support the health of the GI tract, because often the digestion stops functioning and becomes paralyzed during chemotherapy. In my practice, I use a digestive formula containing enzymes, zinc, ginger, cardamom and other supportive ingredients. Probiotics are also very important, as some chemotherapy (like Cyclophosphamide) requires healthy bacterial balance to metabolize into active components. Take probiotics throughout treatment and afterwards as well.

During the first phase of the chemotherapy cycle, circulation support is critical to ensure that the drugs are reaching their target. The enzymes nattokinase and lumbrokinase along with medicinal mushrooms, Chinese salvia and hawthorn berry are helpful.

About a week after the chemotherapy cycle, once most or all of the drug has had a chance to complete its cycle, we want to support liver detoxification. Milk thistle, liver support formulas, and curcumin help the liver detoxify the byproducts of the cancer.

Beyond chemotherapy treatment

Once chemotherapy is completed, start addressing the mechanisms of the cancer that may have survived. For example, in hormone sensitive cancers, hormonal modulation becomes important, helping the body to metabolize and excrete its steroid sex hormones, with the use of supplements such as DIM (Diindolylmethane), cruciferous vegetable extracts and others.

I will also start supporting vital organs, mitochondrial function and immunity to help nourish and rebuild the body. This is where certain Chinese formulas, medicinal mushrooms, as well as nutrients such as L-carnitine and CoQ10 can be very helpful.

The strategy of synergy

These recommendations are examples of integrative adjuncts which may help certain cancer treatments work more effectively.

It’s important to remember that successful integrative anti-cancer protocols require an individualized strategy that takes into account numerous variables, such as the person’s overall health and lifestyle, the cancer’s origin and genetic make-up; sensitivity to certain drugs, and other factors.

Cancer is notorious for its ability to evade treatment, so it demands an ongoing, responsive strategy where we stay ahead of the disease. There are many unanswered questions, ongoing research and continual refinements in our knowledge regarding use of nutrients and botanicals during conventional treatment.  I don’t recommend a do-it-yourself approach .Working with an integrative health practitioner experienced in this area is one of the most important investments you can make.

These practitioners belong to fast-growing field of medicine and research called integrative oncology, leading the way in developing more effective, patient-centered anticancer protocols available to all.

https://easyhealthoptions.com/supplements-cancer-can-take/

Think an Oncologist's Goal Is to Treat You? You'll Be Stunned by Their Answers

Straight from their own mouths, oncologists reveal why their goal isn't to treat you as an individual. These cancer patients found that truth hard to swallow and instead chose to buck the system, including a glioblastoma brain tumor patient who's still alive 19 years later because he did.

Atrocious State of Cancer Treatment in the U.S.

• April 09, 2016 • 533,315 views

Story at-a-glance

• Despite a decades-long war on cancer, and the “most advanced” treatments known to 21st-century oncologists, many cancer diagnoses remain a death sentence
• Patient requests for possible experimental, natural or outside-the-box treatments are typically denied by oncologists who refuse to deviate from the hospital’s standard protocol
• The film “Surviving Terminal Cancer” follows the story of those who have survived terminal cancer by bucking the system and taking their health and cancer treatment into their own hands

By Dr. Mercola

Being diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain tumor, is considered a death sentence by modern medicine.

Despite a decades-long war on cancer, and the "most advanced" treatments known to 21st century oncologists, people who develop this aggressive, fast-growing cancer are given a prognosis of about 15 months to live — if they're lucky.

Aggressive treatment, including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, is often started, even though oncologists know it won't cure the disease. If you ever find yourself in this type of nightmarish scenario, you can imagine the desperation you would feel to find something, anything, that might offer hope.

Most people turn to their oncologists or neurosurgeons with such requests for possible experimental or outside-the-box treatments, but you're unlikely to receive any help that deviates from the hospital's standard protocol.

It's not that such treatment options don't exist; they do. The problem is that the oncologist can't, or won't, prescribe them. To do so would risk his or her reputation and even medical license, should you decide to sue.

The film interviews a number of oncologists that carefully describe their predicament. But the problem is even larger than this. Modern cancer care is not set up to treat you, an individual. Their primary goal is to validate experimental therapies for future cancer patients many years down the road.

Due to regulatory red tape, drug-company greed, failures in the scientific process and lack of a universal will to do what's best for each and every patient, modern cancer care fails an unacceptable percentage of the time.

As Albert Einstein said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This describes modern cancer treatment in a nutshell.

How One Man Survived Terminal Cancer

Ben Williams, Ph.D., professor emeritus of Experimental Psychology at University of California, San Diego, shouldn't be here today. He should be one of the statistics — 1 of the more than 15,000 people who die from glioblastoma multiforme in the U.S. every year.1

Yet, he's alive — 19 years after his initial glioblastoma multiforme diagnosis. His survival was brushed off as a rare fluke by his doctors, but Williams believes otherwise.

In his book "Surviving Terminal Cancer: Clinical Trials, Drug Cocktails, and Other Treatments Your Oncologist Won't Tell You About," he details the multi-faceted strategy he used to overcome the disease. You can hear him tell his story first-hand in the film "Surviving Terminal Cancer," above.

It's becoming increasingly clear that in order to outsmart cancer, you've got to attack it from multiple angles, especially in the case of complex brain cancer. And that's what Williams did.

He described a mushroom extract that's used routinely to treat cancer in Japan. It has zero toxicity, but it's not even mentioned in the U.S.

He did his own research, finding out about the potential to use existing non-cancer medications off label to treat the deadly disease. Once a patent expires on a drug, its potential to rake in major profits plummets. As such, drug companies typically abandon them in favor of newer, more profitable pursuits.

Abandoned Drugs Show Promise but Oncologists Won't Prescribe Them

Some of these abandoned drugs have shown promise for glioblastoma multiforme, but they're not offered to U.S. patients. While I'm not in favor of over-prescribing medications, if you're facing a deadly prognosis you're probably willing to risk the side effects if it gives you a chance for survival.

High-dose tamoxifen, a breast cancer drug, is one such medication that has shown some promise in treating glioblastoma multiforme.2

The anti-malaria drug chloroquine is another.3 There's even a good chance your neuro-oncologist may be aware of the promising studies done with these drugs, but he or she won't offer them as a potential treatment because they're considered experimental. As Williams said:

"It made absolutely no sense to me not to use everything that might have a benefit as long as the toxicities were acceptable. Why wouldn't anyone want to add them? It seemed to be totally irrational that people didn't use everything that was available."

When Modern Medicine Fails Them, Cancer Patients Turn to Self-Medication and the Black Market

In order to survive, Williams turned to self-medicating, a dangerous prospect by any account but, again, when your life is at stake you're willing to take the risk. And his story is not unique.

Many have traveled to other countries, forged prescriptions, feigned illnesses to get access to different medications and even traded medications and nutraceuticals on the "black market" in order to have even a chance at survival.

In Williams' case, his daily cocktail of off-label medications and natural products worked. In just six months, his brain tumor had disappeared and it hasn't been back since.

There are more than a handful of others who have defied odds and lived long term with glioblastoma multiforme, and they've taken matters into their own hands too.

Williams now spends the bulk of his time trying to help others with terminal cancer, and he makes his book, which he updates annually, free to cancer patients in need.

Natural Cancer Fighters Overlooked by Modern Medicine

Nature is an invaluable resource for fighting cancer, yet natural products, even those that have been intensely studied, are also left out of cancer patients' treatment plans. Curcumin — one of the most well-studied bioactive ingredients in turmeric — is one glaring example.

It exhibits over 150 potentially therapeutic activities, including anti-cancer properties.

As noted by Dr. William LaValley — a leading natural medicine cancer physician whom I've previously interviewed on this topic — curcumin is unique in that it appears to be universally useful for just about every type of cancer.

Superficially, this appears unusual considering the fact that cancer consists of a wide variety of different nuclear genetic defects. One reason for this universal anti-cancer proclivity is curcumin's ability to decrease the primary mitochondrial dysfunction that is likely one of the foundational causes of cancer. Once it gets into a cell, it also affects more than 100 different molecular pathways.

And, as explained by LaValley, whether the curcumin molecule causes an increase in activity of a particular molecular target or decrease/inhibition of activity, studies repeatedly show that the end result is a potent anti-cancer activity. Moreover, curcumin is virtually non-toxic, and does not adversely affect healthy cells, suggesting it selectively targets cancer cells — all of which are clear benefits in cancer treatment.

Research has even shown that it works synergistically with certain chemotherapy drugs, enhancing the elimination of cancer cells. If you have cancer, curcumin is one substance you should be taking, but your oncologist won't recommend it.

To Survive Cancer, Many Must Defy Their Doctors

Should you bring up the fact that you are using approaches to fight cancer that are outside of your oncologist's realm of experience — things like supplements, medical marijuana, herbal preparations, and more — you might be scolded, berated, threatened or even fired from the practice.

Williams never told his oncologists about his self-prescribed treatment; he knew it would fall on deaf ears. The cancer industry should be learning from the people who have beaten the odds and survived terminal cancer — studying their methods and trying to apply them to others — but instead they're ignored.

It's an unfortunate state of affairs when patients must actively defy their doctors in order to survive. As Williams explained, going against the advice of his doctors was initially an act of desperation, but it was necessary to save his life. This certainly applies to the majority of conventional oncologists, but there are exceptions — doctors who are blazing a new trail to find a cancer cure.

This includes Dr. Marc-Eric Halatsch, a professor and senior consultant neurosurgeon at the University of Ulm, Germany, who, along with colleagues have developed a new treatment protocol for relapsed glioblastoma.

It's based on a combination of drugs (very similar to the early HIV treatments) "not traditionally thought of as chemotherapy agents, but that have a robust history of being well-tolerated and are already marketed and used for other non-cancer indications."4 As noted in the featured film, even though the protocol uses mainstream medications, he's put his reputation on the line to step outside the conventional cancer-treatment box.

Cancer Patients Should Have Access to the Best of Eastern and Western Medicine

Dr. Raymond Chang, who is featured in the video above, is one such pioneer in the integration of Eastern and Western medicine. He is known for his work on anti-cancer Chinese botanicals especially involving bioactive polysaccharides and medicinal mushrooms.

He and colleagues with the Institute of East-West Medicine have created the Asian Anti-Cancer Materia Database, which brings together traditional Asian medicines that have potential anti-cancer activity into one database that can be accessed by all.5 In his book, "Beyond the Magic Bullet ― The Anti-Cancer Cocktail," Dr. Chang explained:

"While scientists win occasional skirmishes in the battle against cancer, the overall war continues to go badly. Stories abound about revolutionary drugs that may be available in the future, but offer no real help to those who have cancer today. At present, conventional approaches continue to rely on a narrowly focused strategy of treatments, with doctors using, at best, only one or two drugs or other therapies at a time.

While this may be acceptable in a laboratory setting or a clinical trial, it has done little to diminish the number of people who die each year from this dread disease. Recently, however, conventional medicine's core strategy has been re-examined, and a new, potentially more effective approach has emerged ― one that combines the best of Eastern wisdom with Western science."

More Than Half a Million People Expected to Die From Cancer in 2016

In 2016, nearly 1.7 million new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S., while nearly 600,000 will die from the disease.6  That is nearly 1,650 people dying EVERY DAY in the U.S. alone. Public health agencies claim that we are winning the war against cancer, but from 2003 to 2012 death rates from cancer decreased by only 1.8 percent per year among men and 1.4 percent per year among women.7

Meanwhile, the 2014 World Cancer Report issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) predicted worldwide cancer rates to rise by 57 percent in the next two decades.8

The report refers to the prediction as "an imminent human disaster," noting countries around the world need to renew their focus on prevention rather than treatment only. Christopher Wild, Ph.D., director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, told CNN:9

"We cannot treat our way out of the cancer problem. More commitment to prevention and early detection is desperately needed in order to complement improved treatments and address the alarming rise in cancer burden globally."

There is so much you can do to lower your risk for cancer, but please don't wait until you get the diagnosis — you have to take preventative steps now. Cancer doesn't typically develop overnight, which means you have a chance to make changes that can potentially prevent cancer from developing in the first place. Most of us carry around microscopic cancer cell clusters in our bodies all the time.

The reason why we all don't develop cancer is because as long as your body has the ability to balance angiogenesis properly, it will prevent blood vessels from forming to feed these microscopic tumors. Trouble will only arise if, and when, the cancer cells manage to get their own blood supply, at which point they can transform from harmless to deadly. It's much easier to prevent cancer than to treat it once it takes hold.

Top Cancer Prevention Strategies

I believe you can virtually eliminate your risk of cancer and chronic disease and significantly improve your chances of recovering from cancer if you currently have it, by following these relatively simple strategies.

1.Eat REAL Food: Seek to eliminate all processed food in your diet. Eat at least one-third of your food raw. Avoid frying or charbroiling; boil, poach or steam your foods instead. Consider adding cancer-fighting whole foods, herbs, spices and supplements to your diet, such as broccoli sprouts, curcumin and resveratrol.

2.Carbohydrates and Sugar: Sugar/fructose and grain-based foods from your diet need to be reduced and eventually eliminated. This applies to whole unprocessed organic grains as well, as they tend to rapidly break down and drive up your insulin level.  

The evidence is quite clear that if you want to avoid cancer, or you currently have cancer, you absolutely MUST avoid all forms of sugar, especially fructose, which are dirty fuels generating excessive free radicals and secondary mitochondrial damage.

3.Protein and Fat: Consider reducing your protein levels to 1 gram of protein for every kilogram of lean body mass, or one-half gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. Replace excess protein with high-quality fats, such as organic eggs from pastured hens, high-quality grass-fed meats, raw pastured butter, avocados, pecans, macadamias, and coconut oil.

4.GMOs: Avoid genetically engineered foods as they are typically treated with herbicides such as Roundup (glyphosate), and are likely to be carcinogenic and contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction. Choose fresh, organic, and preferably locally grown foods.

5.Animal-Based Omega-3 Fats: Normalize your ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats by consuming anchovies, sardines, wild Alaskan salmon or taking a high-quality krill oil and reducing your intake of processed vegetable oils.

6.Optimize Your Gut Flora: This will reduce inflammation and strengthen your immune response. Researchers have found a microbe-dependent mechanism through which some cancers mount an inflammatory response that fuels their development and growth.

They suggest that inhibiting inflammatory cytokines might slow cancer progression and improve the response to chemotherapy. Fermented foods are especially beneficial for gut health, and the fermentation process involved in creating sauerkraut produces cancer-fighting compounds such as isothiocyanates, indoles and sulforaphane.

7.Exercise and Move More: Sit less, move around more and try to take 10,000 steps a day.  Exercise also lowers insulin levels, which creates a low-sugar environment that discourages the growth and spread of cancer cells. In a three-month study, exercisewas found to alter immune cells into a more potent disease-fighting form in cancer survivors who had just completed chemotherapy.

Researchers and cancer organizations increasingly recommend making regular exercise a priority in order to reduce your risk of cancer and help improve cancer outcomes. Exercise may also help trigger apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells. Ideally, your exercise program should include balance, strength, flexibility, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). For help getting started, refer to my Peak Fitness Program.

8.Vitamin D: There is scientific evidence you can decrease your risk of cancer by more than half simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with appropriate sun exposure. Your serum level should hold steady at 50 to 70 ng/ml, but if you are being treated for cancer, it should be closer to 80 to 90 ng/ml for optimal benefit.

If you take oral vitamin D and have cancer, it would be very prudent to monitor your vitamin D blood levels regularly, as well as supplementing with vitamin K2, as K2 deficiency is actually what produces the symptoms of vitamin D toxicity.

9.Sleep: Make sure you are getting enough restorative sleep. Poor sleep can interfere with your melatonin production, which is associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance and weight gain, both of which contribute to cancer's virility.

10.Exposure to Toxins: Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, herbicides, household chemical cleaners, plastics chemicals, synthetic air fresheners and toxic cosmetics.

11.Exposure to Radiation: Limit your exposure and protect yourself from radiation produced by cell phones, towers, base stations, and Wi-Fi stations, as well as minimizing your exposure from radiation-based medical scans, including dental x-rays, CT scans, and mammograms.

12.Stress Management: Stress from all causes is a major contributor to disease. It is likely that stress and unresolved emotional issues may be more important than the physical ones, so make sure this is addressed. My favorite tool for resolving emotional challenges is the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT).

Have You Been Diagnosed With Cancer?

One of the most essential strategies I know of to treat cancer is to starve the cells by depriving them of their food source. Unlike your body cells, which can burn carbs or fat for fuel, cancer cells have lost that metabolic flexibility. Dr. Otto Warburg was given a Nobel Prize over 75 years ago for figuring this out, but virtually no oncologist actually uses this information.

You can review my interview with Dominic D'Agostino, Ph.D. below for more details. Integrating a ketogenic diet with hyperbaric oxygen therapy is deadly to cancer cells. It debilitates them by starving them of their fuel source. This would be the strategy I would recommend to my family members if they were diagnosed with cancer.

Download Interview Transcript

Your health is under siege from every direction. Environmental toxins, ultra-processed foods, EMFs, government-subsidized GMOs and a host of other threats surround us. It is simply not possible to protect yourself unless you are armed with cutting edge health information.

The most complex tasks can be made easy if you just take one step at a time. Taken as a whole, this 30-tip plan makes for a comprehensive guide that can change your life. Just a few of the topics addressed are:

• What to eat and when to eat it
• Exercise strategies that you can implement today
• The power of emotional health
• Enhancing your health with essentials like air, sunshine and water
• How to get the restorative sleep that your body requires

It may seem that health and wellness are no longer the norm. An opioid epidemic sweeps the country, the obesity rate is skyrocketing, life expectancy is dropping and chronic diseases are rampant. Our communities are being damaged at every level and the only way to reverse these trends is through education and personal example. My 30-tip plan provides you with the tools you need to take control of your health. The time is ripe for revolution — a health revolution.

CLICK HERE TO GAIN ACCESS


https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/04/09/atrocious-state-cancer-treatment.aspx?

When mushroom dreams come true

“WHEN you can make some money doing what you love, you can be one of the few to say “life is beautiful”, says mushroom farmer Ooi Pei Ning, 25.

Saturday, 21 Oct 2017

Seeds of ambition: (From right) Ooi briefing Chong, Penang MCA chairman Datuk Tan Teik Cheng and MCA National Social Welfare Bureau deputy chief Lim Swee Bok about her farming project.

During her university days, Ooi researched mushrooms.

She earned a degree in agricultural science, found a passion for growing edible fungi, and then the reality of making a living nudged her to get a job as an office administrator.

But her dream to be a mushroom entrepreneur lives on.

Every seven to 10 days, she harvests about 200kg of oyster mushrooms and sells them wholesale to market traders, vegetarian restaurants, friends and neighbours.

“I learnt so much about fungi cultivation on campus so this is my dream come true. It’s not hard work. I enjoy going to my barn at night after work to check on the mushrooms,” said the Universiti Malaysia Sabah graduate.

She harvests her mushrooms late into the night and sends them to her retailers early in the morning before she goes to the office so that her customers get truly farm fresh produce.

She said the retail price of oyster mushrooms is between RM12 and RM18 per kilo and she offers attractive ex-farm prices to push off her produce quickly. Expansion plans for the farm are underway.

Ooi has also packaged a DIY oyster mushroom box and wants to sell it as an educational tool.

“This would be for kindergartens and schools. Children are too much into technology and smartphones. I believe they can learn to appreciate nature if they have the chance to grow oyster mushrooms that they can eat,” she said.

Ooi’s lucky break came from Koperasi Petani Muda Malaysia (KPMM), which sponsored 400 mushroom spawning bags in June.

She scaled up so quickly that KPMM chairman Datuk Chong Sin Woon was impressed and dropped by her barn recently to sign a plaque to mark the birth of her startup company, Happy Mushroom Grower Enterprise.

Chong, who is also MCA Youth chief, encouraged youths to get involved in agricultural projects on a part-time basis to increase their income.

KPMM was formed by MCA Youth. Chong said the cooperative will provide technical assistance and guidance on marketing.

For details, call KPMM at 03-220 33866.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/21/when-mushroom-dreams-come-true-office-administrator-by-day-and-farmer-by-night/

Growing mushrooms to boost revenue

Tuesday, 21 Feb 2017

Steady income: (From left) KPMM vice-chairman Datuk Leong Kim Soon, Chong, Agrogembira director Tan Kok Hong, KPMM directors Ling Kah Chok and Datuk Seri Liu Mun Hon holding mushrooms to be given to low-income families.

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth will work with a company to help 20 low-income families grow abalone mushrooms, said its chief Datuk Chong Sin Woon.

He added that the movement’s Koperasi Petani Muda Malaysia (KPMM) would be working with Agrogembira Sdn Bhd in the venture. The firm had pledged 10,000 mushroom spawn bags and would help teach candidates how to grow, cultivate, package and sell them.

Chong, who is KPMM chairman, said the mushrooms could sell for up to RM12 a kg and demand had increased drastically in the past decade.

“In 2000, our export of abalone mushroom was only RM12mil but it rose to RM67mil in 2010. Domestic demand is expected to increase to RM300mil by 2020.

Chong said the mushrooms in each bag would take between seven and 10 days to mature and can be harvested six to eight times.

“Each cycle will take 45 days and the mushrooms in the 500 bags are expected to be able to generate an income of RM1,750.”

Chong also said that if a family chose to re-invest in another 500 bags of mushrooms (costing RM1,250) after the harvest, it could still make a net profit of RM500 each month.

The project would help supplement the RM300 in welfare funds they received every month.

“We hope more private companies can pledge their support to help poor and low-income families. This plan may help them gain independence instead of having to depend merely on cash aid,” he said.

Businesses interested in supporting the project can contact KPMM via 03-7972 9819 or at KPMMalaysia@gmail.com.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/02/21/growing-mushrooms-to-boost-revenue-project-to-help-lowincome-families-be-independent-says-chong/

Why Aged Cheese and Mushrooms Are so Good for Your Heart (and Make You Live Longer Too)

Until recently, it's been vetoed by health experts, but could this forbidden food actually help you manage your health, improve cholesterol levels,...

May 08, 2017

Story at-a-glance-

• Polyamines such as spermidine, spermine and putrescine are derivatives of amino acids, found both in food and your gut microbiota, and are critical for cellular growth and survival
• Polyamines have potent anti-inflammatory activity, protect your DNA against free-radical damage and have been linked to longevity
• In one recent study, those who had the highest spermidine levels had a 40 percent lower risk of heart failure

By Dr. Mercola

Cheese can be an excellent source of nutrition, especially if made from unpasteurized grass fed milk and aged according to tradition. Among the many valuable nutrients in real cheese is vitamin K2, which is important for heart, brain and bone health. The highest amounts of vitamin K2 can be found in Gouda, Brie and Edam. Other cheeses with lesser but still significant levels of K2 include cheddar, Colby, hard goat cheese, Swiss and Gruyere.

Cheese also provides a cornucopia of other vitamins (including vitamins A, D, B2 and B12), minerals (including calcium, zinc and phosphorous), amino acids and protein, as well as high-quality saturated and omega-3 fats. In recent years, a number of studies have exonerated cheese (especially full-fat cheese), showing higher cheese consumption results in improved health and aids weight management. For example:

• High-fat cheese has been shown to raise your high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol,1,2 thought to be protective against metabolic diseases and heart disease
• Cheese consumption also helps prevent fatty liver and improves triglyceride and cholesterol levels3 — parameters used to gauge your cardiovascular disease risk
• Full-fat cheese can be useful for weight management,4 in part by ramping up your metabolism5
• Roquefort cheese in particular has been linked to cardiovascular health and improved longevity, courtesy of its anti-inflammatory properties6,7

Now, researchers have discovered yet another major compound in many cheeses that helps explain its beneficial impact on your health.

Polyamines in Cheese Linked to Longevity and Lower Disease Risk

Polyamines are derivatives of amino acids, found both in food and your gut microbiota, and are critical cellular growth and survival. Polyamines in turn contain chemicals such as spermidine and spermine (thus named as they were originally discovered in human semen) and putrescine. As noted by the Royal Society of Chemistry: 8

“Spermine derives from spermidine. And, spermidine, with the help of spermidine synthase, arises from another polyamine originally named for its role in rotting meat, called putrescine … [T]hese polyamines are the reason why sperm and, in the springtime, some species of trees, give off a spunky [odor] …”

Spermidine, spermine and putrescine all have potent anti-inflammatory activity, protect DNA against free-radical damage, and have been linked to longevity in animal studies — even when the animals were given the polyamines starting in middle age. As a group, polyamines are positively charged molecules that strongly interact with negatively charged molecules such as DNA, RNA and proteins. This is why they’re so important for cellular processes involving growth, division, differentiation and survival.

Spermine Protects Against Heart Disease

Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that when you increase levels of polyamines in an organism (including humans), cellular activity goes up and mortality goes down,9 in part by improving cardiovascular function and lowering blood pressure.10 In one recent study, which included 800 cheese-loving Italians, those who had the highest spermidine levels had a 40 percent lower risk of heart failure.11

In another,12 spermine was not only found to offer potent protection against heart disease in both animals and humans, it was even found to counteract the adverse effects of a high-salt diet in salt-sensitive mice:

“[O]ral supplementation of the natural polyamine spermidine extends the lifespan of mice and exerts cardioprotective effects, reducing cardiac hypertrophy and preserving diastolic function in old mice. Spermidine feeding enhanced cardiac autophagy, mitophagy and mitochondrial respiration, and it also improved the mechano-elastical properties of cardiomyocytes in vivo, coinciding with … suppressed subclinical inflammation …  

In Dahl salt-sensitive rats that were fed a high-salt diet, a model for hypertension-induced congestive heart failure, spermidine feeding reduced systemic blood pressure, increased titin phosphorylation and prevented cardiac hypertrophy and a decline in diastolic function, thus delaying the progression to heart failure.

In humans, high levels of dietary spermidine, as assessed from food questionnaires, correlated with reduced blood pressure and a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease. Our results suggest a new and feasible strategy for protection against cardiovascular disease.”

Polyamines Help Combat Visible Signs of Aging and Increase Lifespan

Previous research showed transgenic mice bred to not produce spermine and spermidine suffered hair loss, developed more skin wrinkles and died at an earlier age than normal mice,13 suggesting polyamines play an important role in combating both visible signs of aging and early death.

Importantly, polyamines encourage cellular autophagy,14,15 which has serious implications for longevity. Autophagy means "self-eating" and refers to the processes by which your body cleans out debris, including toxins, and recycles damaged cell components — processes that tend to decline with age.

Lifetime feeding studies using rodents have linked spermidine-rich diets to as much as a 25 percent increase in lifespan.16,17,18 In human terms, that equates to an average lifespan of 100 rather than 81.

Animals given spermidine at a later age gained about 10 percent in longevity, which can still amount to several years’ worth of life for a human. As noted by Leyuan Liu, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences and Technology's Center for Translational Cancer Research:19

"Only three interventions — severely cutting the number of calories consumed, restricting the amount of methionine (a type of amino acid found in meat and other proteins) in the diet and using the drug rapamycin — have been shown to truly prolong the lifespans of vertebrates, but eating less and not eating meat will not be welcomed by [the] general population, while rapamycin has shown to suppress the human immune system. Therefore, spermidine may be a better approach."

Aside from its general anti-aging influence, autophagy is also one of the mechanisms by which polyamines help protect against cancer (specifically liver cancer20,21) and Alzheimer’s disease.

Polyamines Correct Your Internal Body Clock

Interestingly, recent research22 has also shown that polyamines have the ability to restore your internal body clock, suggesting it might serve as a natural sleep aid. Improving sleep also helps lower your risk of chronic disease — including cancer and Alzheimer’s — and is important for longevity. According to the authors:

“Polyamines are … present in all living cells. Polyamine levels are maintained from the diet and de novo synthesis, and their decline with age is associated with various pathologies. Here we show that polyamine levels oscillate in a daily manner.

Both clock- and feeding-dependent mechanisms regulate the daily accumulation of key enzymes in polyamine biosynthesis … In turn, polyamines control the circadian period in cultured cells and animals by regulating the interaction between the core clock repressors PER2 and CRY1.

Importantly, we found that the decline in polyamine levels with age in mice is associated with a longer circadian period that can be reversed upon polyamine supplementation in the diet. Our findings suggest a crosstalk between circadian clocks and polyamine biosynthesis and open new possibilities for nutritional interventions against the decay in clock’s function with age.”

Fermentation Boosts Polyamine Content

Polyamines are found in many different foods, including the following (see listing below):23,24,25 As a general rule, fruits and cheese contain the highest levels of putrescine, vegetables have the highest levels of spermidine, and meat products have the most spermine.26 Research also shows polyamine levels are further increased through fermentation.

The Mediterranean diet, high in fresh vegetables and seafood, typically contains twice the amount of polyamines found in the average diet27 (which tends to be high in processed foods), and some scientists suggest the high polyamine content may be why the Mediterranean diet has such a positive influence on health and longevity.

Aged (fermented) cheese such as blue cheese, cheddar, Swiss, Brie, Gruyere, Manchego, Gouda and Parmesan28,29	Shell fish, including squid, oysters, crabs and scallops	Fermented foods such as sauerkraut and miso	Cruciferous veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower
Leafy greens	Pears	Mushrooms	Green peas
Wheat germ	Matcha green tea	Nuts and seeds, including hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios and peanuts	Chicken liver

Potential Contraindications

Some scientists and oncologists do warn that polyamine-rich diets may be contraindicated for those with psoriasis, as rapid skin cell regeneration may worsen the condition,30 and certain polyamine-sensitive cancers, such as prostate cancer. As noted in one study,31

“… [D]ifferences in biological [behavior] of prostatic (cancer) cells are associated with changes in polyamine levels and/or the activity of their metabolic enzymes. Faulty antizyme regulation of polyamine homoeostasis may play an important role in the growth and progression of prostatic carcinoma. Treatment of human prostate carcinoma cells with inhibitors of polyamine metabolic enzymes or polyamine analogues induces cell growth arrest or (apoptotic) cell death.”

Eat Real Food for Optimal Health

If you love cheese, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest real cheese is a boon to your health, and there’s no reason to avoid it for fear of its fat content. The healthy fats found in real cheese will neither pack on pounds nor contribute to heart disease. On the contrary, these fats will actually boost your weight loss success and lower your cardiovascular health risks.

One caveat is to make sure you’re eating real cheese. Natural cheese is a simple fermented dairy product made with just a few basic ingredients — milk, starter culture, salt and an enzyme called rennet. Salt is a crucial ingredient for flavor, ripening and preservation.

You can tell a natural cheese by its label, which will state the name of the cheese variety, such as “cheddar cheese,” “blue cheese” or “Brie.” Real cheese also requires refrigeration. Processed cheeses are typically pasteurized and otherwise adulterated with a variety of additives that detract from their nutritional value. The tipoff on the label is the word “pasteurized.”

A lengthier list of ingredients is another way to distinguish processed cheese from the real thing. Velveeta is one example, with additives like sodium phosphate, sodium citronate and various coloring agents. A final clue is that most processed cheeses do not require refrigeration. So, be it Velveeta, Cheese Whiz, squeeze cheese, spray cheese or some other imposter — these are not real cheeses and have no redeeming value.

Even if you don’t like cheese, there are plenty of other foods rich in polyamines, as you can see from the list above, with fermented foods and beverages having some of the highest levels. Following a Mediterranean-style diet is one way to ensure you’re getting plenty of these anti-inflammatory, anti-aging compounds.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/05/08/polyamines-cheese.aspx