HERBS AND SPICES: BASIL

Basil [Ocimum basilicum]
 
Tomorrow is the Orthodox Easter! It is therefore, very appropriate to write about basil, as in the tradition of the Christian Orthodox Church, basil is used to make holy water and pots of basil are usually found next to the church altars. In some parts of the world, bunches of the herb are also hung by the doors for good luck.  

What is in it
Here is the full description of what is found in fresh basil.

Grow 
In zone 5, basil is an annual plant. It flowers June through August in white or pale pink, and is valued not only as a superb herb but also as a beautiful decorative plant. Today I bought my first basil seeds, and seeded them on the side of the house, where I have plenty of sun and the soil drains well. I will let you know if anything comes out!
 
Harvest
Harvest the upper 5-7 inches of the plant, wash. Preserve the fresh herb in plastic bags in the freezer with a bit of olive oil, or dry the leaves and keep in a jar. Before freezing the herb, some people blanch it quickly in boiling water.
 
Medicinal uses
Basil is anti-inflammatory, boost the appetite, reduces stomach colics, alleviates urinary tract inflammations, soothes cough, colds and flu symptoms. Could be used as infusion of 2 tsp of fresh leaves in 2 cups of boiling water; HOWEVER, this is the maximum dose for a day; it should not be exceeded, as in large doses basil is TOXIC. This is why only a doctor should guide the internal medicinal application of this herb. For topical use, the herbal infusion is used for skin rashes, eczema, acne and wounds. Gargling with basil infusion is recommended for throat and mouth inflammations.
 
Other uses
Basil plants can get rid of mosquitoes; even a single pot on the window could get rid of the insects.  Mosquitoes with Zika virus, watch it!  It seems that one can "cook" a basil insect repellent at home: prepare the basil infusion (as explained above, but with more basil leaves) and mix it with vodka at a ratio of 1:1. Pour in a spray bottle and apply on skin to keep the mosquitoes away.
 
Cosmetics
Basil is used against acne (see above). According to this website, the juice from crushed fresh basil leaves is applied directly on the skin for up to 15 minutes.  

Cooking
Adding basil to foods allows for their longer storage, as the basil essential oils have antiseptic effects. There are many recipes that include basil, but most frequently it is used in pasta dishes and salads. Once, one of my relatives served me small cubes of feta cheese in olive oil with a few basil leaves and black peppercorns, it was delicious! These days, for my breakfasts, instead of cheese, I scoop a bit of low fat yogurt and sprinkle it with salt and basil.  Try this if you a cheese-addict and want to reduce your fat intake.

When added to cooked dishes, basil (as other spices and herbs) should be added after turning the heat off. Otherwise the flavor and the healing properties of the herb are lost.
 
Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil  
http://bilki.pharmacy-bg.com/2354-bosilek.html

Voice your opinion about the CANCER MOONSHOT initiative

I have previously written about the National Cancer Moonshot initiative. However, until yesterday I did not know that there was an open to the public forum where one can voice his/her opinion on the directions of the initiative.

I read most of ideas that have been submitted so far. To begin with, the ideas are not too many, and some of them are beyond BIZARRE.

This "public" website-forum was never widely publicized and promoted. At least all U.S. cancer researchers (who have ever submitted grant proposals to NCI/NIH) should have been notified about the forum!

Spread the word, if you can...

Vitamin D Deficiency and the Colon

Deficiency of vitamin D can promote colon inflammation and colon cancer.

Epidemiological studies showed that 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D[1,25(OH)2D3] insufficiency appears to be associated with aging and colon cancer while underlying biological mechanisms remain largely unknown. Inflammatory bowel disease is one of the risk factors for colon cancer. In this study, we investigated whether 1,25(OH)2D3 deficiency has an impact on the colon of 25-hydroxyvitamin D 1α-hydroxylase knockout [Cyp27b1-/-] mice fed on a rescue diet (high calcium, phosphate, and lactose) from weaning to 10 months of age. We found that 1,25(OH)2D3 deficient mice displayed significant colon inflammation phenotypes including shortened colon length, thinned and disordered mucosal structure, and inflammatory cell infiltration. DNA damage, cellular senescence and the production of senescence-associated inflammatory cytokines were also increased significantly in the colon of Cyp27b1-/-mice. Furthermore, the levels of ROS in the colonwere increased significantly, whereas the expression levels of antioxidative genes were down-regulated dramatically in the colon of Cyp27b1-/-mice. Taken together, our results demonstrated that 1,25(OH)2D3 deficiency could induce colon inflammation, which may result from increased oxidative stress and DNA damage, subsequently, induced cell senescence and overproduction of senescence-associated secretory factors. Therefore, our findings suggest that 1,25(OH)2D3 may play an important role in preventing the development and progression of colon inflammation and colon cancer.

Of course, too much of any vitamin or mineral is not good either. Strive for balance and obtain them from natural food sources (rather than supplements) if possible.  Some sunlight can help with vitamin D - but beware of too much exposure there as well (skin cancer threat).

Penalty drives health

Finally: it was demonstrated that when financially penalized, people take better care of their health. 

Evidence That A Few Cheat Meals Are OK?

An interesting article states:

A study published on Monday on the benefits of a "Mediterranean diet" found that including a higher number of these foods is linked to a lower risk of heart attack and stroke in people who already have heart disease. However the research also found that a moderate consumption of foods typical in a "Western diet," such as refined carbohydrates, deep fried foods, sugars and desserts, may not always have the negative health consequences expected… 

…Surprisingly the team also found no evidence to suggest that consuming a higher number of unhealthy foods typical of a "Western Diet" caused an increase in MACE, with results suggesting that including more healthy foods in the diet was more important than avoiding unhealthy foods. 

However lead author Professor Ralph Stewart warned that the findings did not mean that people could consume unhealthy foods freely, with the study's limitations making it difficult to assess exactly what the harm of these unhealthy foods may be, concluding that "The main message is that some foods -- and particularly fruit and vegetables -- seem to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes... If you eat more of these foods in preference to others, you may lower your risk

The way I would interpret these data is that eating healthy reduces your risk of disease, but the occasional “cheat meal” or the occasional “unhealthy snack” is not going to harm you, as long as those more uhealthy foods are consumed infrequently and in moderation, and in the context of an overall healthy diet.

One has to use judgment. Eating a small bag of pretzels a couple of times per week, or one slice of pie, or a cheeseburger and fries, or a cookie very once in a while, is not going to harm the typically heathy person. But such foods cannot be consumed in excess or too frequently; instead the base foundation of your diet has to be the “Mediterranean diet” type foods.

Possible Health Benefits Of Cyclodextrin

An interesting article contains the following excerpt:

As researchers rolled out data on cyclodextrin, a couple named Chris and Hugh Hempel in Reno, Nevada, paid close attention. In 2007, their twin daughters, Addi and Cassi, then three years old, were diagnosed with NPC (Niemann-Pick type C disease is a genetically caused lysosomal storage disease that affects metabolism). As doctors repeatedly told them there was nothing to be done, the parents kept digging into the research and looking for a cure. 

They found cyclodextrin and initially tried using it in oral doses, which is known to be safe. However, the chemical couldn’t effectively reach the brain that way. The couple made headlines with their tireless efforts to get drug companies, the FDA, and doctors to let them try out intravenous treatments of cyclodextrin for their twins—and they won. Regular treatments gradually improved—although didn’t cure—the twins’ conditions. Cyclodextrin is now in clinical trials to treat other kids with NPC. 

Meanwhile, in 2010, Latz and colleagues published a study in Nature showing that cholesterol crystals, which accumulate along arteries when there’s too much cholesterol in the blood stream, can trigger inflammation. The immune response then produces a snowball effect eventually leading to the development of plaques—layers of cholesterol crystals, immune cells, and calcified lesions in the artery wall. Upon reading the study, Chris Hempel contacted Latz and told him about their experience with cyclodextrin clearing cholesterol from cells. Perhaps the sweet chemical could also clear it from plaques. 

In mice fed high-cholesterol diets, cyclodextrin cleared away plaques and helped prevent more plaques from forming, Latz and his colleagues found. The chemical also activated cholesterol metabolism that boosted clearance of the waxy substance from arteries, plus dampened inflammation responses that spur atherosclerosis. 

Using blood vessel tissue from human patients with atherosclerosis, researchers found that cyclodextrin induced the same changes in the human cells as it did in the mice.

Three healthy meals stretched for the week

Take a look at this.
 

Those are some ideas on how to balance healthy eating and economical eating: good food stretched out for a week's eating. One can try variations of these, or develop new recipes on the same principle. One does not need to spend large amounts of money to eat healthy, assuming normal portion sizes and economical cooking.
 

Related to his, I strongly advise packing lunch to work, to avoid the expense of buying lunch (which adds up day after day, week after week, year after year) and to also avoid the usually unhealthy, calorie-laden, and fat/sugar-enriched meals available outside. I usually have for lunch a potato roll with a piece of cheese (reduced fat) and some mustard, a few reduced fat Triscuits, an apple, and a bottle of water. One or twice a week I may add a small bag of pretzels to the mix - yes, I know they are "empty calories" and have added salt, but a small serving occasionally will not "make or break" a diet.
 

And, of course, eat breakfast at home. There is no need to waste time and money buying some (typically extremely) unhealthy fast food breakfast outside.  Save money, eat healthier.

A cancer lesson from Niccolò Machiavelli

“The Prince”, 1513:

"… men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge."

Ch. 3; Variant translation:

"Never do any enemy a small injury for they are like a snake which is half beaten and it will strike back the first chance it gets".

And this is my paraphrase of Machiavelli's thought when applied to cancer treatment:

"Never do a cancer a small injury for it is like a snake which is half beaten and it will strike back the first chance it gets".

This means that we should carefully design the first strike against cancer. 

The first strike should aim at multiple cancer targets, thus not leaving a chance for cancer to come back. Multiple targets require multiple drugs and multiple treatment conditions, all combined in one regimen that does not give the cancer cells time to evolve, adjust and thrive again. This approach is the approach of combination therapies.

The requirement for combination therapies is well explained in the documentary Surviving Terminal Cancer that I mentioned earlier this month.

Why can cancer strike back if we do not obliterate it with the first attempt? Why are monotherapies or even current combined therapies of 2-3 drugs unsuccessful? There are several considerations that address these questions:

1. Each cancer patient has a different mutation profile; therefore, the treatment regimen of each patient must be tailored according to the mutation profile.

2. All druggable targets (based upon the cancer mutation profiles) should be simultaneously "hit" from the very first round of treatment so that the cancer does not have time to evolve (i.e., to acquire additional mutations or favor smaller, already existent subsets of cells with differential mutation profile).

3. The mutation profile CANNOT be the only criterion for selection of the multi-drug regimens: it has been shown over and over again that when we target proven mutations, several survival pathways are activated. These survival pathways may not be even supported by mutations, and yet, they are activated and allow the cancer cells to survive the "assault" of the targeted drugs. Therefore, each anti-cancer regimen should include an anti-survival signaling cocktail of drugs. 

4. Drug regimens need to be accompanied by additional treatment conditions. The majority of cancers are glycolitic, and ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting have been shown to counteract neoplastic development that relies on glycolysis. The two dietary patterns could be combined in 16/8 regimen, where ketogenic diet is consumed in a window of up to 8 hours a day, followed by a 16-hour fasting period.  The application of 3-bromopyruvate, a hexokinase 2 inhibitor, might be synergistic with the ketogenic diet/intermittent fasting regimen.

5. One very strong differentiation factor between neoplastic and normal cells is the relatively higher sensitivity of the cancer cells to fever/higher body temperature. The first cells to die at high body temperatures corresponding to fever are the cancer cells. This differential sensitivity is the foundation of the anti-cancer effect of Coley's toxins as mentioned in my early post.  

Can anyone imagine an anti-cancer treatment protocol that combines multiple drugs based upon cancer mutation profiles, an anti-survival signaling cocktail of inhibitors, hyperthermia (high body temperature) and a dietary regimen of ketogenic diet/intermittent fasting?  Under current legislation rules this is an absurd idea.  No oncologist will risk his/her license to oblige a cancer patient. We need legislation that supports these drastically new approaches to combination therapies.  Such legislation will allow oncologists to follow on patients who select to administer novel combination approaches to treat their terminal cancer.  The choice for cure should be given to these cancer patients. Today, we endlessly talk about the "empowered" patient, and yet, our legislation has taken this power away from the most vulnerable - the terminal cancer patients.