Ellagic Acid

Found in red raspberries, strawberries, blue berries, and certain nuts, the Hollings Cancer Institute at the U of South Carolina recently finished (1999) n years of study showing that ellagic acid:

stops cancer cells from dividing in 48 hours
causes normal cell death (apoptosis) within 72 hours in cases of breast, pancreas, esophageal, skin, colon and prostate cancers
prevents the destruction of the p53 gene that leads to cancer
caused apoptosis (normal cell death) in HPV (human papilloma virus) exposed to it
one cup (150 grams) per day of red raspberries prevents the development of cancer cells.
From Dr Glen Halvorson's Book, Chemopreventive Properties of …Phytochemicals, we learn that ellagic acid:

is anti-bacterial and destroys the H. pylori bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers.
protects the liver and liver function
binds with carcinogens (chemicals that cause cancer) making them inactive
prevents carcinogens from binding to DNA
reduces glucose levels (aids in management of diabetes).
Raspberries contain the highest amounts of ellagic acid, and it doesn't matter if the fruit is boiled, baked, canned, sugared, dehydrated, or fresh, the ellagic acid is still potent.

One of the most amazing things about raspberries is that one cup per week stops prostate cancers (all prostate cancers) from growing for one week.

Two more things are currently underway at the Hollings Cancer Institute: they're patenting a process that extracts the ellagic acid from raspberries and, hopefully, it will not be destroyed in the stomach (ellagic acid, so far, cannot be taken as a supplement, and must be eaten as the fruit) and they are conducting a double blind (neither patient nor physician knows who's taking what) study involving 500 cervical cancer patients.

There is a multi-level marketing company that claims to have created a form of ellagic acid that can be taken orally. It is called Ellagic Insurance Formula, and in addition to containing ellagic acid, it also contains OPC's (like Pycnogenol®) which are potent flavanoids (like Resveratrol) that act as antioxidants, concentrated Green Tea, and vitamins C, E, A and selenium. This is, if it works, a very powerful cancer fighter and preventative measure. I'm sure if you type in Ellagic Insurance Formula at any internet search engine, you'll find a half a ton of sites selling it.

Please note: if you are eating raspberries for their ellagic acid you must eat them on an empty stomach, before you eat anything else, or eat them in yogurt, as the curdling of the yogurt in the stomach will protect them. If your fruit sits in your stomach too long, because you've eaten something prior, stomach acid will destroy its healthful properties.

To read more about this wonderful food, go to: http://www.red-raspberry.org/

http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/cancer1/altthrpy.htm