The natural way to fight cancer

In my research on health and alternative medicine I frequently come across numbers that shock me. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about a report from the World Health Organization that said 13% of all deaths worldwide were due to cancer. That means one out of every eight people will eventually succumb to cancer. Unfortunately, I don’t see those numbers improving – not until we reverse our tendencies to overeat and sedentary lifestyles.

So cancer is here to stay. But of course we can do something about it. There are the common treatments, the chemotherapy and radiation. But you probably know all those. That’s not why you’re here. You want to know is there a more natural method of treatment. Well, there is, and it comes from fucoidan.

I mentioned in passing in the last post that fucoidan is an immune enhancer. Its molecules are arranged in a way that makes it impossible to digest, which makes the body mistake it for something harmful. Immune cells activate in response to fucoidan, and spread throughout the body to kill other infections, including cancer. Fucoidan is especially good at increasing the activity of Natural Killer Cells, which can destroy cancer cells anywhere in the body before they would even show up in scans or blood tests. Also, at least one species of fucoidan has been shown to shrink cancer tumors after they already formed – it prevents them from spouting new blood vessels to feed themselves.

The upshot here is a completely natural (seaweed-derived) method of fighting cancer. It has no side effects, since it uses the body’s innate processes, and also unlike chemo or radiation it only destroys cancer cells. You can of course combine the herbal treatment with the traditional to get the biggest punch, but no matter which way you do it, supplementing with fucoidan can only help. 

What is Fucoidan

Sugar – it’s not only the sweet stuff in your breakfast cereal. There are many types of sugars, and while all of them have a similar chemical structure (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen), each affects the body in a different way.

First, a little bit more science. Sugars come in one of two ways: monosaccharaides, which are the most basic form (many of them we use as sweeteners), and oligosaccharides, which are composed of monosaccharide chains. Why is this important? Because those oligosaccharides have many health benefits  – among other things, they support intestinal bacteria, help the immune system, and lowering cholesterol levels.

Fucoidan is one type of oligosaccharide. Like the others, it’s excellent for intestinal health. But it also has more important properties that doctors are only now beginning to look at. We’ll look at a few in the next post.

Dispatch from Dr. Tachikawa’s Fucoidan seminar

I’m writing this having recently returned from the east-coast seminar of Dr. Tachikawa. It was an informative and engaging couple days. There were big crowds – more people wanted to see the doctor than there was possibly room or time for – as well as great lectures, one-on-one sessions, and book signings.

I got to speak with several of the attendees. They were as a rule longtime fucoidan users; a few had attended previous seminars.Some of them had come long distances to see the doctor because, as they described it, fucoidan had changed their lives.

For myself, I was excited to learn the new frontiers of fucoidan-cancer research. With every year, we are moving closer to a fuller understanding oh how fucoidan acts on cancer, and therefore closer to a widespread adoption of this new model of treatment.

Pictures below:

Dr. Tachikawa’s introduction before the lecture. His list of important posts and accomplishments is enough to fill a whole book

Dr. Tachikawa’ takes the podium to discuss the latest research in herbal treatment of cancer

The lectures are never airy and philosophical; Dr. Tachikawa always grounds them in real-life cases and illustrates everything to make it understandable

A captivated crowd

Outside – Dr. Tachikawa’s lovely assistants

Skin management for cancer patients

Cancer patients frequently experience serious skin problems as a result of their treatment, but fucoidan can help.

For all the medical advances science has made in the last 100 years, it still has not been able to reliably treat many types of cancer without some serious side effects. Foreign viruses and bacteria routinely display traits that make them subject to detection and isolation; cancerous tumours display traits similar to the host’s own cells. While there are limited successes in selectively targeting affected cells in some types of cancers, mainline treatment protocols invariably rely on destroying all cells in a general region with toxins: cytotoxic chemical cocktails and radiation.

The side effects of such treatments, as many cancer victims will testify, can be severe. Radiation treatment patients for instance, routinely develop skin problems, including itching, dryness, rashes and acute sensitivity.

As the body’s largest organ, skin needs to be healthy to maintain overall health. The CancerCare organization recommends the following tips:

Be gentle with your skin. Be careful not to scratch, rub or scrub your skin – for example, pat your skin dry after a shower. Wear soft, non-irritating fabrics next to your skin. Avoid using hot or cold packs on treated areas of skin unless your doctor says it’s okay. Use alcohol-free, fragrance-free, hypoallergenic moisturizer on your skin.

Drink plenty of fluids. This can help keep your skin hydrated. Avoid caffeine or alcohol which can dehydrate you.

Keep your skin moist. To reduce skin dryness, shower in lukewarm instead of hot water. Limit showers to one a day. After you shower, put moisturizing lotion on your skin while it’s still damp. Look for a moisturizer that’s alcohol-free, fragrance-free and hypoallergenic. Apply moisturizer to your skin at least twice a day.

Protect your skin from the sun. Some cancer treatments may make your skin more sensitive to the sun. Ask your doctor if you should use sunblock every day. To protect your skin when you go outdoors, wear a broad-brimmed hat, long-sleeved shirt and long pants.

Look after your fingernails and toenails. Sometimes, problems with your nails develop weeks or months into your cancer treatment and may continue after you finish treatment. The skin around your fingernails or toenails may become dry, brittle or cracked, and some of your nails may become ingrown. Try not to bite your nails, and avoid using fake nails or wraps. Wear gloves when you wash dishes or do other chores in the house or yard. Moisturize your hands and feet often. Avoid wearing tight-fitting shoes.

Try to prevent pressure sores. If you spend a lot of time lying in bed or sitting in a chair, you may be at risk for pressure sores. Try to avoid lying or sitting in the same position for a long time. Shift your weight or change your position often. Talk to your doctor about being physically active, or if you’re unable to walk, move your arms and legs up and down and back and forth.

Tell a doctor or nurse right away if you feel pain or burning during chemotherapy. Chemotherapy drugs that touch the skin can cause pain or burning. If you feel pain or burning during intravenous (within a vein ) treatment, tell a doctor or nurse right away. Be sure to follow any instructions the doctor or nurse gives you on how to care for your skin when you are at home.

Fighting Diabetes and High Blood Sugar

The prevalence of diabetes in the U.S. has grown with the adoption of a diet heavy on take-out and sugary snacks. The American Diabetes Association estimates that in 2012 there were 29 million people with the disease, some 9% of the population. Diabetes unchecked can lead to serious neurological problems, and even loss of limbs. Needless to say, blood glucose management should be taken seriously.

Doctors recommend consuming complex sugars for good health: these break down slowly, releasing small amounts of glucose over time rather than spiking the blood with sugar right away. Fucoidan is just that type of complex sugar. Among its other benefits, it can help regulate blood glucose levels.

Diabetic is doing a glucose level finger blood test

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes occurs primarily due to a shortage of the hormone insulin, which regulates the amounts of glucose released into the bloodstream. Glucose, created from carbohydrates, is used as fuel for our cells. It is released into the bloodstream by the liver and from there carried throughout the body. Glucose levels in the blood are regulated by insulin, a hormone secreted in the pancreas. After a meal, pancreatic islets release insulin, which converts dietary glucose into a form the body can use: either glycogen for immediate consumption or fatty acids for longer-term storage. When glycogen stores are depleted, the body taps the stored fatty acids. However, when insulin production is deficient, cells lose their sensitivity to the hormone, excess amounts of glucose enter the bloodstream – the precursor to diabetes.

How can fucoidan help?

Several studies conducted on fucoidan suggest it can regulate blood sugar. Dr. Fujii of Kagoshima University in Japan tested out the effects of fucoidan on animals. In one such experiment, he fed a mixture containing fucoidan to mice bred to have high blood sugar, and measured their reaction. He discovered that fucoidan-fed mice had blood sugar levels more stable than the control group, which was not given fucoidan. Dr. Fujii’s explanation is that since fucoidan is a soluble fiber, it does not get digested or absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Instead, it travels from the stomach through the intestines, picking up a lot of glucose along the way. Thus, even in patients without diabetes, fucoidan can alleviate the blood sugar spikes, such as those that come after meals.

Detoxifying your body with fucoidan

If you wanted to lose weight, clear out all the extra sugar and carbs from your body, and improve your well-being, would you load up on fructose-laden snacks? Then why do it with juices? This dawning realization, that detoxing with juice is like trying to dig out of a hole, is why more and more people are starting to look for alternatives.

Marketing and a lack of basic understanding of how cleansing actually works contributed to this. Celebrities like Beyonce, Angelina Jolie and Anne Hathaway all report using various juices to get in shape. Salma Hayek even has her own program, called Cooler Cleanse with bottles of organic green and red vegetable concoctions, almond milk and coconut water. A celebrity endorsement confers a mark of trustworthiness, but it’s time you did your own research.

Ask yourself these question: What is your goal in detoxing? Is it to lose weight? Get more energy? Get rid of heavy metals in the blood? Each approach is fundamentally different, though each should begin with fucoidan.

Lose Weight & Be Great

Even if  you immediately today change your diet and eat only healthy, you will still have a lot excess sugar, fat and cholesterol in the body. One of the best ways to get rid of them quickly and easily is through high-fiber foods like nuts & legumes, certain dark-colored fruits and potatoes (if you eat them with skins, that is).They bond with stomach bile as they travel through the intestines. The bile is flushed out of the body, and to replenish it the body draws on cholesterol. Fucoidan is likewise high in fiber, and has the same effect.

Rejuvenate Without Risk

Every moment of every day our body is besieged by countless threats from within and without. Viruses, bacteria spores and bold in the environment attempt to gain entry, while inside unstable molecules form, spin out and damage everything in range. These molecules, called free radicals, damage the DNA of surrounding cells. This oxidative stress process has been linked to everything from disease to premature aging.

Antioxidants in various foods neutralize free radicals and fight oxidative stress. Citrus fruits, high in Vitamin C, are excellent antioxidants, as are certain chemicals in green tea. Fucoidan with either of those is the best solution, providing rejuvenation along with the other benefits.

Flush Out the Toxins

Flint, Michigan is a case study on lead poisoning. Soon after their water supply was changed, the residents of the city started complaining of headaches, hair loss, and a countless variety of other ailments. Theirs is an extreme situation, but in general there are no beneficial levels of lead – or any other heavy metal. High-fiber foods can help here, too, as can fucoidan. As fucoidan enters the digestive system, it grabs on to heavy metals. The fucoidan and heavy metals are then flushed out of the body.

Why You Need Fucoidan

Naturally, you can take one type of food for one benefit, another for another, and a third type for a third symptom. But if you want to combine everything, to detoxify while rejuvenating, to lose weight while improving health, you need fucoidan.

Fucoidan expert Dr. Tachikawa Seminar in U.S.

I talked about Dr. Tachikawa before – most notably here and here. He is the author of an influential book on fucoidan and likely the foremost expert on the supplement. Dr. Tachikawa was one of the first to recognize the health benefits of fucoidan, particularly in the field of oncology. He developed his own formula, called Umi No Shizuku (“Power of the Sea”), combining two types of fucoidan with an extract of mushrooms. He has successfully used this formula in his own practice and offers it retail in the U.S. and much of Asia.

And where is Dr. Tachikawa now? Apparently doing seminar tours and book signings. This summer he will be giving a lecture, followed by book signings in Los Angeles and Toronto. Although a lot of his work is now more administrative (I believe he’s the head of a major hospital in Japan), he is never too far from the patients and will be available for consultations with those who make an appointment.

The tour is organized through his organization, Kamerycah, Inc., so you can reach out to them to get the details. Their phone number is 877-316-8387.

Making Fucoidan Even Better

As powerful as fucoidan is, there is actually a way to enhance it’s health-supportive functions with the addition of one more ingredient – mushrooms.

The field is science and medicine is ever-evolving, and today’s hypotheses become tomorrow’s settled practice. Research on fucoidan is likewise ongoing, with new theories being proposed and tested and analyzed all the time. A lot of it is supported by the Fucoidan Research Institute, of which I talked about before, and published online though the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Here is what some recent research on combining fucoidan with other health-enhancing traditional substances. A variety of fucoidan combinations were tried: fucoidan with propolis, with ginseng,  with turmeric, and even with shark skin (yes, sharks do get cancer, but due to the widespread belief otherwise, it was necessary to include shark skin in the report. Still study after study looking for any significant improvements in bioactivity found the difference was at best slight. Whether fucoidan was taken alone or with those herbs / substances made not a lot difference on the immune system.

With the exception of Agaricus blazei Murill mushrooms. A study found Agaricus mushrooms, when combined with fucoidan, produce far and away the best results.The study further subdivided the Agaricus samples into fruiting body extracts and mycelium extracts, finding out that the mycelium ones had a slightly higher immunostimulative effect. Cytokine concentrations in the body, widely considered a marker of immune response, was about 10% higher

Fucoidan Breakthroughs of Dr. Tachikawa

A lot of the fucoidan research I presented here was first pioneered by a Japanese oncologist. When I first to look deeper into the structure and function of this substance, my primer was the book of Daisuke Tachikawa, who now works as a hospital director in Japan. In his time, Dr. Tachikawa performed all sorts of experiments in an effort to find out the structure, function and efficacy of fucoidan, and it was his thanks to his breakthroughs that it exists in commercial form at all.

I came to know Dr. Tachikawa through the Fucoidan Research Institute, which I mentioned in the previous post. The two collaborated on a lot of early research, taking fucoidan from a concept to a physical, mass-producible form. Dr. Tachikawa himself said in his book that he came to study fucoidan after hearing of it from various patients. He recalls one case of a patient showing remarkable improvement from a very aggressive type of cancer. Questioned, the patient revealed he was taking fucoidan.

More than just discovering fucoidan, however. Dr. Tachikawa perfected it. Through his tireless experimenting, he found out the chemical structure differences in fucoidans from different species of seaweed, and how those structures affect human health. He also helped to set the benchmark for fucoidan refining. In short, everything I know about fucoidan, I learned due to his diligence.

With that said, I encourage everyone reading this to visit his page at fucoidanbook.com, and if you’re interested, place an order. I don’t get any commission from the sale, just a warm fuzzy feeling that I am helping to improve people’s lives.

Fucoidan research

I have been researching fucoidan for years, and increasingly my sources have converged with one main nonprofit, founded in Japan. The NPO Fucoidan Research Institute exists as a clearinghouse for the latest fucoidan studies, collecting them from from scientific journals worldwide. In addition, the Institute partners with universities and hospitals to conduct their own research into fucoidan.

You can check for yourselves the various studies on the institute’s webpage fucoidan-life.com, but here I want to share one interesting conclusion they came to in regards to distinguishing fucoidans.

There has been a movement among some fucoidan producers to cut and break the molecule chains in order to make them more absorbable by the body. They advertise the low-molecular alternative as more  effective since it can be absorbed into the blood stream. In fact, the institute says,  purveyors of these new fucoidans make a fundamental error in understanding how fucoidan works. Fucoidan is effectively precisely because it cannot be absorbed. The high molecular weight triggers immune reactions that destroy cancer cells and viruses. The long chains of sugars do not break down in the digestive tract, and pass through intact while grabbing heavy metals and other contaminants along the way.

This is a noteworthy finding, a product of the high-level research and development at NPO Fucoidan Research Institute. I advise you to give them a visit and learn more for yourself.

CGMP and supplements, part II

I mentioned in the last post the importance of CGMP-certified manufacturing. Whether you’re buying fucoidan or another herbal supplement, a CGMP mark is a guarantee of quality, safety, and adherence to high standards.

The federal Food and Drug Administration in recent years has been aggressively prosecuting companies that fail to meet CGMP requirements, forcing them either to change or close down. In 2013 alone the agency took actions against more than 150 organizations who demonstrated serious infractions, and warned another 130 or so of less egregious violations.

I have been looking at fucoidan sellers, and many are silent on the subject if their CGMP status. There was one, however, that publicizes their credentials. The Umi No Shizuku brand is apparently manufactured at a Japanese facility certified CGMP – the first one in the country to receive such a certification, apparently.

It certainly helps that the company is vertically integrated, controlling its own supply and distribution. That they they ensure a steady supply and steady quality of raw seaweed, and have a ready market for the finished product. That level of control can’t be cheap, helps to explain why the brand’s pricing is considerably higher than most competitors. But in this case, your certainly get what you pay for.

CGMP and Fucoidan

You make every effort to know where your food comes from, but what about your supplement? Whether it is fucoidan or a multivitamin or some other supplement, you naturally want to have peace of mind that what’s on the label is really what’s in the bottle. The Food and Drug Administration takes a hands-off approach to the industry, intervening only in obvious cases of fraud or danger to consumers, which has left open the door to numerous unscrupulous sellers.

In the absence of effective government regulations, the dietary supplement industry has taken steps to self-regulate and push out the bad actors. Reputable manufacturers quickly understood that maintaining good relations with the public and lawmakers is in everyone’s best interest, as trust is quicker lost than gained. The sellers of adulterated supplements were becoming so numerous that they were jeopardizing the reputation of the entire industry.

One of the self-regulation methods – and probably the easiest way to tell the quality of your product – is whether it comes from a certified CGMP facility.

Current Good Manufacturing Practices have become the benchmark for pharmaceutical makers. An FDA-enforced set of guidelines covering in detail the proper methodology for, among others, design, production and quality control. The guidelines are continually updated to reflect the latest findings – hence the C, for Current. CGMP is a sort of mark of approval: anything coming out of that facility meets the highest standards for purity and quality.

Not surprisingly, a lot of the adulterated supplements that make the news are made in overseas facilities that do not follow CGMP practices. The same goes for fucoidan. I have investigated several major manufacturers, and few had even heard of CGMP, let alone followed it. Yet there was one that not only followed it, but gives a good demonstration of how it works in the field.