Which legumes are best at inhibiting the matrix metalloproteinase enzymes that allow cancer to become invasive?
Although we are expenses billions of dollars in fancy new types of chemotherapy, the overflowing sink that is cancer treatment is expected to grow by about 70% over the next two decades because the drugs are used simply to clean up the mess instead of turning off the tap. You can’t really give drugs to people to prevent cancer because of side effects and cost, but there is said to be “overwhelming…evidence that dietary bioactive compounds found in whole plant foods have significant anticancer and chemopreventive [cancer-preventing] properties.”
I had in the past he spoke on the effect of diet and nutrition on the 10 characteristics of cancer. The bottom line is that the data points on a diet that includes minimal animal products and, perhaps most importantly, maximum plant foods. Some foods that seem particularly beneficial include fruits (especially berries), vegetables (especially greens), legumes (beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils), nuts and seeds (especially flaxseeds), onions, garlic, mushrooms, herbs and spices (for example, green tea), and spices.
Chemotherapy may not even be it is especially good at cleaning up messes. “Anticancer drugs often impair quality of life and fail to extend patient survival.” Let me put it another way: You’re paying for drugs—maybe selling your house to pay for drugs—that might just make your life worse no benefit. Some have suggested that we require at least three months of extended shelf life from pharmaceuticals, but if we require that chemotherapy actually works, will companies give up testing new cancer drugs altogether? On the other hand, by claiming clinically significant benefits – what an idea – perhaps Big Pharma will reallocate resources to targeting more critical cancer processes such as metastatic spread, since tumor metastasis is responsible for 90% of cancer-related deaths. Who cares if a drug shrinks your primary tumor if it spreads and cuts your life just as short?
What about me checking metastatic cancer with some of these natural bioactive compounds in plants? Obviously “it has been proven [plant] Phytochemicals are able to inhibit almost every step of the invasion-metastasis cascade, at least in vitro (in a Petri dish). Below it is a list of some purported dietary sources of anti-metastatic phytochemicals, which you can also see at 2:27 in my video Inhibition of cancer metastasis enzyme MMP-9 by beans and chickpeas.
All these foods are it seems to block all kinds of cancer signaling pathways, but let me focus on one: matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). About 90% of disability and death from cancer it is due to the spread of cancer (metastasis), let’s talk about MMPs, which are “actively involved in the entire metastatic journey”. Matrix metalloproteinases are enzymes that allow for the cancer to break through the surrounding flesh and invade the lymph or blood vessels and then allow it to burrow and grow somewhere else.
Well, Big Pharma developed matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor drugs, which worked great in animal models but is caused serious side effects in humans. Well, what about me? using food; There are special proteins in legumes (beans, split peas, chickpeas and lentils) that reduce MMP activity. But what is the top legume? The researchers looked at eight different types: lupine beans, chickpeas, peas, black-eyed peas, lentils, more common beans (such as kidney, black or pinto), fava beans and soybeans. Which do you think worked best?
Without beans, the matrix metalloproteinase activity churned to about 100%, and dripping some split pea protein didn’t seem to help much, but black-eyed peas, lentils, kidney beans, and fava beans reduced enzyme activity by more than 50%. Guess what reduced activity by more than 90%? Lupine, chickpeas and soy, as you can see below and at 4:08 in my video.
But it does this translate slow the spread of cancer?
The researchers placed a layer of human colon cancer cells in a Petri dish, then took a razor blade to clear a strip down the middle. Within 48 hours, the cancer quickly converged to fill the gap. But when they dripped in some protein from lupine beans, chickpeas, or soy, the cancer cells seemed to try to close the distance, as you can see below and at 4:33 in my video.
Okay, but them used raw beans. You don’t know if these anti-cancer proteins are destroyed by cooking until you try it. Researchers I establish that the matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors in soy, at least, remained active after cooking.
So, perhaps it is not surprising that the consumption of legumes reduces the risk of colon cancer. Yes, but colon cancer, which grows from the inner lining of the colon, could potentially come into contact with some of these bean proteins. Obviously, they would not enter the bloodstream.
Those eating a vegetarian diet seems to have significantly lower levels of matrix metalloproteinases, but that’s just it thinking may be due to their lower levels of inflammation, similar to how non-smokers do have lower MMP levels. This it is good because this enzyme is not just a cancer biomarker, but may also be involved in autoimmune disease and cardiovascular disease. The machete-like nature of this enzyme can hack through the inflammatory, cholesterol-filled atheromatous lesions that line the diseased arteries and cause the plaque to rupture. People know that those who follow a plant-based diet tend to have less heart disease, but may not realize that they are at significantly lower risk of cancer, particularly among those who follow strictly plant-based diets.
Doctor’s note
The video I mentioned is Fight the ten hallmarks of cancer with diet.
For more videos on cancer metastasis, check out the related posts.
