How spicy foods can kill cancers

[Xantipius]

We believe that we have in effect discovered a fundamental 'Achilles heel' for all cancers -- Dr Timothy Bates

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6244715.stm

[Ancient Dragon]

Interesting, apparently I'll never get cancer :)

The fact that capsaicin and other vanilloids are already commonly found in the diet proves they are safe to eat.

This could make development of a drug containing them a much quicker and cheaper process.

But will the new drugs contain a significantly higher dose of the capsaicin that is found naturally in our foods? If yes, then they still need to do a lot of work testing the effects of higher dosages to the human body. If no, then what do we need these new drugs for? Just eat more spicy foods and save billions of money.

[Agilemind]

Cancer research is one of the top mis-reported sciences out there. There have been literally hundreds (if not thousands) of compounds found which kill cancer cells and not normal cells in a dish almost all of these have been or will be proven ineffective and/or toxic in human beings. Also the importance of mitochondria in cancer is not new there has been at least a couple decades of research on this so far (as well as their relationships with apoptosis).

Also there is no reason to assume eating spicy food is a net benefit to reducing cancer since spicy food can trigger inflamation and chonic inflamation is thought to be a cause of cancer. In addition lots of things we eat are safe at low doses but toxic at high doses (eg. caffeine), and most spices, including capsaicin, evolved in plants as a chemical defense against insects or other animals which would eat their seeds/leaves.

[Xantipius]

Yes, so far capsaicin's effect was proved for in vitro cancer cells only.

[Reverend Jim]

I forwarded this article (and the other one you posted on anti-oxidants) to my son at Stony Brook. His research involves mitochondria, and as coincidence would have it, was able to talk with Dr. Watson at a recent conference.

[Xantipius]

to my son at Stony Brook. His research involves mitochondria

Great! (no words)

[vmanes]

Even if it doesn't cure or prevent cancer, it makes life more interesting.

Bring on the curry!

[DavidB]

Interesting article. This is the first I have heard about spicy food affecting cancer.
I have read of several other foods that supposedly prevent cancer: eggplant, bitter almonds, apricot seeds, graviola, etc. Don't know if they are actually effective.
Plus, sugar should be avoided. Apparently, cancer cells use five times as much sugar as regular cells to grow. And with all the sugar in our diets, we are making a comfortable home for cancer cells. So I have tried to drastically reduce my sugar intake.

[Xantipius]

The effect itself was discovered in ~2006.
Article is about recently found an explanation of it.
Note: e.g., black pepper doesn't contain capsaicin.

[Agilemind]

Plus, sugar should be avoided. Apparently, cancer cells use five times as much sugar as regular cells to grow. And with all the sugar in our diets, we are making a comfortable home for cancer cells. So I have tried to drastically reduce my sugar intake.

Excess sugar has lots of negative health effects but your reasoning here make no biological sense. Cancer cells get the sugar they need from your blood. Your blood has a roughly constant level of sugar regardless of how much you eat (unless you have diabetes). So there is no relationship between the sugar you eat and the sugar available to cancer cells because if you reduce sugar intake your body will just convert other nutrients (starch primarily) into sugar.

[jwenting]

and another miracle cure from some bozos who no doubt will start selling it to gullible fools who have been talked into believing that real medicine is out to kill them.

[leondegroot86]

Good stuff :)

[Ancient Dragon]

Spicy foods don't prevent cancer. My son has always loved spicy foods such as jalapeno, and now he has cancer. If anything, I would say spicy foods cause cancer.

[mike_2000_17]

sugar should be avoided.

That might be hard, because sugar (in all its forms) form roughly 75% of the total mass of food you eat. This is no accident. The main reason to eat is to get energy, and the most effective source of energy is sugar. Now, by sugar, I mean all sugars, including what is typically called "carbohydrates", which are just longer sugar chains. The reason why "refined sugar" (e.g., table sugar, sweet drinks, etc.) should avoided is because they are absorbed quickly (giving the "rush") and wear out quickly (regulated by your body, i.e., it eliminates the excess sugar, mostly as stored body-fat), and then, you "crash" on low energy and usually go for more sugar, perpetuating this "refined sugar" roller-coaster that adds successive layers of fat to your body. Other kinds of sugars, in naturally sweet foods (e.g., fruits) or in starches (e.g., flour / bread / pasta, rice, potatoes, etc.), are simply longer chains, and get absorbed by your body more slowly, providing a more constant supply of sugar in your blood, giving you a more sustained energy level, getting you going for many hours without feeling hungry or in need of energy.

Reducing sugar to avoid growth of cancer is essentially the same as saying that you will kill yourself to make sure you don't get cancer. The point is, cancer cells feed on the same nutrients that your healthy cells feed on, meaning that you cannot just "starve" them out of existence, because that would inevitably starve your entire body, and you will die too, along with your cancer. Not much of a victory, is it?

Cancer research is one of the top mis-reported sciences out there.

I agree with Agilemind. Many of these "cancer-killing" miracle compounds are blown out of proportion by reporters that don't really understand that killing cells in a dish is very different from killing them in a human body. What if the human body doesn't absorb them? (i.e., they just come out the "other end") What if the body breaks them up? Do they survive passed the enzymes in the saliva or gastric acid? Do they circulate in the body? Or do they bound to other parts of your body? Maybe the kidneys filters them out. Spicy urine anyone? And that's not even mentioning other toxicity effects which could be much worse than cancer (kill you faster, and more certainly).

Currently, IMHO, a compeling "cancer fighting" compound is CBD (Cannabidiol), which is one of the cannabinoids found in marijuana. This is because it does have the same "petri-dish" positive results, and is known to be well metabolized by the human body (and is already an existing natural compound in the human metabolism), and there are some anecdotal accounts of beating cancer with it (only after all the modern medecin treatments were tried and failed).

I stress, modern medecin treatments are your best chance of beating cancer. Do not, ever, consider any non-proven or "alternative" medecin method, at least, until you tried everything modern medecin has to offer.

My son has always loved spicy foods such as jalapeno, and now he has cancer.

I'm really sorry to hear that. I hope he gets through it.

If anything, I would say spicy foods cause cancer.

Yeah, let's not forget that if a study claims that a lot of spicy foods have certain compounds that seem to fight cancer, it doesn't mean that spicy foods are good. Virtually everything that we eat contains lots of different things, including lots of carcinogens and other toxins, so you can never see a food item like some kind of natural "pill" that gives you a dose of a particular beneficial thing. For example, lots of people consider certain nuts to be really healthy because they contain either some good types of proteins, or some Omega-3 fats, or whatever, but then they forget to consider that nuts and beans, in general, have high carcinogenic content.

It's a never-ending game of trying to balance the good and the bad, if you try to keep track of it all. Just eat diversified food. Don't concentrate on any particular "miracle food". Oh, and remember, most "good" things are not good in excess (many vitamins / minerals are toxic in excess, and many fats / sugars are just converted into other things when in excess).

[ddanbe]

@AD Hope all gets well with your son.
Medical science, as good as it is, is never exact science.
So you might say that a study has proven that consumption of chicken soup of brand X cures some disease Y.
And second point: because it is in the news, does not always mean it is true.

[Agilemind]

Reducing sugar to avoid growth of cancer is essentially the same as saying that you will kill yourself to make sure you don't get cancer.

May usual response to people say X causes cancer is that the #1 cause of cancer is breathing.

a compeling "cancer fighting" compound is CBD (Cannabidiol), which is one of the cannabinoids found in marijuana

Anything that has not been shown to work in mice or another mammal is not compelling. There are just too many unknowns and complications when you move from a blob of cells in a dish to a living animal - that's also why I fierce-ly argue that we will never eliminate the need to use animals in experiments.

[mike_2000_17]

@Agilemind: I completely agree. I probably shouldn't have said "compelling", it's more like "promising" or "warranting further investigation". And yes, eliminating the need to use animals in experiments is completely unrealistic, and reckless.

[jwenting]

well, we could always go back to the good old days of the 1940s and use "undesirables", was all the rage back then in Germany, Japan, and yes the USA as well.

Mind, not my idea of a good idea, but the "animal rights" people are all in favour of killing humans by the billions so they no doubt think it a bloody good idea (then again, they also are opposed to any form of healthcare for anyone but themselves).

[Agilemind]

well, we could always go back to the good old days of the 1940s and use "undesirables"

Even if we could make the ethical issues of doing that magically disappear, it still wouldn't replace animals for many experiments because of confounding variables (eg. illegal drug use, malnutrition, psychological disease/issues etc...) and the fact that you can't genetically manipulate them.

It's assounding how many animal experiments involve genetic manipulation to make certain proteins, cells or tissues of interest glow so they can be picked out. Also for cancer research in particular, different strains of mice which have been genetically engineered to be prone to particular types of tumour are super important for reducing the costs of the experiments.

[vegaseat]

Your brain needs "sugar" to function, that limits the number of people that can avoid it.

Spicy food can kill cancer is an "old wives' tale" at best. Has been around for many years without any proof.

[HiHe]

If it only would be that simple!
Just fools gold?

[LibbyWarner]

This is the first time that I am anything positive about eating the spicy food and I would like to see more posts like this one because I like to eat spicy food :)

[jwenting]

oh, spicy foods are great. The spices are a good way to preserve foods that would otherwise go off and become unsafe to eat (yes, that's what spices were originally used for, as preservatives, just like smoking and freezing).