Highway Health Practice
Kirrin Cottage
6 Vue de Mer
La Rue de La Vallee
Torteval
Guernsey
GY8 0PP
Telephone: +44(0)1481 263127
Mobile: +44(0)07839 259050

Reference: Nutrition

1. The Immune system and Cancer

It was not always clear to scientists that the immune system played a role in preventing and combating cancer. This idea was proposed in 1957, but the scientific evidence at the time only seemed to indicate that the immune system protected against pathogens like viruses and bacteria, but not against abnormal body cells like cancer cells. Researchers and doctors in the late 1900s noticed, however, that people with extremely weak or nonexistent immune systems had a greater risk of developing cancer than the average person. In addition, researchers have since noticed that patients with immune cells present in their tumours have a better prognosis than patients without immune cells in their tumours.

Immunosurveillance is a term used to describe the action of the immune cells, including T cells, as they move through the body and look for any abnormalities. When cells become mutated, they may appear to the immune cells as abnormal. The body then recognizes them as non-self or foreign. By eliminating cells that have become abnormal, the immune system helps to protect against cancer. However, if the cells mutate enough so that they are able to escape the surveillance mechanisms of the immune system, they may continue to reproduce as cancer cells. The process is a complex version of 'hide and seek' with major consequences.

As described in the previous pages, T cells recognize peptide antigens 'presented' on their cell surface. If pre-cancerous cells present abnormal protein T cells will recognize these cells as abnormal. Conversely, pre-cancerous cells that the immune system does not recognize as abnormal, or is unable to kill, will survive and may proliferate to form a tumour.

There are various mechanisms that tumour cells may use to get around the immune defences of the body. Many cancers produce chemical messengers that inhibit the actions of immune cells. Other cancers have defects in the way that antigens are presented on their cell surface. Other immune cells, called natural killer (NK) cells, play a special role in this case, however, because they notice when body cells no longer have present specific 'self' proteins on their surface and kill the abnormal cells. Additionally, some tumours grow in locations such as the eyes or brain, which are not regularly patrolled by immune cells.

The main goal of immunotherapy and cancer vaccines is to provide the immune system with the signals that it needs to recognize the cancer cells as abnormal. If successful, these strategies may allow the body to recognize and destroy cancer cells, even those that have been able to form a tumour.

2. Nutrition - The Building Blocks

All living things, including the cells that make up a human body are comprised of a small subset of different bio molecules. There are four main classes, as described below:

• Carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates are comprised of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) molecules.
• Sugars are common carbohydrates.
• Carbohydrates serve several functions inside cells:
• Major energy source
• Provide structure
• Communication
• Cell adhesion
• Defence against and removal of foreign material
  
• Proteins
• Proteins are comprised of amino acids.
• Proteins serve several functions inside living things:
• Structure of hair, muscle, nails, cell components, and cell membranes
• Cell transport
• Biological enzymes
• Maintaining cell contact
• Control cell activity
• Signalling via hormones
  
• Lipids
• A wide variety of bio molecules including fats, oils, waxes and steroid hormones.
• Lipids do not dissolve in water (they are hydrophobic) and are primarily comprised of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O).
• Lipids serve several functions in living things:
• Form biological membranes
• Fats may be stored as a source of energy
• Oils and waxes provide protection by coating areas that could be invaded by microbes (i.e. skin or ears)
• Steroid hormones regulate cell activity by altering gene expression

• Nucleic Acids
• All of the information needed to control and build cells is stored in these molecules.
• Nucleic acids are comprised of nucleotides which are abbreviated A, C, G, T, and U.
• There are two main types of nucleic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA):
  
• DNA
• DNA has a double helix structure comprised of nucleotides A, C, G, and T.
• DNA is located in the nucleus of the cell.
• DNA is the storage form of genetic information.
• RNA
• RNA is typically single stranded and comprised of nucleotides A, G, C, and U.
• RNA is copied from DNA and is the working form of the information.
• RNA is made in the nucleus and mRNA is exported to the cytosol (intercellular fluid).

Additional bio molecules can be made by combining these four types. As an example, many proteins are modified by the addition of carbohydrate chains. The end product is called a glycoprotein . A protein that has been modified by the addition of one or more carbohydrates. Many proteins are modified in this way. The addition of the sugar molecules alters the properties of the protein and often aid in the function of the protein. Many proteins that are located on the outside of our cell membranes are glycoproteins. The blood tests used to detect cancer often are actually detecting small amounts of glycoproteins that are produced by the particular cancer cells. For instance, both the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test used to detect prostate cancer and the CA125 test used to track ovarian cancer growth are actually monitoring the abundance of different glycoproteins that are released by the tumour (and sometimes normal) cells.

3. Phytonutrients

Phytochemicals are compounds found in plants. These specific molecules have been beneficial to human health; even when extracted from the plant from which they originate. More resources have recently been directed to investigating natural compounds in the fight against cancer.

• Anthocyanins
• Curcumin
• Lycopene
• Phyroestrogens
• Pycnogenol
• Salvestrols™
• Selenium and Zinc
• Sulforaphane
• Vitamin E
• Cellular nutrition - Aloe Vera 10K

SALVESTROLS - BEYOND ANTIOXIDANTS

What are Salvestrols?

Salvestrols are plant derived compounds (phytonutrients) essential for wellbeing that cannot be made in the body and must therefore be supplied through our diet. As a group, they are chemically unrelated substances except for the similar manner in which they confer their benefits, that is, as a result of their action with a particular family of enzymes. These enzymes are present only in malfunctioning cells and when they encounter a Salvestrol they convert it into a form which is toxic to the sick cell. Because the enzyme is not present in healthy cells the Salvestrols exert no ill effects on them.

The Discovery of Salvestrols.

The scientists in the UK who discovered Salvestrols — led by Gerry Potter (Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and head of the Cancer Discovery Group) and Dan Burke (Emeritus Professor of Pharmaceutical Metabolism and former head of the School of Pharmacy) — were developing synthetic pharmaceutical products that use this method to combat disease when they realised that similarly structured compounds were naturally present at low concentrations in many foods. But on further investigation they were surprised to learn that foods which should have been rich in these essential compounds actually showed low concentrations or were in fact devoid of them. The researchers soon realised that this wasn't because the plants couldn't produce these compounds but that modern food selection and production methods were removing them from the diet.

The Effect of Food Processing.

One reason for the disappearance of Salvestrols in the diet is that that they all have a bitter taste. As a result of the modern trend toward sweet flavours, plant sources that would normally be rich in Salvestrols are shunned as sweeter tasting varieties are bred or selected to suit modern tastes. Furthermore, the trend towards producing foods without adding sugars or sweeteners is also causing Salvestrols to be removed by manufacturing processes that filter out bitter substances so that the finished product will taste sweeter.

The Effect of Food Production.

But the most exciting discovery was the fact which led the scientists to unravel the true mysteries of Salvestrols. The team has now shown that these important substances are produced by plants to protect themselves from pests and disease, in a similar way that mammals have evolved to use them. However, the use of many modern fungicides and crop protection chemicals means that plants which are not organically grown will not express high concentrations of Salvestrols because they are never exposed to the attacks which cause the plant to produce them at such levels!

The Past and the Future.

About 100 years ago it is estimated that we would have consumed about 10 times the amount of Salvestrols in our diet as we do now. The scientists believe there are potentially over fifty possible Salvestrols and they are now screening organically grown food sources, including old varieties that haven't been grown commercially for many years, in some cases hundreds of years, to identify and assess their biological activity.

What do Salvestrols do?

Cells in the body use Salvestrols to help correct themselves when things go wrong. They are like the cell's own police force helping to ensure the cell functions correctly. The sorts of situations where the body would normally use Salvestrols are those in which the body for some reason turns on itself and which generally cause inflammation. There seems to be some relationship between the increase in the incidence of these "modern day" conditions over the past 100 years and the gradual diminution in the presence of Salvestrols in the diet.

The scientists who discovered Salvestrols have surmised that the gene which expresses the enzyme that uses the Salvestrols first appeared around 150 million years ago. So the body has been using this protective mechanism since human life evolved, but we are now depriving it of these essential nutrients as a result of our eating habits and the modern methods of food production.

In fact, the body finds Salvestrols so important that they escape the first attempts of the liver to remove them from the body — a process known as first-pass metabolism. This need for the body to hold on to these compounds for as long as possible caused the scientists who discovered them to call them Salvestrols from the Latin word salve (to save).

How safe are Salvestrols?

Because Salvestrols were so prevalent in our diet historically they are very safe. But the scientists who discovered Salvestrols have performed many safety tests — not on animals, but in human cell lines, and they have identified that the body needs a minimal level of Salvestrols to enable it to perform correctly.

Salvestrols and Diet

Research suggests that Salvestrols are produced by plants in response to fungal infection, and are therefore most present at the sites where fungi are likely to attack. In fruits, this means on the skin, as the fruit is ripening. Salvestrol compounds are also present on the surfaces of the roots of many plants, as the roots are continually under threat from fungi in the soil.

It is estimated that we consume today about 10-20% of the Salvestrols which would have occurred in the diet 100 years ago. So, even though we are being urged to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, unless you eat organic you are unlikely to get sufficient Salvestrols from your diet.

The levels of Salvestrols in a typical "5 portion a day" basket of non-organic fruit and vegetables from a supermarket have been measured and found to contain only 10% of the estimated daily dietary requirement. So eating adequate amounts of commercially available fruit and vegetables will not provide the essential nutrients the body needs. Even an organic diet may be inadequate since the varieties of fruit and vegetable commercially available may be types that are low in Salvestrols.

It can be difficult to find food that is high in Salvestrols. Different Salvestrols are found in varying concentrations and levels of biological activity in fruits like strawberries, oranges, grapes and even cocoa. There are over 550 varieties of oranges, over 200 varieties of strawberries and grapes respectively and 450 varieties of cocoa bean! All with different levels of Salvestrols, and each with different levels of biological activity.

Examining other likely sources of Salvestrols in the western diet, such as fruit juices, other beverages and processed foods, it was again found that Salvestrols were largely absent. In the case of some fruit juices, where they should have been present, for example in cranberry juice, it was discovered that the Salvestrols were removed during processing in order to make the product taste sweeter, as most Salvestrols have a sharp or bitter taste.

So, it is currently very difficult to get an adequate intake of Salvestrols without taking a supplement but researchers are working with farmers and agronomists to establish growing conditions that can ensure high levels of Salvestrols in crops. They are also producing a directory of organic foods rich in Salvestrols so that people can balance their intake of Salvestrols through a combination of diet and supplementation. In the meantime, Professor Potter has developed a Red and Green Diet which may be helpful to design an organic diet naturally rich in Salvestrols.