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By Christine Horner, MD
Certain herbs and spices not only taste good, but they are also potent medicines that can help protect and promote health. For example, when it comes to preventing and healing breast cancer, both green tea and turmeric stand above the rest. Thousands of studies investigating these two extraordinary plants reveal their many medicinal properties.
Top Anti-Cancer Beverage Using Green Tea and Turmeric
According to ongoing research, green tea is very effective in stopping the growth of several types of cancers, including breast, stomach, colon, bladder, prostate, and skin cancer.1 2 It also reduces the risk of leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and lung cancer in smokers.3 4 You may think the impact of regularly drinking green tea on lowering the risk of cancer is negligible, but studies suggest otherwise. In fact, cancers of the digestive tract are statistically significantly lower in green tea drinkers.5
Notably, green tea not only contains an exceptional blend of powerful anti-inflammatories and antioxidants, but it also has the unique ability to amplify the power of enzymes in the liver and detoxify both toxins and carcinogens.
Many of the health benefits of green tea come from the polyphenols—micronutrients that naturally occur in plants. There are three polyphenols that are considered most important: gallocatechin (GC), epigallocatechin (EGC), and epigallocatechin gallate (ECGC). Of the three, ECGC is the most potent.
Lowering the Risk of Breast Cancer
Japanese researchers found that female green tea drinkers have a lower risk of breast cancer, and females with breast cancer live longer compared to non-tea drinkers.6 For instance, women with stage I or II breast cancer, who drank green tea before they were diagnosed, were found to have a much better prognosis. Another study found drinking green tea lowers the risk of breast tumor metastasizing and stops recurrence following treatment.7
Several studies show the polyphenol ECGC inhibits the growth of breast cancer and decreases the incidence of the cancer metastasizing to the lungs.8 9 A Japanese study of rats with mammary tumors found that 93.8 percent of the rats given green tea survived, compared to only 33 percent of the rats who weren’t given green tea. Additionally, the rats that were given green tea also had comparatively smaller tumors.
Scientists have mapped out seven different ways that green tea combats breast cancer. This brew increases the number of protein binders in the blood so that less estrogen is available to attach to receptors in the breast. It also lowers estradiol levels and increases the number of estrogen and progesterone sensitive receptors in breast cancers found in post-menopausal women. This is particularly important because tumors with receptors sensitive to these hormones respond better to treatment and have a better prognosis.
Green tea also helps to block the growth of new blood vessels in the tumor—a quality that is technically referred to as “anti-angiogenic.” For patients on chemotherapy, green tea is able to enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy while simultaneously protecting against many of its side effects.
Japanese researchers Sugiyama and Saduka published several studies between 1998 and 2003, showing that compounds in green tea increase the concentration of chemotherapeutic agents like doxorubicin and Adriamycin in tumors while decreasing their levels in normal tissue. The results suggest that when green tea is consumed while taking these chemotherapy drugs, tumors can shrink more than usual compared to when these chemicals are given alone. In addition, organs that are commonly affected by these anti-cancer drugs are protected from injury when drinking green tea.
Making Green Tea
Green tea comes from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, of the family Theacea. It is prepared by steaming the leaves at high temperatures. When the leaves are processed in this way, the key health-promoting polyphenols are preserved.
Notably, some of these polyphenols are destroyed during the processing of black tea. This is the most probable reason why green tea has been found to have more potent medicinal properties compared to black tea. To create the best tasting, most medicinal, and bitter-free cup of tea, it is recommended to steep your green tea in hot water (175 to 180 degrees F) for approximately three to five minutes.
How Much to Drink
For the maximum protection, it’s recommended to drink eight to ten cups of green tea per day. While green tea has some caffeine, natural compounds in the tea seem to modify the effects of the caffeine. Interestingly, many people don’t experience the side effects of caffeine when drinking green tea. The caffeine also appears to be an important component in enhancing green tea’s anti-tumor effects.10
For those who cannot drink this much green tea each day, you can take a green tea supplement (available in capsule, liquid, or powder form).
Turmeric
Turmeric is so powerful at protecting against and fighting cancer, many scientists consider it the number one anti-cancer herb. Over 1,300 published studies have documented the many amazing and diverse healing properties of turmeric, including the ability to significantly reduce the risk of cancer.11
Research shows turmeric has a powerful effect against at least eight different cancers, including lung, mouth, colon, skin, breast, and leukemia, due to various healing properties, including:
- Turmeric breaks down toxins in the liver and prevents carcinogens from forming.
- Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory. This is an important anti-cancer defense because inflammation plays a key role in the formation and progression of many cancers.
- Turmeric is a powerful antioxidant—300 times more potent than vitamin E. Antioxidants protect against cancer by destroying cancer-causing free radicals.
- Turmeric stimulates the immune system. A healthy active immune system is essential for fighting off most diseases and illness, including cancer.
- Turmeric helps to emulsify fat and promote weight loss. Obesity increases the risk of many types of cancer, including breast cancer.
- Like green tea, turmeric enhances the effectiveness of chemotherapy against the tumor while protecting organs from any associated side effects.
Turmeric and Breast Cancer
Turmeric boasts several breast cancer-fighting mechanisms, including blocking toxins that can contribute to breast cancer.12 For example, some pesticides mimic the estrogen molecule in the body. Too much estrogen has been found to be the primary cause of breast cancer. Estrogen attaches to estrogen receptors on the breast cells and causes them to start dividing. The faster cells divide, the higher the risk of breast cancer.
As such, pesticides act like estrogen in our body with one big difference: they act much more powerfully than natural estrogen. When these chemicals attach to the estrogen receptor, they cause breast cells to divide much more rapidly than natural estrogen does. Turmeric can decrease the estrogenic effect of these pesticides and help to block them from attaching the estrogen receptors in the breast.
Second, turmeric “down regulates” the estrogen receptor. In other words, when the estrogen receptor is “turned on” by estrogen, the response will not be as pronounced, and breast cells won’t divide as rapidly as they normally would.
Third, turmeric inhibits or blocks an enzyme called COX-2 that has been found to play a key role in the initiation and progression of breast cancer. The COX-2 enzyme is responsible for a long list of dangerous effects, including:
- Stimulates tumor cell division
- Prevents tumor cell death
- Promotes growth of new blood vessels into the tumor
- Enhances the tumor’s ability to invade the surrounding tissues
- Blocks important tumor suppressing effects of the immune system
- Increases the risk of metastasis
- Boosts the production of a molecules that can cause mutations in the genes that will lead to cancer
How to Take Turmeric
Turmeric is prepared by first soaking and drying the root and then grinding it into a powder. Powdered turmeric is a key ingredient in most curry powders and some Ayurvedic “churnas,” or standard mixtures of healing spices used for cooking.
Remember to buy organically grown turmeric to avoid pesticides and chemical residues. Add about 1/4th teaspoon to vegetables, soups, grains, or other dishes near the end of cooking. Note, turmeric can be cooked but not over-cooked to reduce the loss of curcumin—the active ingredient.
Turmeric can be used in mouthwashes, creams, gels, tonics, and in supplement form. The recommended dose is 1,000 mg per day.
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Christine Horner, MD, is a nationally recognized surgeon and author, and is certified with the National Board of Surgery and the National Board of Plastic Surgery. In the 1990s, Horner spearheaded legislation that made it mandatory for insurance companies to pay for breast reconstruction following mastectomy. Her five years crusade—The Breast Advocacy Project—led to the passage of laws in 35 states and a federal law in 1998.
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