Resveratrol has aromatase inhibiting activity - another important way that it may help curtail cancer

Many breast tumors are estrogen sensitive meaning the hormone estrogen fuels their growth. Aromatase is the enzyme that changes androgens (testosterone) into estrogen. One way of inhibiting the growth of estrogen sensitive tumors is by using a drug that blocks aromatase. After menopause the ovaries no longer produce estrogen and at this point it is much more effective to block aromatase (since an aromatase inhibiting drug doesn't work well on the ovaries but efficiently blocks estrogen production by other tissues). That's why aromatase inhibitors work well in women after menopause. Currently the available aromatase inhibitors are Arimidex, Femara, and Aromasin. Resveratrol is a polyphenol derived from the skin of red grapes; it remotely looks like estrogen. The effects of Resveratrol were studied on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. These cells had aromatase added to them. Adding testosterone to the breast cancer cells increased the cell numbers by 50% because aromatase changed the testosterone to estrogen. Adding Resveratrol significantly reduced the multiplication of breast cancer cells caused by testosterone. The Resveratrol competed with the aromatase and also inhibited the genes that create aromatase so it affected aromatase in two ways. The study is published in the April 11th, 2006 issue of Toxicological Sciences; an official journal of the Society of Toxicology.

Yesterday we reported that taking a combination of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and ibuprofen prevented the onset of Alzheimer's disease in patients who inherited a gene from their parents that puts them at high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Bitter Melon not only improves blood sugar control, it also improves kidney function and may protect the kidneys in diabetes

Rats were given the antibiotic streptozotocin to induce diabetes. Bitter Melon was added to the chow of a group of these diabetic rats and parameters of diabetes were compared between these two groups and also a third group that was free of diabetes. The level of thirst, the volume of urine, and the amount of sugar in the urine was much higher in the diabetic rats that were not supplemented compared to normal, non-diabetic rats. Conversely, rats supplemented with Bitter Melon had a 30% decrease in increased thirst and urine volume and in the amount of sugar in their urine compared to non-supplemented diabetic rats. In diabetes the kidneys swell (renal hypertrophy). this is to compensate for kidney injury and loss of a percentage of functioning cells and it is one of the earliest structural changes in diabetic nephropathy. Supplementation with Bitter Melon partially but effectively prevented the swelling, lowering kidney swelling by 38%. In diabetes the filtration rate of the glomeruli of the kidney initially increases in patients prone to developing diabetic kidney disease. In the diabetic rats the glomerular filtration rate increased, but this increase was significantly reduced by 27% in the Bitter Melon supplemented group. Bitter Melon supplementation also reduced fasting blood sugar by 30%. The study is published in the September 2005 issue of the journal Plant Foods for Human Nutrition.