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The Truth About Ellagic Acid and Red Raspberries
The Ellagic Acid Buzz
If you pay any attention at all to the alternative-health
information-grapevine, you've heard the buzz on ellagic acid and
red raspberries. If you believe the rumors flying around the Internet,
the cure for cancer is at hand!! This is the greatest discovery
since sliced bread!! Well, like most rumors, there's some truth
to it…and a whole lot of nonsense.
The Truth
Two years ago, I wrote in the Barron Report on
antioxidants about the value of including berries in your diet
because of the benefits of the ellagic acid derived from them.
This recommendation was based on work being done at the Hollings
Cancer Institute by Dr. Daniel Nixon, who had been studying the
benefits of red raspberries for some 6 years at that time. Since
then, two things have changed dramatically.
First, the study results are now becoming, for
lack of a better word, remarkable.
Second, it is now possible to get high quantities of ellagitannins
without having to consume a cup of berries every day.
Dr. Nixon's published results show:
Consuming one cup of red raspberries per day (40 mg of ellagitannins)
prevents the development of cancer cells. At low concentrations,
it slows the growth of cancer cells; at higher concentrations,
it tells cancer cells to kill themselves. For example, cells infected
with the human papilloma virus (which is linked to cervical cancer),
when exposed to ellagic acid experienced apoptosis, or normal
cell death.
Red raspberry ellagitannins slow the growth of abnormal colon
cells in humans.
Tests reveal similar results for breast, pancreas, esophageal,
skin, and prostate cancer cells. The ellagitannins also produce
a breakdown in human leukemia cells.
Another way that ellagitannins protect your body is through G-Arrest.
G-Arrest means that the ellagitannins stop cells from mutating
in the first place. If cells don't mutate, then we don't get cancer.
This is very important when you understand that that every single
day of your life you produce anywhere from a few hundred to as
many as 10,000 cancerous cells in your body as part of your normal
metabolism. In tests conducted by the Hollings Cancer Institute
with Ellagic Acid, G-Arrest began in 72 hours in both breast and
cervical cancer.
Red raspberry ellagitannins prevent destruction of the P53 gene
by cancer cells. P53 prevents mutagenic activity in cervical cells.
Red raspberry ellagitannins protect human cells against cancer-causing
agents in tobacco smoke, food additives, and petroleum-based substances.
Ellagitannins act as scavengers to “bind” cancer-causing
chemicals, making them inactive. The ellagitannins inhibit the
ability of other chemicals to cause mutations in bacteria. Red
Raspberry ellagitannins also protect DNA by blocking carcinogens
from binding to the DNA.
European medical studies also demonstrate that red raspberry ellagitannins
lower the incidence of birth defects, promote wound healing, reduce
heart disease, and may reduce or reverse chemically induced liver
fibrosis. In addition, the ellagic acid produced from the ellagitannins
has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties
Note: It is important to understand that most of the above studies
have been conducted in two phases. First, in test tubes on isolated
cells using ellagic acid. Later (and ongoing, even now) in live
human beings using the full ellagitannin complex as found in red
raspberry puree. It is, of course, the human studies that are
of interest to us.
Apoptosis
The problem with cancer cells is that when they
divide, the original cell does not die.
The normal process of cell division, on the other
hand, results in the replicating cell being “carried off”
as trash just as if a bacterium had died. The body signals the
dismantling of the old cell and the new cell takes over its processes.
This is called apoptosis, or natural cell death.
Cancer cells, as mentioned above, are different.
Cancer cells do not die; they rapidly multiply by cell division
(mitosis), making 2 cancer cells, then 4, 8, 16, 32 and so on.
What Dr. Nixon found is that in both lab and clinical studies,
red raspberry ellagitannins caused cancer cells to go through
a nontoxic, normal apoptosis process without damaging the healthy
cells. This is a remarkable improvement over standard treatments.
Chemotherapy and radiation do the same thing
– kill cancer cells, that is. But they have a devastating
side effect that does not happen with the ellagitannins: they
kill healthy cells too -- destroying the immune system in the
process. More people probably die from the side effects of chemo
and radiation than actually die from the original cancer.
This is why Dr. Nixon's studies on ellagitannins
are so exciting. Potentially, we're talking about an all-natural
cancer treatment/preventative that provides ALL of the benefits
of chemo and radiation and NONE OF THE SIDEFFECTS. An all-natural
supplement, if you will, that can literally be taken every single
day to prevent most cancers from ever even forming in your body.
Enough of the Nonsense
Ellagic acid supplements are now appearing everywhere,
and most of them are pure nonsense. As for those products that
truly contain pure ellagic acid, you don't want them.
First of all, ellagic acid doesn't work as well
as the complete ellagitannin complex. Although ellagic acid alone
has been shown to inhibit carcinogenesis in vitro (in a test tube
with isolated cancer cells), several studies have reported that
the other phenolic compounds in the berries also contribute to
the observed inhibitory effect. Those compounds are only present
in a complete ellagitannin complex, not in a synthetic ellagic
acid isolate. In other words, an ellagitannin complex works better
than pure ellagic acid. Or as stated on the USDA Agricultural
Research Services website:
"In pure form, ellagic acid is highly insoluble and biologically
unavailable...ellagic acid, as it is biosynthesized in plants,
occurs in combination with glucose as ellagitannins. These compounds
are quite water soluble and biologically available. This means
that relatively small amounts of ellagitannins may be more effective
in the human diet than large doses of ellagic acid,"
Or to quote from Dr. Nixon himself, "What is interesting
to note is the superior efficacy of eating red raspberries as
opposed to taking the individual phytochemicals in the form of
dietary supplements. Though we do not yet fully comprehend why
this is so, it is clear the nutraceutical whole is greater than
the sum of its parts."
Second, synthetic ellagic acid is too harsh for the human body
to accept, and has some potentially serious side effects –
not the least of which is its tendency to raise blood pressure.
And third. Dr. Nixon's human studies are being done with the complete
complex, not with isolated ellagic acid. If you want the same
results, you need to use the same source. (Yes, the in vitro,
or test tube studies on individual cells, were done with ellagic
acid because individual cells have no way to break down ellagitannins
into ellagic acid; but all in vivo, or human studies, have been
done with red raspberry puree – and it is, after all, results
with human beings that we're concerned with here.)
And as for those companies selling some form of berry-based ellagitannin
complex and either calling it ellagic acid or claiming that it
contains ellagic acid…don't be fooled. It isn't ellagic
acid, and it doesn't contain any (unless synthetic ellagic acid
has been added to the formula). The fact of the matter is that
ellagic acid itself is not naturally present in plants.
Instead, polymers of gallic acid and hexahydroxydipenoyl
(HHDP) are linked to glucose centers to form the class of compounds
known as ellagitannins. Ellagic acid is formed when the HHDP group
is cleaved from the tannin molecule and spontaneously rearranges
– as happens in the digestive tract.
Red Raspberries and Ellagitannins
The bottom line is that it is the ellagitannins
that are present in various fruits – not the ellagic acid.
Again, to quote from the Washington State Red Raspberry Commission:
“ Some articles in which ellagitannins are quantified refer
to ellagic acid because quantitation of ellagitannins is done
by breaking them down into ellagic acid subunits and quantifying
the subunits.” Understand, that when researchers refer to
the ellagic acid content of foods, they are referring to the amount
of ellagic acid that can be derived from a food-based supplement.
That's entirely different than saying the supplement contains
ellagic acid.
Why does this matter?
Well, for three reasons:
If the company selling the supplement truly doesn't
know what's in the product they're selling, why would you want
to buy from that company in the first place?
If they do know, and they're willing to be “inaccurate”
for “marketing purposes,” doesn't that call into question
everything else they say?
And finally, if you understand that it's really the ellagitannins
that you're after (and not the ellagic acid), then you realize
that the source of your ellagitannins is vital – since the
source will determine the exact mix of ellagitannins and how effective
that mix is.
The bottom line is you don't want to buy your supplements from
a company that doesn't have a clue about what they're selling.
Look for a company that uses accurate literature and labeling.
The Cure for Cancer?
Are ellagitannins the cure for cancer? No, of
course not. But they are an important piece of the puzzle.
You want to build your immune system. Your immune
system is your body's prime defense against cancer.
You want to detox your liver and clean your blood – make
them hostile to the presence of cancer.
You still want to alkalinize your body. Cancer thrives in an acid
environment.
You still want to maximize nutrition levels
You still want to include a full spectrum antioxidant that contains
known anti-carcinogens such as green tea, alpha lipoic acid, selenium,
lycopene, and curcumin. They all work synergistically with red
raspberry ellagitannins – making them that much more effective.
What Source
As we've already discussed, the source of ellagitannins that you
use matters.
Red Raspberries
First of all, the availability to the body of
ellagic acid from dietary sources has only been confirmed with
red raspberries. Other foods such as strawberries and walnuts
either contain far lesser amounts of ellagic acid producing ellagitannins,
and/or their bioavailability has not been confirmed. One interesting
source, however, is pomegranate. Although not proven in clinical
studies, the anecdotal evidence is extremely strong – and
the concentration of ellagitannins is much higher in pomegranate
than raspberries.
The other key issue is that each source of ellagitannins
has its own individual mix of ellagitannins. A useful way to think
about this is that the active ingredients in both green tea and
grape seeds are a group of bio-chemicals called polyphenols (the
same group of bio-chemicals that includes ellagic acid) –
but because the mix of polyphenols is different in green tea and
grape seeds, they each have an entirely different range of effects
on the human body. Of the different sources of ellagitannins,
the only “mix” that has been verified is the mix in
red raspberries. In other words, for now, you want a red raspberry
source. (Note: at some point, future studies will likely verify
the efficacy of other sources such as pomegranate – but
those studies do not exist at this point in time. Then again,
the anecdotal evidence is building strongly.) For the moment then,
the Meeker red raspberry is the most proven source of ellagic
acid producing ellagitannins, with pomegranates probably a good
alternative.
The bottom line, though, is that if you want to duplicate Dr.
Nixon's protocol, then you need to use the ellagitannin source
that he uses -- red raspberries.
Which brings us to the question of how to supplement with red
raspberries. To be sure, Dr. Nixon used 1 cup of red raspberry
puree per day in his studies. However, that is not practical for
most people. Fortunately, it turns out the raspberry seeds have
a much higher concentration of ellagitannins than the puree.
Bottom Line
One gram of red raspberry seed powder, taken
twice a day, provides 40 mg of ellagitannins – equivalent
to the amount of ellagitannins found in one cup of fresh red raspberries.
Date: 09/01/2001 Written by: Jon Barron
© 1999-2015 The Baseline of Health Foundation
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