Acai Berry, Monavie, Noni, Mangosteen: Ovarian Cancer Prevention Superfoods?
Sunday August 24, 2008
If there ever was a miracle food substance with far reaching disease prevention potential, including ovarian cancer prevention, it is the Acai Berry from Brazil. You may have been reading a lot of hooplah about it as an anti-oxidant "par-excellance", over and above Mangosteeen, Noni, Blueberrry, Pomegranate and more. Well, that hooplah is well deserved in cancer prevention.... theoretically applicable to BOTH ovarian cancer primary and recurrence prevention. The anti-oxidant properties of the acai berry is off the charts, and some formulations contain many antioxidant berries such as the popular Monavie blend which actually has some clinical studies under its belt.
There are now a number of clinical and basic science studies which show that the acai berry has some of the strongest direct anti-cancer properties, which makes it as natural a complementary treatment as you can get, in a tasty form to boot. What complementary means is that it is NOT a replacement for cancer therapy, BUT is probably VERY useful to help prevent cancer before you get it and after treatment to prevent recurrence. During chemotherapy there has been concern that anti-oxidants may interfere.....talk with your doctor about this. The data are not very strong in support of this statement so that you may be able to take it even during treatment.
When you're out shopping online or in your favorite health food store, bear a few things in mind. First of all, the acai berry per se is foul tasting, so you want a super-mix of the best antioxidant berries. Second, you can certainly buy the watered down versions, but it is best to go where the science is, and that is in concentrated monavie-like formats. You can actually also buy the acai in pill form too, but where's the fun in that? Juice is just so much more enjoyable. A few ounces a day of just juices, and you may be doing yourself a huge favor.
There are now a number of clinical and basic science studies which show that the acai berry has some of the strongest direct anti-cancer properties, which makes it as natural a complementary treatment as you can get, in a tasty form to boot. What complementary means is that it is NOT a replacement for cancer therapy, BUT is probably VERY useful to help prevent cancer before you get it and after treatment to prevent recurrence. During chemotherapy there has been concern that anti-oxidants may interfere.....talk with your doctor about this. The data are not very strong in support of this statement so that you may be able to take it even during treatment.
When you're out shopping online or in your favorite health food store, bear a few things in mind. First of all, the acai berry per se is foul tasting, so you want a super-mix of the best antioxidant berries. Second, you can certainly buy the watered down versions, but it is best to go where the science is, and that is in concentrated monavie-like formats. You can actually also buy the acai in pill form too, but where's the fun in that? Juice is just so much more enjoyable. A few ounces a day of just juices, and you may be doing yourself a huge favor.