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Lemongrass and Cancer

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Someone sent me this. Has anyone heard of Lemongrass herb killing cancer

cells?

 

 

Fresh lemon grass fields in Israel become Mecca for cancer patients

By Allison Kaplan Sommer April 02, 2006

 

 

 

A drink with as little as one gram of lemon grass contains enough citral to

prompt cancer cells to commit suicide in the test tube.

 

Israeli researchers find way to make cancer cells self-destruct

-Ben Gurion University

 

At first, Benny Zabidov, an Israeli agriculturalist who grows greenhouses

full of lush spices on a pastoral farm in Kfar Yedidya in the Sharon region,

couldn't understand why so many cancer patients from around the country were

showing up on his doorstep asking for fresh lemon grass. It turned out that

their doctors had sent them. 'They had been told to drink eight glasses of hot

water with fresh lemon grass steeped in it on the days that they went for

their radiation and chemotherapy treatments,' Zabidov told ISRAEL21c. 'And this

is the place you go to in Israel for fresh lemon grass.'

 

It all began when researchers at Ben Gurion University of the Negev

discovered last year that the lemon aroma in herbs like lemon grass kills

cancer

cells in vitro, while leaving healthy cells unharmed. The research team was led

by Dr. Rivka Ofir and Prof. Yakov Weinstein, incumbent of the Albert Katz

Chair in Cell-Differentiation and Malignant Diseases, from the Department of

Microbiology and Immunology at BGU.

 

 

 

Citral is the key component that gives the lemony aroma and taste in several

herbal plants such as lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), melissa (Melissa

officinalis) and verbena (Verbena officinalis.)

 

According to Ofir, the study found that citral causes cancer cells to

'commit suicide: using apoptosis, a mechanism called programmed cell death.' A

drink with as little as one gram of lemon grass contains enough citral to

prompt

the cancer cells to commit suicide in the test tube.

 

The BGU investigators checked the influence of the citral on cancerous cells

by adding them to both cancerous cells and normal cells that were grown in a

petri dish. The quantity added in the concentrate was equivalent to the

amount contained in a cup of regular tea using one gram of lemon herbs in hot

water. While the citral killed the cancerous cells, the normal cells remained

unharmed.

 

The findings were published in the scientific journal Planta Medica, which

highlights research on alternative and herbal remedies. Shortly afterwards,

the discovery was featured in the popular Israeli press.

 

Why does it work? Nobody knows for certain, but the BGU scientists have a

theory. 'In each cell in our body, there is a genetic program which causes

programmed cell death. When something goes wrong, the cells divide with no

control and become cancer cells. In normal cells, when the cell discovers that

the

control system is not operating correctly - for example, when it recognizes

that a cell contains faulty genetic material following cell division - it

triggers cell death,' explains Weinstein. 'This research may explain the

medical

benefit of these herbs.'

 

The success of their research led them to the conclusion that herbs

containing citral may be consumed as a preventative measure against certain

cancerous

cells. As they learned of the BGU findings in the press, many physicians in

Israel began to believe that while the research certainly needed to be

explored further, in the meantime it would be advisable for their patients, who

were looking for any possible tool to fight their condition, to try to harness

the cancer-destroying properties of citral.

 

That's why Zabidov's farm - the only major grower of fresh lemon grass in

Israel - has become a pilgrimage destination for these patients. Luckily, they

found themselves in sympathetic hands. Zabidov greets visitors with a large

kettle of aromatic lemon grass tea, a plate of cookies, and a supportive

attitude. 'My father died of cancer, and my wife's sister died young because of

cancer,' said Zabidov. 'So I understand what they are dealing with. And I may

not know anything about medicine, but I'm a good listener. And so they tell me

about their expensive painful treatments and what they've been through. I

would never tell them to stop being treated, but it's great that they are

exploring alternatives and drinking the lemon grass tea as well.'

 

Zabidov knew from a young age that agriculture was his calling. At age 14,

he enrolled in the Kfar Hayarok Agricultural high school. After his army

service, he joined an idealistic group which headed south, in the Arava desert

region, to found a new moshav (agricultural settlement) called Tsofar. 'We were

very successful; we raised fruits and vegetables, and,' he notes with a

smile, 'We raised some very nice children.'

 

On a trip to Europe in the mid-80s, he began to become interested in herbs.

Israel, at the time, was nothing like the trend-conscious cuisine-oriented

country it is today, and the only spices being grown commercially were basics

like parsley, dill, and coriander. Wandering in the Paris market, looking at

the variety of herbs and spices, Zabidov realized that there was a great

export potential in this niche. He brought samples back home with him, 'which

was

technically illegal,' he says with a guilty smile, to see how they would grow

in his desert greenhouses. Soon, he was growing basil, oregano, tarragon,

chives, sage, marjoram and melissa, and mint just to name a few.

 

His business began to outgrow his desert facilities, and so he decided to

move north, settling in the moshav of Kfar Yedidya, an hour and a half north of

Tel Aviv. He is now selling 'several hundred kilos' of lemon grass per week,

and has signed with a distributor to package and put it in health food

stores. Zabidov has taken it upon himself to learn more about the properties of

citral, and help his customers learn more, and has invited medical experts to

his farm to give lectures about how the citral works and why.

 

He also felt a responsibility to know what to tell his customers about its

use. 'When I realized what was happening, I picked up the phone and called Dr.

Weinstein at Ben-Gurion University, because these people were asking me

exactly the best way to consume the citral. He said to put the loose grass in

hot

water, and drink about eight glasses each day.'

 

Zabidov is pleased by the findings, not simply because it means business for

his farm, but because it might influence his own health. Even before the

news of its benefits were demonstrated, he and his family had been drinking

lemon grass in hot water for years, 'just because it tastes good.

 

 

_http://www.ayushveda.com/womens-magazine/benefits-of-lemon-grass/_

(http://www.ayushveda.com/womens-magazine/benefits-of-lemon-grass/) (Other

Benefits of Lemongrass)

 

_http://hubpages.com/hub/Health-Benefits-of-Lemon-Grass_

(http://hubpages.com/hub/Health-Benefits-of-Lemon-Grass) (Benefits of

Lemongrass)

 

_http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enZone=Health & enDisplay=view & enPage=Blank

Page & enDispWhat=object & enDispWho=Articles%5El1272_

(http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enZone=Health & enDisplay=view & enPage=BlankPa\

ge & enDispWhat=object & enDi

spWho=Articles^l1272)

 

(Lemongrass used for cancer)

 

 

 

**************Nothing says I love you like flowers! Find a florist near you

now. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=florist & ncid=emlcntusyelp00000001)

 

 

 

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