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Dr. Mercola
April 08 2008
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The Truth About Grapefruit and Breast Cancer

grapefruitA recent chain e-mail has made some people concerned about eating grapefruit. According to the messages, a 2007 study in The British Journal of Cancer found an increased risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women who ate large amounts of grapefruit.

The study is real; it looked at more than 46,000 women, and those who ate half a grapefruit every other day had a 30 percent higher risk of breast cancer compared to those who ate none.

However, a more recent report, which followed more than 77,000 women over the course of many years, found no rise in breast cancer related to either grapefruit or grapefruit juice.

Experts at the American Cancer Society said that there was insufficient evidence to raise alarm, but that women with concerns could cut back on grapefruit.

Dr. MercolaDr. Mercola's Comments:
Should you “cut back on grapefruit,” as the American Cancer Society suggests, if you are worried about getting breast cancer? Well, there are numerous reasons why you may want to limit your grapefruit intake, but a link to cancer would not be a top one in my opinion.

Grapefruit, when eaten in its whole, fresh form, actually contains many beneficial bioflavanoids and nutrients. For instance, grapefruit contains:
  • Enzymes that impact the way your body deals with sugar making it less likely to be laid down as fat. This may be helpful in preventing obesity and diabetes.
  • The flavonoid naringin, which is metabolized into naringenin, an antioxidant reported to help lower cholesterol levels and fight hepatitis C.
  • Lots of vitamin C, which promotes healing, lessens damage caused by free radical molecules, and may help reduce gum disease.
  • Compounds that boost the activity of liver detoxification enzymes, which help to clear cancer-causing toxins from your body.
Why You Might Want to Skip Grapefruit

If you love grapefruit and do not have any signs of elevated insulin levels (such as obesity, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol), then eating some of this fresh fruit is reasonable.

However, even though it tastes sour, grapefruit is loaded with fruit sugar, which means that it will cause your insulin levels to increase. You want to avoid spikes in your insulin levels, as this can lead to insulin resistance and its associated problems, like diabetes and premature aging.

This is the main reason why I suggest you limit your fruit intake altogether. You can get many of the same beneficial properties from eating veggies -- without having to worry about increasing your blood sugar and insulin levels.

There is one group of people who can safely add some fruit to their diets, however, and that is people who are carb nutritional types. Carb types normally feel best when most of their food is carbohydrate (mostly from veggies, but also from some fruit). However, if you are a protein nutritional type, grapefruit would be one of the last things you should be eating, as its high sugar content would be too much for your system (which actually requires a low-carb, high-protein and high-fat diet).

So I highly suggest that you find out your nutritional type if you love to eat fruit like grapefruit, as this will tell you whether the fruit is something that will push your body into, or out of, balance.

Reducing Your Risk of Breast Cancer

Most cancer, including breast cancer, is caused by a combination of environmental toxins, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, and emotional conflicts.

According to Dr. Geerd Hamer, who re-discovered the natural laws of what he now calls the German New Medicine, for instance, certain breast cancers can occur after traumatic events related to the potential, or actual, loss of a child. Your body responds to the acute emotional crisis by increasing cell proliferation in your milk ducts, because your biological solution to saving your child’s life is to make sure you have plenty of milk to nurse your child back to health, and in so doing resolve the emotional crisis, which is “my child is hurt, or dying.”

Depending on the emotional trauma, different parts of your brain are affected, which in turn determines which part of your body may start proliferating cells (conventional medicine calls this cancer).

So, you see, preventing cancer cannot possibly be as simple as “cutting back on grapefruit” or doing any other ONE thing. It has to be a multi-level approach that involves shifting your lifestyle to one that promotes your self-healing abilities.

Fortunately, an “anti-cancer lifestyle” is well within your reach. It involves these 12 key steps:

  1. Reduce your processed food, sugar and grain carbohydrate intake. Yes, this is even true for whole unprocessed organic grains as they tend to rapidly break down and drive your insulin and leptin levels up, which is the last thing you need to have happening if you are seeking to resolve a cancer.

   2. Control your fasting insulin and leptin levels. This is the end result, and can be easily monitored with the use of simple and relatively inexpensive blood tests.

   3. Normalize your ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats by taking a high-quality krill oil or fish oil and reducing your intake of most processed vegetable oils.

   4. Get regular exercise. One of the primary reasons exercise works is that it drives your insulin levels down. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks.

   5. Normalize your vitamin D levels by getting plenty of sunlight exposure, and consider careful supplementation when this is not possible. If you take oral vitamin D and have a cancer it would be very prudent to monitor your vitamin D blood levels regularly.

   6. Get a good night's sleep.

   7. Eat according to your nutritional type. The potent anti-cancer effects of this principle are very much underappreciated. When we treat cancer patients in our clinic this is one of the most powerful anti-cancer strategies we have.

   8. Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution.

   9. Limit your exposure and provide protection for yourself from information-carrying radio waves produced by cell phone towers, base stations, phones and WiFi stations.

  10. Avoid frying or charbroiling your food. Boil, poach or steam your foods instead.

  11. Have a tool to permanently reprogram the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. Energy psychology seems to be one of the best approaches and my particular favorite tool, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). German New Medicine is another powerful tool.

  12. Use broccoli sprouts as an adjunct to everything above unless you simply do not like broccoli.
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Community Comments ( 32 )
 Comment on this Article
  
  
New to Natural
 [ Joined on 11/07 ] [ Posted on March 27, 2008 ]
9 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
So, the American Cancer Society suggests that if you have concerns, you can lessen the amount of grapefruit you consume. 

I wonder what they would recommend replacing the grapefruit with?  Probably powdered donuts and a diet soda. 

Can we say "USELESS?" 
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
allfornaturalhealth
 		[ Joined on 02/08 ]  [ Posted on March 27, 2008]
6 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola
I agree!!! The cancer was probably the result of unhealthy eating, not grapefruits.
Mercola
  
Coconut123
 		[ Joined on 04/07 ]  [ Posted on April 9, 2008]
1 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

**************************

What?? Baking Soda and Maple Syrup??

**************************

Remember Dr. Tullio Simoncini and his treatment of cancer as a fungus? If not, you can

reread an article called "Cancer Is A Fungus" in my August 2, 2007 newsletter.

It's at:

www.Beating-Cancer-Gently.com/nl108.html

If you recall, I quoted several holistic physicians in that article including Dr. Mark

Sircus. I interviewed Dr. Sircus for my web talk radio show a couple of weeks ago. We got

to comparing notes. It seems we had both received a copy of the same magazine article

from one of my readers. The article was entitled "Country Doctor Cures Cancer --

With Baking Soda & Maple Syrup!" There was no date on the article, but it was a

syndicated article from Weekly World News written by George Sanford. The location (of all

places) was Asheville, North Carolina, where I live.

The story told of Jim Kelmun, a 75-year old former truck driver and his success in

helping people heal cancer using -- you guessed it -- baking soda and maple syrup. Seein'

as how I'm a 76-year old former airplane driver who has helped a couple thousand people

recover from cancer, I figured ol' Jim from Asheville and I had a lot in common and I

better pass on his story (and Dr. Mark's reaction to it) to you, my loyal readers, and

see what you think.

First, here's a short quote from the story, so you get the drift.

"'There's not a tumor on God's green Earth that can't be licked with a little baking

soda and maple syrup!'

That's the astonishing claim of controversial folk healer Jim Kelmun -- who says his

simple home remedy can stop and reverse the growth of deadly cancers.

[Kelmun]...has no medical degree and authorities are demanding that he stop dispensing

his 'wonder drug' -- or face a prison sentence.

But his loyal patients swear by the man they fondly call 'Dr. Jim' -- and say he's a

miracle worker.

'Dr Jim cured me of lung cancer,' declares farmer Ian Rodhouse, 64. 'Those other
  
  
Wilde1
 [ Joined on 10/07 ] [ Posted on April 8, 2008 ]
8 Points        
   
 
Novice User

grapefruit = BAD

radiation = GOOD

allopathic medicine = STUPID

 [ Reply ]
  
  
ThomasT
 [ Joined on 06/06 ] [ Posted on April 8, 2008 ]
6 Points        
   
 
Apprentice User

Grapefruit contains a chemical compund called naringenin. This chemical acts as an allergen to specific organs. The targeted organ becomes inflamed, and thus allows the inflamed organ to accept the cancer nucleus and the cancer complex, thus becoming malignant. The  naringenin targeted organs are throat, prostate, thymus, tongue, and tonsil. So if you are up to date on the science, grapefruit is off the menu. As to whether it prevents breast cancer,  It has some vitamin C and bioflavanoids, BUT, unless the diet/supplementation  includes  germanium and organic selenium, (in order for the white blood cells to efficiently clean up virii, bacteria, dyes, parasites etc) then the small amount of Vit C in the grapefruit would soon, in any case, be knocked out by ingested radioactive particles, which also form part of the cancer complex. A much larger Vit C supplementation with bioflavanoids, germaniun and organic selenium, WILLL make the difference. BUT, there is much more to this science. The Cure and Prevention Of All Cancers, 2007, RH Clark PhD ND

 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
no nonsense
 		[ Joined on 07/07 ]  [ Posted on April 8, 2008]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

I give you props for mentioning Hulda Clark.  I think everyone here should get aquainted with her excellent work in the field of parasitology as well as with Bob Beck's.  It would shed a bright light on what, according to them, the real culprit of deceases are.
  
  
jsab
 [ Joined on 05/07 ] [ Posted on April 8, 2008 ]
5 Points        
   
 
Novice User

Question! :)

Cellular biologists like Dr. Bruce Lipton, and many other scientists tell us that cell membranes, and their receptors, are made up of fats, proteins, and sugars. Now, if the body is literally a community of trillions of cells (and bacteria), and the outer layer of those trillions of cells are partly made of sugars, why would eating healthy fruit sugars not be good for us? What are our cells supposed to build themselves with if we don't supply them with those required healthy sugars? Isn't this why supplementing with glyconutrients and saccharides has been so successful for multitudes of people? Are these sugars not the same kind of sugars? Are "fruit sugars" not the same as glyconutrients and saccharides? Maybe healthy sugars need to be combined with other nutrients in order to be properly and optimally utilized by the body/cells?

I understand the whole insulin thing as I've been an avid reader of this site for quite some time, but I'm obviously missing something... or Mercola is... or we all are. Can anybody help me out here?

 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
aemit
 		[ Joined on 08/07 ]  [ Posted on April 9, 2008]
2 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Yes, I also agree that there is something wrong with this theory of Dr. Mercola of not eating fruit. I believe that one should eat BOTH fruits and vegetables and preferably, the fruits in the morning and vegetables in the afternoon/evening. I eat some kind of fresh fruit every morning. After I get up, I first drink 2 glasses of RO water and after a while, eat the one whatever fruit. Then, again after some time I will eat something for breakfast. But the water & later fruit routine is a standard for me every day. I also eat a lot of vegetables, salads especially. A nice freshly made salad with various vegetables & avocado, self-made dressing is just heavenly! But, I would never miss my morning fruit!
  
  
C Ed Wright
 [ Joined on 06/07 ] [ Posted on April 8, 2008 ]
5 Points        
   
 
Savvy User

I seriously wonder if such nonsensical "studies" directly conflicting other "studies" are a deliberate concerted program to cause the general public to throw up their hands in utter confusionand frustration and give up entirely any effort to take responsibility for their own health, bedeviled by a maze of seemingly useless misinformation impossible for most people to even try to decipher.

However, Nutritional Typing aside, it should be a matter of common sense to know that any whole real food is infinitely preferable to any Soilent Green manufactured Foodah.

The first clue (other than common sense) that the first "study" was bogus was its characterization of half a grapefruit every other day as "large amounts" -- as opposed to what, licking the zest once a week?

 [ Reply ]
  
  
Dr Rik
[ Joined on 11/06 ] [ Posted on April 8, 2008 ]
5 Points        
   
 
Savvy User

gimme a break. Show me somebody who has "health problems" including diabetes from eating too much fruit

 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Perka
 		[ Joined on 10/06 ]  [ Posted on April 8, 2008]
3 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Amen!  What I want to know is, if grapefruit is so high in "fruit sugars," why is it so low in calories?  Makes no sense at all.  Oranges are so much sweeter.  
  
  
Islander
 [ Joined on 03/07 ] [ Posted on April 8, 2008 ]
4 Points        
   
 
Moderator User

Somewhere on a page devoted to grapefruit, the information should appear that consumption of grapefruit pulp, juice or peel can result in severe adverse drug interactions... with Viagra, Valium, Zoloft, several of the statins and a number of others. Go here for details:

www.mayoclinic.com/.../AN00413

 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Burt G
 		[ Joined on 06/07 ]  [ Posted on April 9, 2008]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Thank you, Islander.

Finally someone said it. THE war is between nature /natural food substances vs. dr. frankenstein created drugs!

Gee, if I have a choice between giving up "my" drugs /meds (users feel a real ownership -even if insurance $$ pay for them) OR giving up fresh grapefruit, which will I choose??

Oh, and get that Zoloft addict another cup of coffee and a candy bar, will ya?
  
  
BeyondOrganic
 [ Joined on 06/06 ] [ Posted on April 8, 2008 ]
4 Points        
   
 
Savvy User

I specifically remember reading not too long ago that grapefruit was top on the list for preventing breast cancer in particular!  It seems when one says something will prevent a disease, there is always some other study telling you the complete opposite!!!  Very, very frustrating for me!  I am going to continue eating my organic grapefruits when I want them!  Our world is so polluted, I highly doubt grapefruit could be a cause for breast cancer.  However, the conventionally grown ones I don't doubt could contribute to the disease.

 [ Reply ]
  
  
seg
 [ Joined on 11/06 ] [ Posted on March 27, 2008 ]
3 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
THE BOTTOM LINE
Studies have produced conflicting information on a link, if any, between grapefruit and breast cancer risk.

So what are they trying to say here people, what, pray tell me i'm all ears.......I wonder what else these people ate, or their current health status or age or  activity levels.... but wait lemme back up a bit ,who funded these useless,incomplete,incompetent ,waste of good time and money studies. Is it just me these people are pissing of.....Studies like these just proves my point, we have to get good sound information on ALL FRONTS, we have to else how else could we safely say it was the grapefruit that's increasing the risk .........

Just another waste of time flawed studies so if you enjoy grapefruit by all means have it and if you're sceptical as most people would be now then eat moderately......
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
sobber
 		[ Joined on 10/07 ]  [ Posted on April 8, 2008]
1 Points        
   
This user is BELOW novice level and all their comments need to be reviewed with great caution.
  Mercola

Hopefully they use their own bank accounts for these junk studies... ;so the grapfruit causes the cancer... I thought cancer is caused by toxins, heavy metals,msg, arificial coloring, vacciness,irradiated food but now I can sleep sound just dont eat my grapefruit and I will be OK -_-
  
  
richyUT
 [ Joined on 06/06 ] [ Posted on April 16, 2008 ]
2 Points        
   
 
Novice User

I don't see anything about the compounding e