Manuka honey is unique. It is produced from the nectar of nervousa speciesspecies d’tea treetea tree native to New Zealand and southeastern Australia. Due to its numerous health benefits, it is one of the foods called “nutraceuticals”. It has long been recognized for its antibacterial and antioxidant properties, but it is also rich in complex carbohydrates, amino acids, flavonoids, vitamins, and mineralsminerals : so many compounds which have demonstrated potential anticanceranticancer.
Did you know?
The term “nutraceutical” is a contraction of “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical”. It is the set of food substances which present, in addition to nutritional value, numerous health benefits. While the name was initially coined in 1989 by Stephen DeFelice, founder and president of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicineit is today often used as a marketing argument. Nutraceuticals is the generic name for the industry of food supplements based on active ingredients found in nature.
Remarkable effectiveness on hormone-dependent cancers
The researchers of theUCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center conducted experiments on mice with the two most common types of breast cancer, ER+ MCF-7 and triple negative MDA-MB-231. The results, published in the journal Nutrientsshow that manuka honey reduces the growth and proliferation of tumor cells without affecting healthy cells or causing major side effects: it is therefore capable of targeting cancer cells. On the ER+ cell line, it reduces the growth of tumor cells by 84% and on the triple negative cell line, although the antitumor effect is more modest, it remains dose-dependent.
A natural and less toxic alternative to traditional chemotherapy
According to researchers, manuka honey acts at the molecular level, by blocking receptors for estrogenestrogen present on tumor cells, thus inhibiting their growth and proliferation. Thus, it would improve the effectiveness of anti-estrogenic drugs, such as tamoxifen, when used together. However, in the case of ER+ cancers, which represent 70% of cases of cancers be youcancers be youanti-estrogen treatment may cause resistorsresistors secondary at the level of endocrine systemendocrine system. Consequence: the chemotherapychemotherapy becomes the only solution. According to Dr. Diana Márquez-Garbán, associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine from UCLA and lead author of the study, “ these results give hope for the development of a natural and less toxic alternative to traditional chemotherapy ».
These five AIs improve the diagnosis of breast cancer
In fact, patients who have developed resistance to therapiestherapies Traditional medicines could potentially use manuka honey as a natural supplement, or even as the only treatment, in cases of estrogen-positive hormone-dependent breast cancers.
