Health Benefits of Graviola (Soursop)

[This is an interesting article found in the webpage of www.health.centreforce.com for your reading pleasure]

Today, the future of cancer treatment and the chances of survival look more promising than ever. There's a healing tree that grows deep within the Amazon rain forest in South America that could literally change how you, your doctor, and possibly the rest of the world think about curing cancer. With extracts from this powerful tree, it may now be possible to ...

* conquer cancer safely and effectively with an all-natural therapy that doesn't cause extreme nausea, weight loss, and hair loss

* protect your immune system and evade deadly infections

* feel strong and healthy throughout the course of treatment

* boost your energy and improve your outlook on life

Through a series of confidential communications involving a researcher from one of America's largest pharmaceutical companies, this ancient tree's anticancerous properties have recently come to light. Although not yet tested in human trials, the tree has been studied in more than 20 laboratory tests since the 1970s, where it's been shown to :

* effectively target and kill malignant cells in 12 different types of cancer, including colon, breast, prostate, lung, and pancreatic cancer

* be 10,000 times stronger in killing colon cancer cells than Adriamycin, a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug

* selectively hunt down and kill cancer cells without harming healthy cells, unlike chemotherapy.

So why isn't every health publication extolling the benefits of this treatment? Why hasn't it been made widely available throughout the natural-medicine community? And, if it's only half as promising as it appears to be, why isn't every oncologist at every major hospital insisting on using it on all his patients? Especially when you consider that since the early 1990s, extensive independent research--including research by one of today's leading drug companies and by the National Cancer Institute--confirms that the tree's chemical extracts attack and destroy cancer cells with lethal precision.

Graviola is 10,000 times stronger in killing colon cancer than Adriamycin, a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug.

The answer to these difficult questions can only be explained by recounting a disturbing story we recently uncovered. More than anything else we've reported on this year, the story of this Amazon cancer treatment reinforces the need for groups like HSI and illustrates how easily our options for medical treatment are controlled by money and power.News of this amazing tree was nearly lost forever

A confidential source, whose account we've been able to independently confirm, revealed that a billion-dollar drug company in the United States tried for nearly seven years to synthesize two of the tree's most powerful anticancerous chemicals. In the early 1990s, behind lock and key, this well-known drug giant began searching for a cure for cancer--while preciously guarding their opportunity to patent it and, therefore, profit from it. Research focused on a legendary healing tree called Graviola. Parts of the tree--including the bark, leaves, roots, fruit, and fruit seeds--had been used for centuries by medicine men and native Indians in South America to treat heart disease, asthma, liver problems, and arthritis. Going on little documented scientific evidence, the company poured money and resources into testing Graviola's anticancerous properties--and they were shocked by the results. Graviola was a cancer-killing dynamo. But that's where the story of Graviola nearly ended.

The pharmaceutical company had a big problem. They'd spent years trying to isolate and create man-made duplicates of two of the tree's most powerful chemicals. But they'd hit a brick wall.

They couldn't replicate the original. And they couldn't sell the tree extract itself profitably-because federal law mandates that natural substances can't be patented. That meant the company couldn't protect its profits on the project it had poured millions of dollars and nearly seven years of research into.

As the dream of big profits evaporated, testing on Graviola came to a screeching halt After seven frustrating years and without the promise of lucrative sales, the company shelved the project and refused to publish its findings in an independent journal. But one responsible researcher struggled with the decision. While understanding the company's goal of profits, he couldn't accept the decision to hide this unique cancer killer from the world. Following his conscience and risking his career, he contacted Raintree Nutrition, a company dedicated to harvesting plants from the Amazon.

As a result, Raintree went into high gear and began to research related studies published on Graviola. They discovered that several other teams in the United States (in addition to that of the drug company) had been testing Graviola in vitro (in test tubes). The results supported the drug company's secret findings; Graviola had been shown to kill cancer cells.

Encouraged by these early laboratory tests, Raintree hired indigenous Indian tribes in Brazil to grow and harvest the tree. They spent a year on research and development and then began offering Graviola in the United States. They also developed a new supplement called N-Tense, which contains 50 percent Graviola as well as smaller amounts of seven other cancer-killing botanical extracts.

Health Sciences Institute came across Graviola and Raintree Nutrition a few months ago while researching Chanca Piedra, a natural kidney-stone therapy from the Amazon, that was featured in our September 2000 issue. In the course of our working together, Raintree pointed us toward Graviola. And needless to say, our panel of experts were intrigued by the possibility of this powerful natural cure for cancer.

Graviola hunts down and destroys prostate, lung, breast,colon, and pancreatic cancers... leaving healthy cells alone Since November, we've been looking closely into the research to date on Graviola. It appears one of the first scientific references to it in the United States was by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
In 1976, the NCI included Graviola in a plant-screening program that showed its leaves and stems were effective in attacking and destroying malignant cells. But the results were part of an internal NCI report and were, for some reason, never released to the public.

Since 1976, there have been several promising cancer studies on Graviola. However, the tree's extracts have yet to be tested on cancer patients. No double-blind clinical trials exist, and clinical trials are typically the benchmark mainstream doctors and journals use to judge a treatment's value. Nevertheless, Graviola has been shown to kill cancer cells in vitro in at least 20 laboratory tests that our research has uncovered.

The most recent study, conducted at Catholic University of South Korea earlier this year, revealed that two chemicals extracted from Graviola seeds showed "selective cytotoxicity comparable with Adriamycin" for breast and colon cancer cells. The chemicals targeted and killed malignant breast and colon cells in a test tube, comparable to the commonly used chemotherapy drug Adriamycin.

Another study, published in the Journal of Natural Products, showed that Graviola is not only comparable to Adriamycin--but dramatically outperforms it in laboratory tests. Results showed that one chemical found in Graviola selectively killed colon cancer cells at "10,000 times" the potency of Adriamycin.

Graviola selectively targets cancer cells leaving healthy cells untouched. Chemotherapy indiscriminately seeks and destroys all actively reproducing cells - even normal, healthy ones.

Other promising and ongoing research at Purdue University is supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute. Purdue researchers recently found that leaves from the Graviola tree killed cancer cells "among six human-cell lines" and were especially effective against prostate and pancreatic cancer cells.4 In a separate study, Purdue researchers showed that extracts from the Graviola leaves are extremely effective in isolating and killing lung cancer cells.

Perhaps the most significant result of the study cited above from the Catholic University of South Korea, and of each of the others we've found, is that Graviola was shown to selectively target the enemy--leaving all healthy, normal cells untouched. By comparison, chemotherapy indiscriminately seeks and destroys all actively reproducing cells--even normal hair and stomach cells. This is what causes such often-devastating side effects as hair loss and severe nausea. In this respect, Graviola looks to be a promising alternative or supplement to mainstream treatments.

Patient reports show Graviola and N-Tense help eliminate tumors From a clinical standpoint, Graviola still has a long way to go. Its properties have only been studied in a test tube. That's why it has yet to become widely known and accepted. The unfortunate truth is that without the promise of huge revenues from a synthesized, patented drug, it's unlikely that any pharmaceutical company will invest the hundreds of thousands (even millions) of dollars it would take to conduct the double-blind, placebo-controlled studies on humans. This is the underlying challenge to substantiating most nutritional therapies. Fortunately, Graviola is a natural substance, so we don't have to wait around for the drug companies. And, thanks to one researcher with a conscience, Raintree Nutrition bravely took the initiative in making this promising cure available.

Only a relative handful of doctors and patients in the United States have been using Graviola and the Graviola-rich botanical supplement N-Tense to fight cancer. Still, according to Raintree Nutrition, the combined therapy has produced some incredible results.

One such case history involved an executive at a high-tech company in Texas. Daryl S. came across Raintree when exploring alternative treatments to cure his prostate cancer. A sonogram and biopsy confirmed that Daryl had more than 20 tumors in his prostate. One doctor recommended surgery. But Daryl thought a cure using this common conventional treatment would come at too great a cost. He didn't want to suffer from impotence and incontinence for the rest of his life. Instead, he agreed to a far less invasive round of hormonal therapy (to shrink the size of his prostate) and began a rigorous supplement regimen that centered around the Graviola-rich supplement N-Tense.

Within two months, Daryl's PSA level had dropped from 4.1 to 0.00. A sonogram and several other gamma-ray tests later confirmed that all the malignant tumors inside his prostate had disappeared.Seven years of silence broken We are continuing to work with Raintree and others conducting ongoing research on Graviola. As more scientific and anecdotal evidence comes to light, you'll be among the first to hear about it. However, after seven years of silence and hidden research, we felt it irresponsible not to bring this to you now.Grown and harvested by indigenous people in Brazil, Graviola is available in limited supply in the United States and distributed only through Raintree Nutrition. But now, you can be among a select few in the entire country to benefit from Graviola. We encourage you, as always, to consult with your doctor before beginning any new therapy, especially when treating cancer.You can make tea out of the Graviola leaves, obtain the herb alone in capsule form, or benefit from the power of Graviola combined with seven other immune-boosting herbs in Raintree Nutrition's N-Tense capsules.

Graviola fights more than cancer...

While the research on Graviola has focused on its cancer-fighting effect, the plant has been used for centuries by medicine men in South America to treat an astonishing number of ailments, including :

hypertension, ringworm, influenza, scurvy, rashes, malaria, neuralgia, dysentery, arthritis, palpitations, rheumatism, nervousness, high blood pressure, insomnia, diarrhea, fever, nausea, boils, dyspepsia, muscle spasm, ulcer,

Despite the mounting collection of laboratory tests and anecdotal reports about this cancer-fighting dynamo, Graviola may always remain an underground therapy!

Graviola has yet to be clinically tested on animals or humans. And because Graviola is a natural product, it can't be patented. Without the promise of exclusive sales and high profitability, it will likely never again draw the attention of a major drug company or research lab. So we may never see a double-blind clinical study on the tree that's reported to help defeat cancer. But there's no doubt about it--the early laboratory tests and anecdotal reports about Graviola are very exciting. And if you've been diagnosed with cancer, you and your doctor should look at all the available treatment options. Graviola may just provide the help you've been looking for that could make all the difference in beating cancer..


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COMMON NAMES : Soursop, Graviola, Guanabana, Brazilian Paw Paw, Corossolier, Guanavana, Toge-Banreisi, Durian benggala, Nangka blanda, Nangka londa

PARTS USED : Leaves, Seeds, Fruit

PROPERTIES/ACTIONS : Antibacterial, Anticancerous, Antiparasitic, Antitumorous, Antispasmodic, Astringent, Cytotoxic, Febrifuge, Hypotensive, Insecticide, Nervine, Pectoral, Piscicide, Sedative, Stomachic, Vasodilator, Vermifuge

TRADITIONAL USES : Analgesic, Antispasmodic, Asthma, Astringent, Childbirth, Chills, Fevers, Flu, Diuretic, Gall-Bladder Tea, Glactagogue, Hypertension, High Blood Pressure, Insomnia, Lactagogue, Nervousness, Neuralgia, Palpitation, Parasites, Rash, Rheumatism, Ringworm, Sedative, Scurvy, Skin Disease, Tranquilizer, Vermifuge

TRADITIONAL REMEDY : One-half cup leaf infusion or bark decoction 1-3 times daily or 1-3 ml of a 4:1 tincture twice daily or 2 to 5 grams of powdered leaves in tablets or capsules twice daily.