Anti-Cancer Compound Found in Sauerkraut

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Anti-Cancer Compound Found in Sauerkraut

On of my favourite Romanian foods is saurkraut althought it is called pickled cabbage (fermented cabbage made from cabbage, water, and salt - thats' all: no preservatives or a long list of chemicals).
It has amazing benefits: it aids digestion, it produces natural enzymes so you don;t have to spend a lot on enzymes from health food stores, increases vitamin absorbtion, fights cancer!!!

Read the interesting article bellow:
http://www.regaininghealthnaturally.com/Food_as_Medicine/sauerkraut.htm

Sauerkraut
The purpose of food is to provide your body with the nutrients it needs to function properly?a simple concept, but hard to grasp in our fast-paced society. Rarely do people eat food with the intention of nourishing their body. Instead, most people just grab something quick and convenient to make the hungry feeling go away, or they binge on junk food out of habit, boredom, as a "reward," or as a way to distract themselves from negative feelings. Eating for any of those reasons can lead to poor food choices, poor eating habits, and ultimately, poor digestive function. The first step in improving the health of your digestive system is to improve the quality of the food that you put in your body. The more natural your food, the better digested it will be. Having good probiotic foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, and kombucha in your refridgerator that you can grab when you are hungry is vital for people who live in our fast paced society. Where fresh juices and meals made from scratch can take time to prepare, already made fermented foods keep for a very, very long time, are loaded with nutrients and good "friendly" bacteria, making them an excellent choice for those times when you are hungry and might tend to make a poor food choice.

How did Sauerkraut originate?
Sauerkraut is generally believed to have been brought to Europe by nomadic Tartars, who are said to have encountered fermented cabbage in China, which has an extremely ancient and varied fermentation tradition. In Asia, fermented cabbage is called Kimchi and is usually spiced up a bit with radishes, turnips, scallions, other vegetables and often sea food. In addition they add ginger, hot red chili pepper, garlic and often fish sauce. Kimchi is a national passion in South and North Korea. The Korean Food Research Institute estimates that the average adult Korean consumes more than 4 oz of Kimchi a day, every day. The Japanese have become Korea?s biggest export market for kimchi. Sauerkraut is the German name. In some families of southern Germany, the children are fed raw sauerkraut twice weekly to support their intestines. The French call their fermented cabbage: Choucroute. It is prepared in any number of regional styles across Europe. In Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, cabbage is generally soured whole, in great barrels. A Russian variation uses apples to sweeten the kraut. Wherever you go around the world, it is likely you can find a fermented cabbage food.

How Does Sauerkraut Ferment?
Most people are surprised to find that the fermentation of cabbage into sauerkraut is not the work of a single microorganism. Sauerkraut, like most fermentation processes, is made by the succession of several different microbial agents. Initially bacteria called Coliform bacteria begin the fermentation. These bacteria are found everywhere, including soil. They are not harmful and can become very beneficial if one wants to ferment vegetables. As the coliform bacteria produce acids (there are many acids that are produced, lactic acid being one of them) the environment becomes more favorable for Leuconostoc bacteria to live. As the Leuconostoc bacteria become predominant, the culture becomes more and more acidic. As more acids are produced, there is a decrease in the pH of the culture and Lactobacillus bacteria take over. The fermentation of sauerkraut involves the succession of these three different groups (or types) of bacteria. Each stage is directed primarily by the pH, (or acidity) of the culture.

What is Fermentation?
The definition of fermentation is "breaking down into simpler components". Fermentation makes the foods easier to digest and the nutrients easier to assimilate. In effect, much of the work of digestion is done for you. Since it doesn't use heat, fermentation also retains enzymes, vitamins, and other nutrients that are usually destroyed by food processing.

The active cultures that pre-digest the food as part of the fermentation process actually generate nutrients. So there are more vitamins--especially B-vitamins--and minerals like iron are released from the chemical bonds that prevent them from being assimilated. In effect, the nutritional value of a food goes up when it has been fermented.

The fermentation process also preserves the food. You start with a wholesome, raw food and preserve it in a way that leaves its nutrients intact, so you have the health benefits of raw food without having to run to the grocery store frequently.

Is Sauerkraut Healthy?
Cabbage is a member of the Brassicacea family. Other vegetables in this family include broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, mustard, kale, collards, bok choi, and turnips, though there are many others. This particular family has long been recognized as rich in anti-carcinogenic nutrients. However, according to a new Finnish study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2002 October, fermentation breaks down glucosinolates in cabbage into compounds called isothiocyanates, which are already known to fight cancer. ?We are finding that fermented cabbage could be healthier than raw or cooked cabbage, especially for fighting cancer,? says Eeva-Liisa Ryhanen, one of the paper?s authors. [Cited by Ross Grant, ?Fermenting Foments a Cancer Fighter?, Health Scout News Reporter 24 October 2002. "Our study implies that fermented cabbage can be a good source of plant-derived bioactive compounds such as breakdown products of glucosinolates," Dr. Eeva-Liisa Ryhanen, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.

The following excerpt can be found at the Journal of the National Cancer Institute?s Website:

Anti-Cancer Compound Found in Sauerkraut
Finnish researchers have identified a compound in sauerkraut that appears to have anti-cancer activity.

Eeva-Liisa Ryh?nen, of the MTT Agrifood Research Finland, in Jokioinen, and her colleagues looked at a variety of biologically active compounds in sauerkraut and found that the fermentation process releases enzymes that break down the compound glucosinolate into several products, including isothiocynates. Past animal studies had found that isothiocynates appeared to prevent the growth of cancer, particularly in the breast, colon, lung, and liver. Further studies are needed to determine the effect of isothiocynates on humans, the researchers say.
They are currently examining whether different starter cultures will alter the breakdown of glucosinolate and lead to higher levels of anti-cancer compounds in sauerkraut. The study appears in the October 23 issue of the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

The study (Tolonen M., et al. J Agric Food Chem 2002;22) is available from the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry at http://pubs.acs.org/journals/jafcau/.

How can Sauerkraut be used as a Digestive Aid?
Besides the isothiocynates and other potential cancer fighting compounds that may be in sauerkraut, the friendly lactobacilli created in the fermenting process aid digestion, increase vitamin levels, produce a variety of beneficial enzymes and promote the growth of healthy flora throughout the digestive tract. Digestion is a key issue in any type of health problem and one of the most important factors influencing our total well-being. Any and all diseases and conditions can be caused, worsened or related to digestion.

Non-pasteurized, raw, fermented cabbage contains both lactic acid and probiotic bacteria which help with digestion and may weaken infections. Lactic acid inhibits the growth of bacteria such as Ecoli and yeasts such as Candida albacans in the digestive tract. It has been shown to help keep bacterial growth ?under control?. Lactic acid does not inhibit the growth of good probiotic flora, however. Eating sauerkraut is a great way to protect the balance of bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract. Sauerkraut is one of the few foods that contain the bacterium Lactobacilli plantarum. L. planatarum is a very dominant strain of healthy bacteria that helps your digestive system. L. planatarum along with other ?friendly? microorganisms help to create antioxidants (glutathione and superoxide dismustase) that scavenge free radicals. They help to transform the hard-to-digest milk sugar, lactose. These friendly organisms have actually been shown to neutralize anti-nutrients such as phytic acid found in all grains and the trypsin-inhibitors in soy. Fermented foods are also said to facilitate the breakdown and assimilation of proteins. The benefits of sauerkraut and sauerkraut juice have been recognized for generations. They have a soothing effect on the nervous system. Today it is thought that these benefits may relate to a high proportion of lactic acid in sauerkraut and sauerkraut juice that naturally supports the digestive processes, maintain intestinal flora, and increase the feeling of well-being. Below is an article sponsored by the US Surgeon General at the Medical Reserve Corps Site:

Some Humor Related to Avian Flu
By Karen Herzog
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MILWAUKEE - While President Bush scrambles to ward off an avian-flu pandemic, the world's largest sauerkraut producer, tucked amid the glacial lakebeds of rural Wisconsin, is sitting atop a bumper crop of one possible preventative. That's right: sauerkraut.

An international buzz is surrounding the unassuming fermented cabbage.
Kang Sa-Ouk and other scientists at Seoul National University in South Korea fed an extract of kimchi, a spicy Korean variant of sauerkraut, to 13 chickens infected with avian flu, and a week later, 11 of the birds started to recover, according to a report by the BBC Network (October 2005).

"Unlike the government, we've got the preventative, and 115,000 tons of it in Wisconsin alone," said Ryan Downs, owner and general manager of Great Lakes Kraut Co., which has sauerkraut factories in Bear Creek and Shiocton, Wis., and in Shortsville, N.Y.

Downs said more extensive scientific research is needed to prove any curative link to avian flu, but he's more than happy to tout kraut as a healthful part of any diet.
"People are starting to realize kraut is a pretty doggone good food," Downs said when contacted about the South Korean study. "We're ready to help keep the world healthy." Several television and radio stations across the United States have picked up the BBC story, said Steve Lundin, spokesman for Frank's Sauerkraut, based in Fremont, Ohio.

After a Minneapolis CBS affiliate did its own story on sauerkraut's potential in the battle against avian flu, Frank's checked 54 Twin City area stores it supplies, and found an 850 percent spike in overall sauerkraut sales, Lundin said."People will do whatever they can if they can't rely on the government to provide them with a vaccine or other preventative," Lundin said. South Koreans reportedly are eating more kimchi since news of the study came out. But Korean researchers acknowledged that if kimchi actually caused the effects they observed, it was unclear why Men's Health magazine fed the sauerkraut buzz in its November issue, suggesting Americans put together pandemic kits containing a few cans of sauerkraut, among other nonperishable foods, because - like kimchi - it is packed with lactic-acid bacteria "shown by Korean researchers to speed recovery of chickens infected with avian flu."

Another recently released study at the University of New Mexico indicates that sauerkraut may reduce the risk of breast cancer by up to 74 percent.
That study set out to determine why the risk of breast cancer nearly triples in Polish women who immigrate to the United States. Of the hundreds of Polish women and Polish-born U.S. immigrants observed in the study, those who ate four or more servings of sauerkraut and cabbage per week during adolescence were 74 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than those who ate 1.5 or fewer servings per week. The study may be found on the American Association for Cancer Research Website.
Study Description: "Joint Association of High Cabbage/Sauerkraut Intake at 12-13 Years of Age and Adulthood with Reduced Breast Cancer Risk in Polish Migrant Women: Results from the U.S. Component of the Polish Women's Health Study (PWHS)." Dorothy Rybaczyk-Pathak, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Abstract # 3697, American Association for Cancer Research's 4th annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. Poster Session C. 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, November 2, 2005.

A Georgetown University study published in the British Journal of Cancer expands upon many other cancer studies by identifying and describing the cellular process which gives cruciferous foods, like cabbage and sauerkraut, a strong cancer-fighting response in the human body.

The study found that a chemical called indol-3-carbonol (I3C) which occurs naturally in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and sauerkraut, boosts the activity of two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, which then work to detect and repair damaged DNA. Because damaged DNA can lead cells to become cancerous, eating foods that repair DNA, like sauerkraut, may lower the risk of cancer development.
"There have been many studies over the past few years, including studies done at the University of Illinois and the University of New Mexico, which show that eating sauerkraut can lower the risks of cancer by as much as 74 percent, but the Georgetown study is unique because it actually explains how the process works."
And according to Downs, naturally fermented sauerkraut may be even stronger in fighting cancer than raw cruciferous vegetables. A Finnish study completed in 2002 found the fermentation process that turns cabbage into sauerkraut breaks down the cancer-fighting chemicals in cabbage into simpler substances, which are even easier for the body to use.

Note, too, that it's especially important to ferment (or otherwise prepare) the cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, and turnip greens.) Those vegetables have important anti-cancer properties. But if they're not cooked or fermented first, they tend to depress the thyroid, which lowers your energy and gives you a tendency to gain weight. (That's generally not a problem in small quantities, but it can become one if you eat a lot of these vegetables.)

Vitamins and Minerals
Many of us remember learning in history class that many sailors died of scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) on their long ocean voyages taken during the Age of Exploration. While thousands did die, Captain James Cook was able to make three extensive Pacific voyages from 1768 to 1780 without losing any of his crew to the dreaded plague. Cook made use of many antiscorbutic agents. Whenever his ships reached shore, he ordered his sailors to gather fruits, berries, vegetables and green plants. Cook began one of his voyages with 7,860 pounds of sauerkraut ? enough to provide each of his 70 sailors with two pounds of sauerkraut a week for an entire year. Sauerkraut happens to contain 30 mg. of vitamin C per 100 grams.
While we now live in a society where we can get fresh fruit all year long, it has not always been that way. Sauerkraut was one of those foods high in vitamin C that could be stored through the winter. It keeps in cool storage for a year without spoiling or needing to be heated. Heat destroys vitamin C.

What does vitamin C do?
It is a highly reducing compound (an antioxidant) and is capable of undergoing reversible oxidation. Consequently, it fulfils a role in redox reactions in the body. Vitamin C promotes the uptake of iron in the intestine and protects folic acid reductase. Vitamin C regenerates antioxidants such as vitamin E, flavonoids and glutathione. It plays a role in the synthesis of steroids and the production of carnitine. The highest concentrations are found in white blood cells, the lens and the brain. The total body pool of vitamin C is approximately 1500 mg. The excess is excreted. There is a turnover of 3% per day, which gives a half-life of approximately 18 days. This explains the latency period for symptoms to occur after starting a diet without vitamin C.

Vitamin C enables the body to efficiently use carbohydrates, fats, and protein. Because vitamin C acts as an antioxidant ? a nutrient that chemically binds and neutralizes the tissue-damaging effects of substances known as free radicals ? it is vital to the growth and health of bones, teeth, gums, ligaments, and blood vessels. Vitamin C also plays a key role in the formation of collagen, the body?s major building protein, and is therefore essential to the proper functioning of all internal organs.

From a nutritional point of view
Sauerkraut is a great food choice. It is fat free, and one cup amounts to only 60 calories, provides 6 grams of fiber and plenty of vitamin C. Cabbage is packed with vitamins that may boost the immune system. A one-cup serving of sauerkraut provides 102 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin K and 16 percent of vitamin C. It?s a good source of calcium, magnesium and vitamin C, and a very good source of fiber, vitamin K, vitamin B6, folate, potassium and copper. Many people don't eat sauerkraut very often, but it's surprisingly healthy and versatile. It can serve as a low-calorie side dish, or part of a salad or soup.

Sauerkraut is very, very helpful as a side dish when meat is served at the meal and highly recommended for the evening meal if it is large. This meal is the hardest to digest of all meals because it comes at the end of the day and the body has become fatigued and much of the enzyme stores have already been used on previous meals. Most people with digestive problems have the most difficult time with their evening meal.

Finding Real Sauerkraut
To get real sauerkraut--fermented cabbage--look for sauerkraut made from cabbage, water, and salt--with no vinegar on the label. A cheap sauerkraut can be made the way many pickled vegetables are now made in America-by adding vinegar to the vegetable and canning it. This is not a cultured food.
And other sauerkraut on the market is fermented, but then pasteurized or canned and the good organisms are killed along with the enzymes and many of the nutrients. Real Sauerkraut is natural, fermented and never heated. It remains raw and healthy.
Books:

Sandor Ellix Katz and Sally Fallon.
Short primer on fermentation and its uses.
Nourishing Traditions. Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. Cookbook with healthy recipes from around the world. Has a great section on fermentation and a wealth of nutritional information.