One of the biggest personal concerns for just about everyone is Cancer. Whether you are a smoker or not, a drinker or not, an exerciser or not, Cancer really does seem to concern everyone in one way or another.
While there have been findings to suggest that Graviola may help with a vast number of ailments, there unfortunately is no “miracle cure.” We can all take suggestions as helpful advice and hope that how we choose to live our lives every day and the changes we make to better it will protect us as we grow old. I honestly wish that you will find some information in this newsletter that is of help to you and that the decisions you make for your own personal health and the modifications you make to your own lifestyle will keep you in the best of health for many years to come!
Graviola is a small, upright evergreen tree with large, glossy leaves that produces large, heart-shaped edible fruit, commonly called Paw-Paw, which is yellow-green in color with white flesh on the inside. Graviola is indigenous to most of the warmest tropical areas in South and North America, including the Amazon. The fruit is sold in local markets in the tropics, where it is called guanbana in Spanish-speaking countries and Graviola in Brazil. The fruit pulp is excellent for making drinks and sherbets and, though slightly sour-acid, can be eaten out of hand.
Graviola is a very well-rounded herb and study claims suggest that it may be efficient at targeting many ailments, including killing Cancer cells, slowing tumor growth, killing bacteria, killing parasites, reducing blood pressure, lowering heart rate, dilating blood vessels, acting as a sedative, relieving depression, reducing muscle spasms, killing viruses, reducing fever, expelling worms, stimulating digestion and stopping convulsions.
Perhaps the most interesting claim, and it is just a claim, is that Graviola may actually help fight Cancer. In a 1976 plant-screening program by the National Cancer Institute, Graviola leaves and stem showed active cytotoxicity against cancer cells and researchers have been reviewing these findings ever since. Much of the cancer research on Graviola focuses on a novel set of phyto-chemicals called Annonaceous acetogenins. Graviola produces these natural compounds in its leaf and stem, bark, and fruit seeds. Three separate research groups have isolated these acetogenin compounds in Graviola which have demonstrated significant antitumorous and anticancerous properties, and selective toxicity against various types of cancer cells (without harming healthy cells), publishing eight clinical studies on their findings.
Annonaceous acetogenins are only found in the Annonaceae family (to which Graviola belongs). In general, various Annonaceous acetogenins in the plant family have been documented with antitumorous, antiparasitic, pesticidal, antiprotozoal, antifeedant, anthelmintic, and antimicrobial activities. Mode of action studies in three separate laboratories have recently determined that these acetogenins are superb inhibitors of enzyme processes that are only found in the membranes of cancerous tumor cells. Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana, has conducted a great deal of the research on the acetogenins, much of which has been funded by The National Cancer Institute and/or the National Institute of Health (NIH). Thus far, Purdue University and/or its staff have filed at least nine U.S. and/or international patents on their work around the antitumorous and insecticidal properties and uses of these acetogenins.
In 1997, Purdue University published information with promising news that several of the Annonaceous acetogenins ". . . not only are effective in killing tumors that have proven resistant to anticancer agents, but also seem to have a special affinity for such resistant cells." In several interviews after this information was publicized, the head pharmacologist in Purdue's research explained how this worked. As he explains it, cancer cells that survive chemotherapy can develop resistance to the agent originally used as well as to other, even unrelated, drugs. This phenomenon is called multi-drug resistance (MDR). One of the ways that cancer cells develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs is by creating an intercellular efflux pump called a P-glycoprotein mediated pump. These types of pumps are capable of pushing anticancer agents out of the cell before they can kill it. On average, only about two percent of the cancer cells in any given person might develop this pump - but the!
y are the two percent that can eventually grow and expand to create multi-drug-resistant tumors. Some of the latest research on acetogenins reported that they were capable of shutting down these intercellular pumps, thereby killing MDR tumors. Purdue researchers reported that the acetogenins preferentially killed multi-drug-resistant cancer cells by blocking the transfer of ATP - the chief source of cellular energy - into them. A tumor cell needs energy to grow and reproduce, and a great deal more to run its pump and expel attacking agents. By inhibiting energy to the cell, it can no longer run its pump.
Cancer research is ongoing on these important plants and plant chemicals, as several pharmaceutical companies and universities continue to research, test, patent, and attempt to synthesize these chemicals into new chemotherapeutic drugs. In addition, researchers have reported that NADH dehydrogenase inhibitors can suppress HIV infection. As this is a familiar property of Annonaceous acetogenins, several acetogenins found in Graviola and other Annona plants have been submitted to the NIH anti-AIDS screening program by Purdue University; research work is continuing in this area as well.
TerraVita is a line of truly unique and exceptional products and I can’t say enough good things about their company and their strict attention to quality control. TerraVita manufactures a wide range of herbal remedies in various forms, including capsules, powders, teas, liquid extracts, creams and ointments. They manufacture two different types of Graviola, one being regular strength and the other being an extra strength extract. Both are made from high-quality ingredients, are not tested on animals and contain no fillers.