Fresh Lemon Grass Drink Causes Apoptosis to Cancer Cells

[Mon]

Fresh Lemon Grass Drink Causes Apoptosis to Cancer Cells

(Apoptosis) noun: a type of cell death in which the cell uses
specialized
cellular machinery to kill itself; a cell suicide mechanism that
enables
metazoans to control cell number and eliminate cells that threaten the
animal's survival.

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Fresh lemon grass fields in Israel become Mecca for cancer patients
By Allison Kaplan Sommer April 02, 2006

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A drink with as little as one gram of lemon grass contains enough
citral to
prompt cancer cells to commit suicide in the test tube.

Israeli researchers find way to make cancer cells self-destruct - Ben
Gurion
University

At first, Benny Zabidov, an Israeli agriculturalist who grows
greenhouses
full of lush spices on a pastoral farm in Kfar Yedidya in the Sharon
region,
couldn't understand why so many cancer patients from around the
country were
showing up on his doorstep asking for fresh lemon grass. It turned out
that
their doctors had sent them. 'They had been told to drink eight
glasses of
hot water with fresh lemon grass steeped in it on the days that they
went
for their radiation and chemotherapy treatments,' Zabidov told
ISRAEL21c.
'And this is the place you go to in Israel for fresh lemon grass.'

It all began when researchers at Ben Gurion University of the Negev
discovered last year that the lemon aroma in herbs like lemon grass
kills
cancer cells in vitro, while leaving healthy cells unharmed. The
research
team was led by Dr. Rivka Ofir and Prof. Yakov Weinstein, incumbent of
the
Albert Katz Chair in Cell-Differentiatio n and Malignant Diseases,
from the
Dep art ment of Microbiology and Immunology at BGU.

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Citral is the key component that gives the lemony aroma and taste in
several
herbal plants such as lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), melissa
(Melissa
officinalis) and verbena (Verbena officinalis. )

According to Ofir, the study found that citral causes cancer cells to
'commit suicide: using apoptosis, a mechanism called programmed cell
death.'
A drink with as little as one gram of lemon grass contains enough
citral to
prompt the cancer cells to commit suicide in the test tube.

The BGU investigators checked the influence of the citral on cancerous
cells
by adding them to both cancerous cells and normal cells that were
grown in a
petri dish. The quantity added in the concentrate was equivalent to
the
amount contained in a cup of regular tea using one gram of lemon herbs
in
hot water. While the citral killed the cancerous cells, the normal
cells
remained unharmed.

The findings were published in the scientific journal Planta Medica,
which
highlights research on alternative and herbal remedies. Shortly
afterwards,
the discovery was featured in the popular Israeli press.

Why does it work? Nobody knows for certain, but the BGU scientists
have a
theory. 'In each cell in our body, there is a genetic program which
causes
programmed cell death. When something goes wrong, the cells divide
with no
control and become cancer cells. In normal cells, when the cell
discovers
that the control system is not operating correctly - for example, when
it
recognizes that a cell contains faulty genetic material following cell
division - it triggers cell death,' explains Weinstein. 'This research
may
explain the medical benefit of these herbs.'

The success of their research led them to the conclusion that herbs
containing citral may be consumed as a preventative measure against
certain
cancerous cells. As they learned of the BGU findings in the press,
many
physicians in Israel began to believe that while the research
certainly
needed to be explored further, in the meantime it would be advisable
for
their patients, who were looking for any possible tool to fight their
condition, to try to harness the cancer-destroying properties of
citral.

That's why Zabidov's farm - the only major grower of fresh lemon grass
in
Israel - has become a pilgrimage destination for these patients.
Luckily,
they found themselves in sympathetic hands. Zabidov greets visitors
with a
large kettle of aromatic lemon grass tea, a plate of cookies, and a
supportive attitude. 'My father died of cancer, and my wife's sister
died
young because of cancer,' said Zabidov. 'So I understand what they are
dealing with. And I may not know anything about medicine, but I'm a
good
listener. And so they tell me about their expensive painful treatments
and
what they've been through. I would never tell them to stop being
treated,
but it's great that they are exploring alternatives and drinking the
lemon
grass tea as well..'

Zabidov knew from a young age that agriculture was his calling.. At
age 14,
he enrolled in the Kfar Hayarok Agricultural high school. After his
army
service, he joined an idealistic group which headed south, in the
Arava
desert region, to found a new moshav (agricultural settlement) called
Tsofar. 'We were very successful; we raised fruits and vegetables,
and,' he
notes with a smile, 'We raised some very nice children.'

On a trip to Europe in the mid-80s, he began to become interested in
herbs.
Israel , at the time, was nothing like the trend-conscious cuisine-
oriented
country it is today, and the only spices being grown commercially were
basics like parsley, dill, and coriander. Wandering in the Paris
market,
looking at the variety of herbs and spices, Zabidov realized that
there was
a great export potential in this niche. He brought samples back home
with
him, 'which was technically illegal,' he says with a guilty smile, to
see
how they would grow in his desert greenhouses. Soon, he was growing
basil,
oregano, tarragon, chives, sage, marjoram and melissa, and mint just
to name
a few.

His business began to outgrow his desert facilities, and so he decided
to
move north, settling in the moshav of Kfar Yedidya, an hour and a half
north
of Tel Aviv. He is now selling 'several hundred kilos' of lemon grass
per
week, and has signed with a distributor to package and put it in
health food
stores. Zabidov has taken it upon himself to learn more about the
properties
of citral, and help his customers learn more, and has invited medical
experts to his farm to give lectures about how the citral works and
why..

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He also felt a responsibility to know what to tell his customers about
its
use. 'When I realized what was happening, I picked up the phone and
called
Dr. Weinstein at Ben-Gurion University , because these people were
asking me
exactly the best way to consume the citral. He said to put the loose
grass
in hot water, and drink about eight glasses each day.'

Zabidov is pleased by the findings, not simply because it means
business for
his farm, but because it might influence his own health. Even before
the
news of its benefits were demonstrated, he and his family had been
drinking
lemon grass in hot water for years, 'just because it tastes good.'