The Cancer Fighting Gadget

Do you have a tool that you count on for many different household repairs? If you have such a gadget in a tool box or a drawer, then you can appreciate the value of the chemical indole-3-carbinol, also called 13C. This phytochemical, a key part of the chemical make-up of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables has been shown to be a natural way of preventing certain cancers. Prostate cancer is one of two cancers that will decline in incidence when subjects eat a diet rich in 13C.

The versatile 13C uses not one, not two, but three different methods for delivering its healthful effects.

1) 13C interrupts the cancer cell cycle;

2) 13C prevents formation of the blood vessels that tumors need;

3) 13C triggers cell death

This special chemical somehow cuts-off from the growing cancer cells the key ingredients that those malignant cells need for maintenance of their high metabolic activity. Without such ingredients, the cancer cells die.

The greatest value of 13C stems from the expected product produced once an individual has eaten a diet rich in 13C. Normally, the human body converts 13C into DIM. Dr. Fazul Sarkar, a researcher at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit , has found that DIM can remain biologically active in the human body for a longer period of time than can 13C, the compound from which the DIM originates.

The action of DIM gives mothers all the more reason to tell their children to eat more broccoli.

by Sue Chehrenegar
Sue has an MS in Biomedical research along with 30 years of experience in her field of study.