For years I ignored it because I didn’t know what it was. There were usually several varieties available on the supermarket shelves, and in the Chinese medicinal shops it was available as dried herbs, granules as well as pills or capsules. Then recently, for some reason, I started researching it. What I found out spurred me to stock my larder with products containing it.

The oldenlandia plant has been used by the Chinese for medicinal purposes for centuries. The book “An Illustrated Guide to Antineoplastic Chinese Herbal Medicine” lists oldenlandia as having the following:

Properties: sweet, bland, slightly bitter, and slightly cold. Clears heat and toxin, activates blood circulation, removes blood stasis, promotes diuresis, and relieves stranguria (urinary obstruction).

Indications: various kinds of tumor, especially tumors of the digestive tract, lymphosarcoma, carcinoma of the liver and larynx. Also for appendicitis, hepatitis, pneumonia, cholecystitis, urinary infection, furunculosis, cellulites, and snake bite.

In an article titled “Oldenlandia and Scutellaria: Antitoxin and Anticancer Herbs” by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon, USA, it is said that the oldenlandia is from the Rubiaceae family, and is collected from the wild. It is found mainly in the southeastern provinces of China-Guangxi, Guangdong and Fujian-growing at low altitude in moist fields. According to Dr. Dharmananda, Dr. Jiao Shude, in his “Ten Lectures on the use of Medicinals”, says that he “frequently adds about 30-40 grams of this medicinal to an appropriate decoction medicine devised according to the principle of pattern identification” for treating various forms of cancer. He also suggests adding some other anticancer herbs, such as scutellaria.

In “Pharmacology and Applications of Chinese Materia Medica”, it states that: “The herb at the dose of 30-60 grams is often added to conventional prescriptions for carcinoma.” In “Chinese Medicinal Herbs of Hong Kong”, among the indications for oldenlandia is “early stage of cancer of lungs, liver, and rectum.” It is recommended there that oldenlandia be used in a dosage of 60 grams along with 30 grams of scutellaria as a decoction, taken once a day.

Various laboratory studies of the action of oldenlandia suggest that the herb may contribute to inhibiting growth of cancer cells, promoting cancer cell death (apoptosis), and enhancing immune attack against cancer cells.

In the 2006 report “Evidence for Oldenlandia diffusa-evoked cancer cell apoptosis through superoxide burst and caspase activation” by Yadav SK and Lee SC from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, the researchers concluded that “the ethanol extract of the herb effectively evokes cancer cell apoptosis, possibly through burst-mediated caspase activation.” This study was published in PubMed.gov, the online publication of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health

In another study, the “Apoptotic effect of Oldenlandia diffusa on the leukaemic cell line HL60 and human lymphocytes”, published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Volume 114, Issue 3, 3 December 2007, the researchers reported that their findings“support a cytotoxic action for Oldenlandia diffusa”

Oldenlandia may be used as a preventive health care agent to inhibit mutation of cells by carcinogens. As it also builds up the immune system, this herb may be beneficial for anyone undergoing modern cancer therapies. Fortunately for me, oldenlandia diffusa grows wild here and beverages containing oldenlandia are cheap (the equivalent of 50 US cents per bottle) and easily available where I live. I particularly like one from China which is a sparkling mineral water with oldenlandia extract. It comes in a green glass bottle and the Chinese have been drinking it for decades. You can probably find oldenlandia beverages in most Asian supermarkets and grocers as well as Chinese medical shops.

In Chinese, oldenlandia diffusa is known as “baihuasheshecao” (sometimes written Bai Hua She She Cao). “Baihua” means white flower, “she” means snake, and “shecao” means tongue weed, referring to the long thin leaves of the herb. English-speakers sometimes refer to it as the snake-needle weed.

Cheers to good health!

Posted: June 22nd, 2010 under Cancer, Healing Foods, Health Supplements, Immune System Health.
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Synthetic aromatase inhibitors, such as Letrozole, also known as Femara, are often prescribed to women with estrogen-sensitive health disorders like estrogen-positive breast cancer. Women on such drugs may suffer side effects such as inflammation and pain of the joints and ligaments. Sometimes, the side-effects become so unbearable that users seriously consider discontinuing the usage of these aromatase inhibitors, even though the drugs may be effective in suppressing the cancer by starving it of estrogen.

Many women recommend glucosamine together with methyl sulfonyl methane (MSM) to control inflammation and keep joints healthy. There are many natural food sources of MSM but very few for glucosamine. Good natural sources of glucosamine are the connective tissue of animals – such as in bone marrow and neck meat – and the exoskeletons of shellfish and crustaceans like shrimp, crab and lobster. To obtain glucosamine from animal connective tissue, one way is to make a broth from bones. In several Asian countries, dishes featuring large bones with marrow cooked in spicy gravy are popular, and fans relish cracking the bones open with hammers and sucking the marrow out of them.

Most commercial glucosamine supplements are made from prawn or shrimp shells. Actually, prawn shells are delicious when used to make soup stock. The next time you make a dish using shrimp, don’t throw away the shells. Slow-fry the shells – heads included – in a Chinese wok or bake them at a low heat in the oven to dry them out until crispy. Once the shrimp shells are nicely toasted and fragrant, pound them into a powder with a mortar and pestle, or put them in a grinder. Store the resultant powdered shrimp shells in a glass jar in the fridge. You can use this powder to make aromatic and flavourful dishes, including broth and fried rice.

If you prefer, you can skip making the prawn shells into a powder form. After toasting the shells in the wok or the oven, simply add them to boiling water and simmer to make delicious soup stock. However, without grinding the shells into a powder form and ingesting them, you won’t get as much glucosamine from the shells.

For the lazy cooks in our midst, you can buy tiny dried shrimp with the shells intact from Asian markets and grocers.

A word of caution, people with a shrimp allergy may not want to try this, although the allergy is usually attributed to the shrimp meat rather than the shell.  Taking an oral glucosamine supplement like Neways Glucosamine Plus is a safer and easier option for most people, and will also provide you with much higher levels of glucosamine than what you can get from food.

Posted: April 9th, 2010 under Cancer, Health Supplements, Joint Health, pain relief.
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It just keeps getting better. My favorite antioxidant supplement now includes cocoa bean extract, another powerful antioxidant. Perfect for those who want to benefit from the antioxidant properties of dark chocolate, but are concerned about weight gain from eating chocolate. Darn, there goes my excuse for indulging in the ‘dark side’!

Researchers have found that dark chocolate has cancer-fighting properties, as well as helps lower blood pressure and stroke risk. Care for some chocolate-powered antioxidants?

Posted: April 7th, 2010 under Antioxidants, Health Supplements.
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