Whey Protein and Cancer
The global incidence of cancer continues to rise as man is exposed to harmful carcinogens in his environment. Even genetic studies prove that heredity plays a major role in carcinogenesis and cancer susceptibility. Cancer is a devastating disease. Mortality is very high while the cure rate is very low especially in advanced and aggressive cases. Cancer is also very painful and patients are subjected to invasive and costly treatments like surgery and radiotherapy. Antineoplastic agents are available but these drugs are not devoid of side effects. Another crucial aspect in its management is handling the depression of the patient and the emotional burden among family members and caregivers.
The battle against the Big C involves cooperation amongst oncologists, epidemiologists and the drug industry in finding ways to prevent and cure the disease and improving the quality of life of cancer patients. Alternative medicine specialists are also very active in doing researches as to finding natural and safer ways of inhibiting cancer growth that may be better accepted by patients who do not welcome potentially dangerous anticancer agents. Whey protein and cancer are among the topics that have drawn much attention from these health experts.
Whey protein supplements help in building muscle mass and in boosting the body’s energy level and immune system. It is very popular among health enthusiasts, body builders and athletes. Other health benefits of whey protein supplements include strengthening the host response against disease causing microorganisms, and regulating blood lipid levels and metabolism in general.
In the evaluation of its potential antineoplastic activity, laboratory experiments which involve animal models of cancer induced by the carcinogen dimethylhydrazine show the connection between whey protein and cancer. Dimethylhdyrazine causes cancer by damaging DNA. Whey protein prevents this reaction and when added to the normal diet of the rat models, the number of tumor cells is significantly reduced and the tumor sizes decreased. When compared to other protein sources like soy, whey protein is more potent and effective. Other in vivo studies conducted to evaluate whey protein and cancer show that whey protein concentrate prevents breast carcinogenesis even in very low concentrations.
Supporting researches designed to examine the mechanism of whey protein food supplement in the prevention and cure of cancer led to the discovery of the correlation between its active components, glutathione, whey protein and cancer cells. Glutathione is an efficient antioxidant agent that scavenges free radicals such as reactive oxygen metabolites found to cause cancer. Glutathione also protects normal cells from damage during cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy. All of these positive outcomes underscore the significance of adding whey protein food supplementation to the present therapy of cancer patients. Further clinical trials are advised to evaluate its safety and efficacy.
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