Soursop fruit: Is it the natural cancer cell killer in waiting?

By Maureen Odiwuor

Tackling cancer diseases might soon ease with the realisation from various research institutes that soursop fruit from the Graviola tree is a miraculous natural cancer cell killer, 10,000 times stronger than chemo.

 The soursop is a flowering, evergreen tree native to tropical regions of the world, with a fruit that has a prickly green cover. Locally, soursop is known as tomoko, while some call it ‘toffy toffy’.

The fruit, is however, not as common in the country, but mostly found in Coast, some parts of Nyanza, and Central Regions.

 The America’s National Cancer Institute performed the first scientific research in 1976, which showed that Graviola’s leaves and stems were effective in destroying malignant cells.

 A study published in the Journal of Natural Products, following a recent study conducted at Catholic University of South Korea stated that one chemical was found to selectively kill colon cancer cells.

 This is 10,000 times potency compared to Adriamycin (the commonly used chemotherapy drug).

  This is unlike chemotherapy, which indiscriminately targets all actively reproducing cells like the hair cells causing the often-devastating side effects of nausea and hair loss in cancer patients.

 A study at Purdue University recently found that leaves from the Graviola tree killed cancer cells among six human cell lines.

 It also effectively targets and kills malignant cells in 12 types of cancer, including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreatic cancer.

 Besides being a cancer remedy, Graviola is a broad-spectrum anti-microbial agent for both bacterial and fungal infections. It is effective against internal parasites and worms, lowers high blood pressure, and is used for depression, stress and nervous disorders.

 Though it is alleged that some big corporation wanted to make back its money spent on years of research, to make a synthetic version of it for sale, it turns out the drug company invested nearly seven years trying to synthesise two of the Graviola tree’s most powerful anti-cancer ingredients.

 This was to try and produce man-made clones of what makes the Graviola so potent because with that, they would be able to patent it and make their money back.

The original simply could not be replicated, hence they did not disclose the findings until one of the researchers contacted Health Sciences Institute over the findings, and hence, they began tracking the research done on the cancer-killing tree.

 According to a nutritionist Halima Gladys, says she has heard of the claims, but they cannot be substantiated yet.

 She, however, reveals that if there is any truth to the findings, once chemotherapy has been prescribed it should not be substituted with it.

 “The remedy cannot stand alone and people should remember that overdoing any food item is prone to result in some toxic reaction,” says Halima.

  She says there is no problem taking fruit since it has plenty of nutrients, and is a sweet white pulp when ripe, which can be eaten as a fruit or the juice blended.