Phytochemicals and Choices Etymology: from Phyto- + Chemical
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Breast Cancer October 2013 Issue 35 F ACT s , MYTH s, Phytochemicals and CHOICEs Etymology: From phyto- + chemical. Phyto comes from the Greek word phuton meaning plant, and chemical from the word alchemic, relating to things pertaining to the materials and processes. The use of food stuffs as medicine is as old as the "hills" so to speak, as a part of conditioned aversions and self medication practiced by animals begining with the early branches of the mammalian tree as an adaptive and survival mechanism. The health benefits and effects of food which are beneficial may not be immediately recognized like rot or RESEARCH PARTNERS spoil are, but recorded as early as 11 bc phytochemicals such as ginseng were recorded as having bioactive Phytochemicals.........................1 powers. A recognition of those phytochemicals which Ginseng......................................2 function pharmacologically with delayed effects on health are probably not as quickly perceived as those which COMMUNITY PARTNERS caused conditioned aversions or other plants with immediate reinforcement like willow bark as an analgesic. Coffee Talks..................................5 Crossword puzzles.........................6 A preface to any discussion on food science needs to Nutrition density chart..................12 contain two disclaimers "not all food phytochemicals are known" though currently there are over 26,000 recorded, Nutrient density - kale vs cola....13 and counting and "not all research tools to study the Yoga Pose......................................17 chemistry, biology and pharmacology have been Memory locket pattern..................18 implemented" in food science At best, food phytochemistry (the discipline) is just budding. Contacts Most data on nutrient and medicinal value of each [email protected] phytochemicals are anectodal. Phytochemicals have rarely [email protected] been exhaustively studied, but some have more than Breast cancer: Windows of Susceptibility. others. To complicate matters, plants are subject to huge NIH grant 1U01ES019480 variation in phytochemical content partly because of differences in each species and strain, and also for [email protected] differences caused by the region in which the plant is PINK RIBBON GIRLS grown, such as sunlight, soil type, stream water or well TO PREVENT the occurrence of BCa water, mineral content of both water and soil, drought, through RESEARCH and EDUCATION temperature, soil bacterial count and type, and fertilizers and natural and chemical agents etc) determine the TO ENCOURAGE and SUPPORT BCa phytochemical content and levels in plants. survivors, friends and families. Take into consideration the research effort being put into just ONE phytochemical, ginseng (see free article below) and this is still just ONE dataset. How long we must wait till all phytochemicals are known and health benefits studied? Lee Jia and Yuqing Zhao, Current Evaluation of the Millennium Phytomedicine- Ginseng (I): Etymology, Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry, Market and Regulations, Curr Med Chem. 2009; 16(19): 2475–2484. 1 RESEARCH PARTNERS QUESTION: What about ginseng? Is it all its cracked up to be? ANSWER : According to the article mentioned on page 1, there are many different species of ginseng grown mostly in asia (typically red gensing) but in the upper north american areas and cooler areas of the midwest (more apt to be white gensing). That includes variation in plant species, soil conditions, climate, and of course times of harvesting and treatment, shipping and storage. With that preface, it seems that this particular phytochemical, used pharmacologically since before the common era (a.d.) The active phytochemicals (known to date) are called ginsenosides are triterpenes saponins. (Pictures of terpenes are found in the crossword puzzles in this newsletter. While a few studies show gensing to be beneficial to health, others do not. This descrepancy speaks to the current problems in finding a "bench mark" way of testing phtochemicals for biological activities and determining which effects on which to focus attention. SOLUTION: As with any drug, nutrient and phytochemical supplements work similarly. Always remember, the dose determines the benefit/risk. In the supplement industry it is buyer beware. There are manufacturers who name products to be ginseng (e.g. such as Indian ginseng, Peruvian ginseng, poor-man's ginseng etc), which are not the same genus as real ginseng (Panax). Wikipedia does a great job of listing the side effects of taking too much gensing and quick to list what it cannot do, however, some middle of the road approach to this particular ancient herbal remedy is probably best taking into account the long history of its use and the possibility for health benefits. It won't be long until real reliable data are available. Available ginseng is available powedered, pressed, chewable, tinctured, ground, grated, sliced, chipped, carbonated, in capsules, as 2 tablets, extracted, as gels, teas and creams. The doses vary wildly. Some FDA regulation includes wording that any Fig. 1, e.g. oleanolic acid product with the generic term "ginseng" must contain elements from the genus Panax. About 100 potentially bioactive ginsenosides are present in ginseng added to this there are four additional classes of compounds (at a minimum): There are saponin glycosides (Fig. 1, oleanolic acid) and Fig. 2, e.g. ginsenosides this group purportedly has antitumor and pro-apoptotic effects. There are ginseng polysaccharides as well (Fig. 2 (Yoo et al, published data in PLOS ONE that have antiviral potential and also can stimulate white cells to increase or decrease (depending upon circumstance) inflammatory responses). There are polyyens present as well, which are explained by Fig. 3, e.g. linolenic acid Yoo et al as compounds with alternating single and double bonds (Fig. 3, e.g. linolenic acid). And Flavinoids, phenolic acids more in the leaves and tannins, moreso in the roots (Ludwiczuk et al. Herba Polonica, 2006) (Fig. 4, e.g. quercetin). Volatile oils are also a component and several have been identified (Fig. 5, e.g. hexadecanoic acid). Fig. 4, e.g. quercetin One critical issue is that ginseng may (does) interact with many other over-the-counter and perscription drugs. Always seek the advise of a pharmacist before adding bioacive agents as high dose supplements to a diet that already contains many drugs. (ed note: Growing up in the early 50s physical science and math were pretty much black text on white paper. Biological sciences were more apt to be 3D and tangible Fig. 5, e.g. hexadecanoic acid thus for this individual personally, the biological sciences were more attractive prospects for study. However, had I had the resources available today, e.g. Chemspider and PhMol where every compound and protein in the world's database can be made into actual 3D rotating spectacular objects my choice of a creer might have been much different. Not before using such shareware was I really in love with biochemistry. I encourage you to look into these two programs and have fun. 3 RESEARCH PARTNERS “Right, my phone. When these things first appeared, they were so cool. Only when it was too late did people realize they are as cool as electronic tags on remand prisoners.” David Mitchell We all fall into our habits, our routines, our ruts. They're used quite often, consciously or unconsciously, to avoid living, to avoid doing the messy part of having relationships with other people, of dealing with a person next to us. That's why we can all be in a room on our cell phones and not have to deal with one another. Andrew Stanton As long as you have a Cell Phone you're never alone Stanley Victor Paskavich (ed note) with all due respect to Mr Stanley Paskavich, "I think if U think you are NOT alone while on UR cell phone then U R are truly deceived. You Tube Windows of Susceptibility Facebook 4 COMMUNITY PARTNERS Book Bums 8992 Cincinnati Dayton Road Westchester, OH, 45069 Saturday Sep 29, 2013 10:00 AM - 12 PM Nancy gave instruction on how to check in with the body with movement and position. She also demonstrated and discussed various breathing techniques with centerting breathing and Piko-Piko. Also, Introduced visualization techniques by using Color and your Tiki Garden. To end the presentation the group practiced stillness. 5 Windows of CROSSWORD PUZZLES Susceptibility for learning about Breast UNIVERSITY OF Cincinnati Cancer Dept of Env Hlth phytochemicals in food Risk Wikipedia has a provided considerable information about phytochemicals commonly found food that have definite but still vastly undstudied and underutilized pharmacological effects. Even a month ago there were at least 26,000 chemicals in food that have the potential to affect our health for better or for worse. Listed here are just a couple of the major categories of phytochemicals. CLUES Across 1. A group of phytochemicals comprising monophenols and polyphenols where most of the names end with the suffix ol as in phenol and while there is ample evidence to indicate the health benefits of diets rich in fruits vegetables legumes whole grains and nuts no specific food has been acknowledged by scientists and government regulatory authorities as providing a health benefit, 2. This group includes isoprenoids which includes carotenoids and xanthophylls including the well known lutein lycopene beta-carotene and alpha-carotene and others which are known to help with a healthy body and good vision, 3. Aromatic _______ with a phenolic component as found in the following pyhtochemicals - cichoric acid, cinnamic acid, chlorogenic acid, diferulic acids, coumaric acid, coumarin, ferulic acid, sinapinic acid 4. Arenes or compounds with 6 carbons together as conjugated planar ring systems with electron clouds instead of discrete alternating single and double bonds are called ________ and they comprise many of the important food nutrients for good health, . Down 1. Betacyanins and betaxanthines are the technical name for this groun and you can guess from the vegetable name beets and also chard that this is where these phytochemicals are the most plentiful, 2.