Thai Curry Fights Cancer !

[pautai]

A bowl of Thai curry could help fight cancer

JIM MCBETH

SCIENTISTS seeking a cure for cancer revealed yesterday that a bowl of Thai curry has the potential to provide what is regarded as the Holy Grail of medicine.

Galangal - a plant root similar to ginger - is an ingredient in most Thai dishes and it has now been proved that an extract of the plant can both kill cancer cells and protect healthy ones from the disease.

And, as a not unwelcome by-product, the Thai people, who have used galangal as a medicine for aeons, promise it will also ease flatulence, cure dyspepsia and increase the libido.

The research, by a team at King’s College, London, have discovered galangal has the capability to activate an enzyme which attacks cancer cells.

Galangal is used in the preparation of most fresh curry pastes, and Professor Peter Houghton, who led the research, found that extract of the root provided a "dual" function of cure and protection which is very rare.

He said: "Normally, natural remedies do one thing or the other. Galangal appears to do both."

But he added: "We are not yet talking about cures for cancer. We have only added a page to the sum total of our knowledge."

His research into the medicinal properties of natural remedies has been going on for 30 years, and one in four medicines on the market is based on plant molecules, including drugs for the treatment of cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Prof Houghton added: "We’ve shown galangal can potentially kill cancerous cells and strengthen healthy cells, but there’s a way to go. However, there is a basis to claim it could be used to treat cancer.

"We need further tests, such as looking at whether people who eat galangal on a daily basis are less likely to suffer from cancer than those who do not.

"In the east, the line between food and medicine is more blurred," he went on. "Medicinal plants are regularly taken in food."

Natural remedies are common to Oriental culture. Galangal is used in Indo-China and Malaysia for cancer of the stomach.

The word is a Chinese corruption of "Khalanjan", which is Arabic for "mild ginger". The scientific endorsement of its properties came after Prof Houghton tested a number of Asian plants reputed to be medically beneficial.

He found that when galangal was added to liver cells in laboratory conditions it activated a detoxifying enzyme known as GST - Glutathione S-transferases - one of several important enzymes involved in excreting carcinogens.

Previous research has shown substances which increase activity of GST also prevent cells from becoming cancerous.

The research is not news to Thai people.

At the Erawan Thai restaurant, in Edinburgh, Benjapoin Craig - she married a Scot - said: "Galangal is regarded as a medicinal plant in Thailand and is a main ingredient of many Thai dishes such as dthom tay gy."

[Shola]

Interesting, I'm not really one for currys so any way of getting this Galangal stuff in tablet or concentrate form?

Would be interested to know if any1 has any info as have had cancer run in my family.

[bangkokian]

Personally, I've discovred the benefits of galanga long time back, but I rarely get to have it--I drink ginger tea instead. Speaking of curries, coconut milk is now "known" to be good for you. When it comes to food, the academia seems to be far behind grandma's wisdom.

[taxexile]

Galangal - a plant root similar to ginger - is an ingredient in most Thai dishes and it has now been proved that an extract of the plant can both kill cancer cells and protect healthy ones from the disease.

then how come cancers are one of the leading causes of death in thailand , stomach cancer especially.

[Thaiboxer]

then how come cancers are one of the leading causes of death in thailand , stomach cancer especially.

That may be because of alcohol consumption. Many Thai men drink whiskey heavily which can cause stomach cancer and liver cancer (very common amoung Thai and Chinese men).