Chicago, Illinois has one of the largest populations with Polish heritage in the U.S. Researchers at the University of Illinois found that Polish women who had moved to or lived in the U.S. had more incidence of breast cancer than those who remained in Poland.
Traditional Polish (and other cultures in the old world) diet consists of fermented foods, especially vegetables, and particularly cabbage as unpasteurized, that is, raw, sauerkraut.
Researchers have found that fermenting cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, brussels sprouts) produces even more cancer preventing nutrients than the sulforaphane, indole-3-carbinol, selenium, and glucosinolates already in these vegetables.
Researchers have also found that low concentrations of extracts from the fermented vegetables exhibited estrogen dissipating effects. (See more at J Agric Food Chem 2000 Oct;48(10):4628-4634.) Additionally, lactic-acid fermented products that are unpasteurized, such as raw sauerkraut, aid digestive processes, increase vitamin B production, increase cell metabolism and act as a detoxifier. Cancer specialist Nicholas Gonzales and other researchers have found that aiding digestion with digestive enzymes and betaine-hydrochloric acid (HCL) is essential in treating and preventing cancer. Increasing enzyme and digestive capabilities helps the body digest foods as well as built up toxins and fats in the liver and other systems—and even helps the body rid itself of the cancer. (David WIlliams, D.C., in Alternatives for the Health Conscious Individual, Vol. 11, No. 3, September 2005)
This health note is from Vol. 14, No. 6, available in digital format.
