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BOLETIM No. 28 micotoxinas.com.br/boletim28.htm
INTRODUCTION Lee (1993), in his recent
review of the food connection to cancer, notes that the concept of diet
and nutrition having an important influence on health is an age-old one.
its link with cancer was mentioned in Chinese medical writings in the
Twelfth century. Recent interest in this subject
started in the 1930’s with animal studies which progressed to extensive
investigations of dietary factors implicated in various human cancers both
from an etiology and a protective perspective. The belief that diet is related
to cancer is now generally accepted. However, the studies are confusing in
that some show increased cancers associated with a particular food, while
other similar studies show no such relationship. The only logical
explanation to such conflicting reports is that the particular food itself
is not the cause but is associated with a variably present co-factor.
Thus, the first question becomes: WHAT IS VARIABLY
PRESENT IN FOOD WHICH CAUSES CANCER? Cancer Risk is To
Unnaturally Occurring Carcinogens Scheuplein (1992) of the Food
and Drug Administration has recently reviewed the relationship of cancer
to diet, particularly the dietary carcinogenic risk to the specific
classes of foodstuffs, food additives, pesticides, etc. These are
typically regulated by the FDA.. Scheuplein indicated that virtual all of
the calculated cancer risk can be attributed to "naturally occurring
carcinogens" in the diet and not from additives and pesticides as is the
popular conception. Thus the second question posed becomes: WHAT "NATURALLY
OCCURRING CARCINOGENS” CAUSE CANCER? The major "naturally occurring
carcinogens" present in food which are well documented to cause cancer are
the fungi and their toxins. Furthermore, they are variably present such
that the involved food correlates with cancer when fungal colonization and
mycotoxin contamination is maximal, and does not when it is minimal or
absent. There are two other "naturally"
occurring items which must also be addressed, nitrosamines and viruses.
However, viruses are not proven to cause any type of cancer in humans and
the nitrosamines are increasingly being shown to be produced by a number
of fungi, particularly in stored, cured and fermented foods. It therefore appears that the
answer to the two question posed above is:
Fungi and Mycotoxin
FUNGI
AND MYCOTOXINS ARE THE NATURALLY OCCURRING
Food Additives and
Trace Pesticides Do Not Cause Cancer Food additives and insecticides
have for too long enjoyed a place amongst the popularly believed causes of
cancer. However, there is little, if any, documentation to support that
belief. Doll (1992), in his keynote
address to the Nutrition and Cancer Conference, noted that there has begun
to emerge a consensus that diet is responsible for 30-60% of cancers in
the developed world. Doll also re-enforces the
position of Scheuplein that food additives and pesticides, while
constituting a popular belief that they play a major role in causing
cancer, simply have not been documented to do so in humans. He states the
very small effects, if any, can be attributed to food additives and to
trace pesticides. Dietary Changes Do
Prevent Cancer Doll (1992) also noted that it
was generally agreed that the principal dietary changes to prevent cancer
are: 1. A reduction in
the consumption of fat, Lack of a Unitarian
Explanation For Dietary Prevention Of Cancer Interestingly, these five
dietary measures described to prevent cancer share little in common except
that fiber is also present in fruits and vegetables. This lends further
support to what everyone knows; the cause of cancer has escaped
elucidation. Conversely stated, once we know
the cause of cancer, we will then be able to explain just how these four
dietary measures protect against cancer. Of course, that same explanation
will also show us why some particular foods are variably linked to cancer. The Fungal/Mycotoxin
Etiology Of Cancer Provides a Unitarian Explanation The fungal/mycotoxin etiology Of cancer does provides a Unitarian explanation for each of the dietary factors which has been documented to either cause or to prevent cancer. CONCLUSION With the exception of the
cancers caused by cut/cured/ fermented tobacco leaf, the cause of cancer
is generally stated as being unknown. That statement is made invalid
by the published research data collected and presented here which
documents that fungi and their mycotoxins cause virtually every type of
human cancer in either animals or humans or in both. The viral etiologic concept of
cancer in humans is unproved and therefor no longer acceptable. There is a food connection to
cancer but only to its connection with contaminating fungi and the
mycotoxins which those fungi produce. A future volume of the
Fungalbionic series will present data proving the beneficial aspects of
each dietary item, which prevents cancer. Each item will be discussed
with the appropriately cited references which support its benefit. These dietary facts provide the basis for a tasty and high quality food intake, which should become one's personal Garden of Eden where cancer is non-existent.
THE AUTHORS
A.V. COSTANTINI, M.D.
HEINRICH WIELAND, M.D.
LARS 1. QVICK, M.D.,
Ph.D. |