 Now there have always been underground groups that have conspiratorial theories about herbs and alternative medicine treatments for cancer. But there are actually many herbs that are evidence-based and demonstrate some degree of anti-cancer activity. Now from my point of view, if you want to learn formulas and herbs that can benefit people in this situation, there is no more advanced formula science than traditional Chinese medicine because these formulas have been used for thousands of years and up until this time, they still demonstrate real scientific benefit that we can measure in a lab or in rats or in flies and most importantly, in people. Now in this video, we are going to highlight the top eight herbs that are able to fight cancer cells and demonstrate in research some degree of anti-cancer activity. Hi guys, I'm Dr. Alex Hine, board licensed acupuncturist and doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, author of the health book, Master of the Day. So let's jump in. But first, this is what is most important when it comes to the integrative approach to cancer. Most people may watch this video and say, oh, Dr. Hine said, add this herb for my cancer regime in an integrative way. Wrong answer. Just by adding some kind of herb that's chosen a lab somewhere that it demonstrates anti-cancer activity will not necessarily improve your outcome and it's a very important reason for that. In traditional Chinese medicine, what is 10 times more important than just supplementing with an anti-cancer herb in some kind of integrative medicine, integrative cancer care situation is what's called fuzheng truxie and what this term means is supporting the upright and getting rid of the pathogenic. Now, what that means in layman's terms is you're always trying to support the vitality, the resources, the immune system of the patient while treating this toxic inflammatory excess that cancer relates to. So this is different from just throwing a bunch of anti-cancer herbs at a patient who's undergoing chemotherapy or supplementing with that. They won't necessarily do anything by treating the person's resources, by modulating the immune system, the underlying physiological resources and physiological pathways are what led to the development of cancer in the first place. So you have to treat the root and you have to treat the branch. Here's an example. I recently shot an interview in a success story with a patient of mine who had a bad pap smear and two thirds of our cervix was considered extensively covered in pre-cancer cells. They were going to recommend an electro-surgical procedure but she opted to see me instead. I said, give me six months, maybe you have to do the surgery, maybe not. I traded her with a traditional herbal formula for over four months. The next pap smear came back 100% clear. Her career gynecologist said in 30 years of practicing medicine in that specialty, he had never seen that and never seen it that quickly. He was in complete disbelief at the results. He was shocked. I remember getting a phone call and him saying he wants me to come in just to talk about it. And he asked honestly, he said, I've never seen it happen with a woman your age with how severe that dysplasia was. So this is where the formula science of traditional Chinese medicine meets clinical medicine and really helps and saves people. Now, if you love healing with traditional Chinese medicine and you love herbal medicine like I do, I actually have a free guide for daily rituals, healing rituals from traditional Chinese medicine that could potentially help you ideas to your life. It's the first link below this video. In addition, I accept limited number of new patients every single month in my practice in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine. The link below this video has info to call my practice or just email us with inquiries. So let's get into herb and compound number one. But first, how do most of these herbs actually work to support the body and fight some cancer cells? Now, check out this one particular study. This study is called the anti-cancer properties of traditional Chinese medicine. And one thing the researchers highlighted was that how these traditional Chinese medicine formulas exert their anti-cancer effects are through proliferation inhibition, metastasis suppression, multi-drug resistance reversal and immune function regulation. So what's fascinating is that some of these formulas will actually help improve that drug resistance that certain cancers have. It's incredible. We're gonna share some of it in just a sec. Herb and compound number one is berberine. Now, berberine is common in lots of herbs in traditional Chinese medicine, like for example, Huangqin, scudallaria and Huanglian, which are coptis. These are the very, very, very most bitter antibacterial herbs really that we have in traditional Chinese medicine. Now, in one particular study, they highlighted that berberine is an alkaloid mainly extracted from medicinal plants such as the coptis that we mentioned and for example, another one is fellow dendron. But berberine has diverse pharmacological effects and is normally used for the treatment of gastroenteritis. Now, these herbs, Huangqin, Huanglian, scudallaria and coptis or coptidis are very commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for conditions involving what we call damp heat, bacterial conditions, fungal conditions, SIBO inflammatory conditions, upper respiratory infections with sore throats and that sort of thing. Of course, many types of ENT cancers present with for example, chronic sore throats and difficulty swallowing as well. Herb and compound number two are called artemisinins and in particular, we're highlighting the plant called Qinghao. Now, in one research paper, they found that artemisinin is derived from the annual wormwood or artemisia which was originally used as traditional Chinese medicine for treating malaria and related symptoms such as fever and chills. Now, what's fascinating is the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine was given to a Chinese scientist who found this compound from a book from a famous traditional Chinese medicine doctor. Now, Qinghao is primarily used for conditions that we say involve summer heat in traditional Chinese medicine. Like for example, think of like heat stroke where people are having these symptoms in the summer, the peak of summer where it's hot and it's damp and it's humid. On top of that, it's often used for fevers, bleeding and actually for malaria itself. Compound and herb number three, ginsenocytes very commonly found in ginseng or renchen. Now, check out this paper. They found that these ginsenocytes are the main bioactive triterpenoids derived from a couple different plants but let's just focus on ginseng because it's well known. It has various biological effects including being anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer. They mainly exert their anti-cancer effects in colorectal, breast, lung and liver cancers through inhibiting cell proliferation and migration, angiogenesis and reversing drug resistance which is fascinating. Now, ginseng we typically use in TCM for digestive problems, interestingly enough. People with bloating and fatigue and loose stools kind of an anemic looking presentation as well as conditions involving sometimes SIBO small intestine bacterial overgrow and also people who tend towards low immunity or chronic fatigue. Sometimes it's actually used in cancer treatments in China for people who are having low blood values that could endanger their ability to continue taking conventional care. So to elevate those blood values and on top of that to mitigate chemo related fatigue. Herb and compound number four, emotin or the plant plosho. Now in one particular study they found that this compound is derived from many different plants. In this case we'll focus on hushouwu but it can inhibit tumor growth and metastasis in triple negative breast cancer cells and human colorectal cancer. Now we use hushouwu, it's famous for the plant that can actually bring back black hair. And we attribute a lot of this premature graying or normal graying to what we call the kidney and liver yin. It's like the blood or the reserves or the essence of those kidneys. So it treats the kidney and the liver. It can treat premature aging, graying, urinary dysfunction, sexual dysfunction as well as insomnia. Now herb and compound number five is found in a plant called danchen or salvia. Now in one research paper, they found that danchen has various pharmacological effects. It's also anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-atherosclerotic and has cardiovascular protection. Now it has anti-cancer activities in the stomach, prostate, lung, breast and colon cancer. Now danchen is typically used for what we call blood stasis or blood stagnation. So you see it commonly used in two patterns. One, cardiovascular issues, chest pain. So there's actually real significant evidence about how danchen can protect the heart and even mitigate the effects like for example, cardiovascular damage that happens from cigarette smoking. It can help mitigate that. But it's also used for other issues involving the blood in TCM like menstrual irregularities or painful menses. Urban compound number six is found in a plant called huangchen or scularia. Now in one research paper, they found that like many of these herbs, it's anti-viral, anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and has neuroprotective activities. It has various anti-cancer effects in many cancers including the lung, breast, head and neck, gastric and colorectal, leukemia, lymphoma and glioma. Now what's interesting is that it has immunomodulatory effects in cancer cells. It actually enhances the recruitment of certain cells into the tumor tissues themselves and also down regulates the levels of a certain molecule that can promote anti-tumor immunity. Hangchen we typically use for inflammatory issues. Upper respiratory infections with sore throats, strep, tonsillitis, that kind of thing. Also is very commonly used for gallbladder issues. People who have gallbladder sludge or acid reflux. Herb and compound number seven is huangchi. So huangchi is fascinating because you can go right to the Memorial Sloan Cancering Center to read about the benefits of astragalus as it's called. Now right on the Memorial Sloan Cancering Center, they say astragalus shows anti-cancer effects against gastric, colon, paddock and ovarian cancer cells. As well as what's interesting is that it can decrease the side effects. They mentioned one particular treatment. It can actually enhance it, the efficacy and decrease the side effects. In addition, it enhanced platinum-based chemotherapy and protected against neurotoxicity. So not only did this plant huangchi astragalus improve the efficacy of certain kinds of chemo, it decreased the side effects. And this is exactly what you see these formulas used in China in combined integrative care. Done well, it improves the efficacy of the standard of care and decreases the side effects. It is a no brainer to combine the two safely. One other interesting fact, it's also been shown to inhibit the enzymatic activity of one of the main forms of CYP450, the enzyme which metabolizes pharmaceutical drugs. So it can actually improve these detoxification pathways. Now huangchi is typically is used for low immunity, fatigue, certain kinds of edema even. And we often use it for people who have chronic issues involving exhaustion or like post-cancer or during cancer, chemo related fatigue. Herb and compound number eight is found in green tea. Now in one research paper, they found that among all of its anti-cancer activities, this compound has multiple pharmacological actions. It can suppress cell growth, suppress cancer cell proliferation, metastasis and angiogenesis. And it can enhance anti-cancer immunity. So green tea, we don't typically use a lot in traditional Chinese medicine, but it's one of those things that is sometimes added to formulas. It's considered bitter and very cold. So if people have a lot of excessive heat symptoms or stomach acidity, often green tea is something that can help versus drinking coffee, for example. Now some final thoughts here. Combined and integrative care is best. Just adding one of these anti-cancer herbs because you have cancer to your chemo is not necessarily going to do anything. In traditional Chinese medicine, we emphasize formulas. But here's the gold standard. One study done on berberine, the compound found in two particular herbs in Chinese medicine, found that the combo of berberine and chemo or radiotherapies had synergistic anti-cancer effects. The medication combined with berberine significantly slowed down the cell growth in certain kinds of breast cancer cells. And another study was done in human ovarian cancer. They found that the combined therapy of berberine and one particular drug enhanced and inhibited so the combination therapy of berberine with the medication not only inhibited tumor growth in ovarian cells, it also again mitigated the side effects of the treatment itself. So combined care is the way to go guys. And finally, instead of filling this channel with sponsors and supplements and things that I might not believe in that may not actually help you, I've launched a brand new online course, Introduction to Healing with Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's the pinned comment and the link in the bio of this video and there's a whole list in his brand new healing library that I've just launched. So if that appeals to you guys, check it out down below the video. Before you go, there's more videos on herbal healing and cancer right here.