For thousands of years, people have used various foods, herbs, and spices as remedies or preventative measures against illness. Herbs and plant preparations to “cure the sick” have been described in Egyptian papyrus, Middle Eastern ancient manuscripts, and hieroglyphics. Even ancient documents come from India and China. Certain old manuscripts mention the utilization of therapeutic plants that are nonexistent in European societies. In fact, there are visual documents from every ancient civilization that describe the usage of various foods, herbs, and spices for medicinal purposes. Nevertheless, there are serious doubts about the validity of the scientific data supporting the use of these substances or their extracts in contemporary medicine.

Over the past few decades, there have been significant advancements in scientific methodology. These have been employed to investigate the ingredients and uses of conventional remedies. Beyond their traditional uses, herbs, spices, and botanicals have been studied by modern science. For instance, utilizing high throughput screening, plants that have long been used for “digestion” or “medical ills” are now being studied for their toxicity or potential anti-cancer effects. Molecular biology, cellular biochemistry, physiology, endocrinology, and even medical imaging are among the other techniques used. But a lot of information about the scientific underpinnings or uses of traditional foods, herbs, spices, and botanicals is dispersed throughout many sources. It is uncommon to describe the broad application of foods or botanicals, and toxicity warnings are frequently disregarded. Ancient and Traditional Foods, Plants, Herbs, and Spices used in Cancer addresses these issues.

Features

describes the use and uses of traditional foods and botanicals in the prevention and treatment of cancer using an evidence-based approach.includes sections on biological research pertaining to studies on cancer.covers pre-clinical research in animals, clinical trials, in vitro studies, and the extraction and analysis of active substances.connects contemporary sciences with historical perspectives on food and vegetation

This book is a reference for oncologists, doctors, health scientists, healthcare professionals, pharmacologists, and research scientists. It has contributions from top international experts, including those from internationally recognized organizations.