As the pharmaceutical industry launches more and more anti-civilization pills on the world market, nature continues to amaze researchers with the healing power of plant foods. The powerful substance diindolylmethane (DIM) in cabbage vegetables kills even breast cancer cells. DIM, which is regularly taken as a dietary supplement, not only acts against hormone-dependent cancers but also regulates hormone-related disorders, such as premenstrual syndrome (PMS), menopausal symptoms, and prostate problems.
Abundant consumption of vegetables has long been considered a natural weapon in cancer prevention. You should consume cabbage vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower as often as possible. But what actually makes these leafy vegetables so healthy?
In addition to plant pigment, chlorophyll inhibits cancer, so vegetables are green. There is another sign of health on the plate: diindolylmethane (DIM).
This powerful antioxidant is produced in the body during the digestion of mustard oil indole-3-carbinol, an active ingredient from a group of sulfur-containing compounds called glucosinolates. If cabbage vegetables are eaten regularly, DIM works against free radicals and offers natural protection against cell damage.
The conversion of indole-3-carbinol to DIM during the digestion of cabbage vegetables also leads to the inhibition of two proteins associated with cancer development.
DIM – active against cancer
American Cancer Research Association reported in a press release that direct treatment with DIM reduces cancer cells’ spread by up to 80 percent. DIM seems to be able to stop the progression of cancer.
Cancer therapies that have so far been common – such as chemotherapy – could be followed up or even replaced with herbal alternatives without side effects such as DIM. Simultaneous strengthening of immune function through DIM also makes it more difficult for cancer cells to spread.
According to studies, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s research team in New York sees DIM’s special power in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer and prostate.
The DIM product is combined with phospholipids, vitamin E, and Bioperine for enhanced absorption.
DIM stops the growth of cancer
DIM is thought to inhibit new blood vessels’ formation ( angiogenesis ). Malignant tumors especially initiate the formation of new blood vessels. Through these blood vessels, the body can then supply them with all the necessary nutrients and vital substances to grow and expand as quickly as possible. By limiting the formation of these blood vessels, DIM also blocks the basis for tumor growth and development.
Also, DIM is said to support estrogen metabolism. According to Michael Zeligs and Scott Connelly, authors of the book “All About DIM,” estrogen balance has a decisive influence on developing certain hormone-dependent cancers, such as breast cancer. Two scientists attribute DIM’s effect on cancer inhibition to its regulatory properties about the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone.
DIM regulates hormonal balance
When estrogens are broken down in the body, both useful and harmful metabolic intermediates are created. DIM favors the production of beneficial estrogen metabolites that have beneficial antioxidant properties. DIM simultaneously reduces potentially harmful estrogen metabolites, considered risk factors for obesity, breast cancer, and uterine cancer.
Symptoms grouped under the term premenstrual syndrome (PMS) include mood swings, chest pain, and lack of sexual desire are associated with an excess of harmful estrogen metabolites or estrogen dominance.
DIM reduces the risk of breast cancer
The study was presented at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists at the AAPS Pharmaceutical Conference in Chicago in October 2012. presented DIM as a potential anti-cancer drug. The concentrated active ingredient in cabbage vegetables is reportedly able to fight one of the most aggressive breast cancer types, so-called triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
These findings are particularly encouraging in cancer research because the effective treatment of the spread of aggressive breast cancer, such as TNBC, is minimal and accompanied by side effects.
Instead of conventional infusions, herbal alternatives such as DIM can also minimize the body’s toxin load. For cancer patients, herbal active ingredients are therefore a gentler option. Unlike the anti-cancer drugs available so far, you can simply take DIM in the form of tablets.
Already in 2004. an American breast cancer study – published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer – confirmed that the active ingredient DIM protects against hormone-dependent cancers by regulating estrogen balance and counteracting estrogen dominance.
Nineteen subjects with early-stage breast cancer took 108 mg of DIM daily as a dietary supplement for a period of 30 days. In all participants, urine tests showed a reduction in cancer-inducing 2-hydroxylated estrogens using DIM.
DIM against estrogen-like environmental toxins
However, estrogen dominance not only increases the risk of cancer in women but can also be dangerous for men. Both women and men face so-called xenoestrogens, i.e., chemicals with an estrogen-like effect from our environments, such as pesticides and synthetic hormones.
Who would have thought that the average estrogen level in 54-year-old men is higher than the average 59-year-old woman? In men, estrogen’s unnatural dominance can lead to changes in the prostate.
However, DIM can help the body eliminate dangerous estrogens from environmental toxins. Anyone who regularly eats organic, unprocessed cabbage vegetables or takes DIM as a dietary supplement has strong support against artificial estrogens from the environment. In this way, estrogen metabolism can be affected in such a way as to create significantly fewer harmful estrogen metabolites and suppress unwanted estrogen dominance.
DIM relieves menopausal symptoms
DIM is also a promising natural remedy for menopausal symptoms as a bioactive indole that regulates hormones.
Menopausal women often suffer from hormonal imbalance symptoms typical of this phase, such as chest pain, hot flashes, restlessness, insomnia, and mood swings.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can artificially regulate hormone deficiency in women as they age, thereby alleviating the symptoms caused by estrogen deficiency. What initially sounds like again in terms of quality of life should be treated with caution.
Gynecologists indeed try to prescribe to their patients the lowest possible dose adjusted to their needs, which is individually tolerated. You cannot rule out an excess of estrogen with all possible health consequences.
In fact, hormone replacement therapy increases the likelihood of developing breast or uterine cancer and stroke, and heart attack.
DIM accompanies hormone therapy
However, if menopausal women continue to opt for hormone replacement therapy, DIM can minimize the health risks associated with possible estrogen dominance. Naturopaths recommend a daily intake of at least 100 mg of DIM. However, you should discuss the specific dose with the appropriate therapist.
DIM not only optimizes estrogen metabolism and minimizes carcinogenic intermediates. A well-functioning hormone metabolism also reduces fat deposits because hormones turn the scales in the metabolism of sugar and fat. Balanced hormone levels regulate, among other things, the feeling of hunger. So, lose weight with broccoli, cauliflower, and other DIM-rich cabbage vegetables!
DIM is sensitive to heat – so eat cabbage as raw as possible
It is best to include cabbage vegetables in your menu several times a week and thus prepare yourself against diseases related to hormones and toxins.
To benefit from full potency, it is important to eat leafy vegetables as raw as possible. If the vegetables are cooked, the content of the heat-sensitive raw material indole-3-carbinol is reduced by approximately half.
