This one common kitchen ingredient is being used as a treatment for cancer, especially cancer of the breast.
What is that ingredient? Its called D-limonene, one of two limonene molecules that is found in lemons, orange peel and other foods.
Limonene is a unique hydrocarbon molecule called a terpene which gives citrus its familiar aroma. However, the limonene molecule in orange peel has a different structure than the limonene in lemon peel, thus the different smells.
There are many terpenes, so get to know that word because you are going to hear a lot more about them as the world wakes up to the exalted healing power of enzyme rich, plant based, whole food “medicine” sun kissed by nature versus lab engineered enzymatically dead pills made with petrochemicals, and stamped safe for consumption by a desk dweller in latex gloves and a lab coat spending his days under fluorescent lights.
Trust Nature First
Trust nature first, everything made by man, be afraid, very afraid. Remember, nature does not want to profit from your pain, but the medical establishment can’t care less about you if you can’t pay up. Nature is magnanimous, it has all the medicine you need ripe for the picking and only asks that you plant its seed in return.
Two glasses of pulp-in lemonade, i.e., Mediterranean style, gives one about half a gram of D-Limonene, which is considered an active dose. I make a delicious lemon-lime-phytoplankton bicarb beverage that cleanses, repairs and energizes in a non-stimulatory way. It is a much more sustainable way to start your morning than coffee which is a very acidifying beverage.
The recipe video is here. Also listen to our podcast describing what makes Bicarb shots so essential for all of us.
Limonene is converted in the body into two terpenes called carveol and carvone. Nature’s best source of these is the essential oil of spearmint. These terpenes are also used against breast cancer.
Limonene has also been investigated by scientists as a natural heartburn remedy. And that’s for good reason. Consuming them restores pH balance donating more spare electrons than just about any food. What that means is that lemons are the most alkalizing fruit there is. Its also been proven to help repair the liver as found in another clinical study. You should be convinced by now that lemons, limes, and the rest of the citrus family is an incredible gift of nature to our species.
As a scientist and anti-aging researcher, I like to do my own studies on the healing benefits of different foods, so I have all kinds of meters and testing equipment. One of the devices in my lab is a fun little bio-energy meter that tests the life force of substances. I tested every fruit and supplement I could, and to my pleasant surprise, lemons had more life force than anything else I tested, and amazingly enough, even a lemon that had been sitting for over two weeks in my fruit bowl still tested exceptionally high. How many other fruits do you know that are self-preserving?
Pro Tip
Here’s a simple explanation as to why some fruit molds and rots and some dries out and self preserves. It has to do with the Brix level, which tests for amount of sugar in an aqueous solution. But it’s more than sugar, it’s really a combination of monosaccharide and some disaccharide content which is directly proportional to how mineral rich the soil is. If the tree was well nourished, the fruit or vegetable will have lots of minerals and sugars, and the Brix will be high, and then if you leave that fruit out for many weeks it will dry out and be self-preserved. If your food molds and rots when it sits out, organic or not, that’s just a clue that it was not grown with enough minerals in the soil. Look at fresh dates, figs and grapes for example, their Brix score is naturally high, so that is why raisins and dried dates and figs are so popular. They are easy to dry and preserve.
Black Cumin oil was up there as well which is interesting because it is full of terpenes including D-limonene. No wonder, because in India, they don’t eat lemons much, but they eat lots and lots of black cumin seeds which are famously revered by the ancient culture as a cure for everything but death. Incidentally, another compound in Black Cumin seeds called thymoquinone is being clinically investigated for breast cancer as well as colon cancer. In fact, the database of the US National Library of Medicine has over 600 peer reviewed studies on black cumin seeds. Black cumin seeds also treat another major condition that is very hard to cure, namely Helicobacter. Pylori, (H. Pylori), which is a bacterial infection in the stomach that is very antibiotic resistant; but not nature’s antibiotic, high in potentially cancer fighting essential terpenes.
Super Healing Recipe
I like to add a topping of Panaseeda Black Cumin Oil, fresh lime juice with pulp, a little raw unfiltered tree honey, (always try and buy local) as honey has been shown to act as a potentizer of the effects of black cumin seeds, and Celtic sea salt with a little “creme fraiche” on top of my baked sweet potato, quinoa or wild rice dish. It’s nutritious, delicious, and auspicious.
Limonene is also a big go-to ingredient in cosmetics for a trifecta of benefits. First, for the fragrance, second for its antibacterial properties, and last as a preservative. Next time you read the ingredients on your skin moisturizer, you’ll probably see Limonene.
Next time you use citrus in your recipes, don’t throw away that peel. If its a green drink you are making, as part of a preventative health insurance policy, put in the whole lemon, or at least half of one with the skin on. If you are eating oranges, save the rind and dry it in a dehydrator or the sun and then use that in your smoothie. Use lemon and lime rind, zest and pith creatively. Most importantly, do not throw it away. Make it part of your diet.
If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, I’ll take a tall glass of fresh squeezed O.J., Mediterranean style, with a fresh sprig of spearmint. And now let’s make a toast; here’s a toast to great health and longevity!
Common Sources of Limonene
- Lemons, especially the rind is the highest
- Oranges, mandarins, tangerines, limes, grapefruit
- Cardamon
Author: Vic Love, www.Fb.com/Vityalove
Resources
Sun, J (2007). "d-Limonene: safety and clinical applications". Alternative Medicine Review 12 (3): 259–64. PMID 18072821.
Crowell, PL; Kennan, WS; Haag, JD; Ahmad, S; Vedejs, E; Gould, MN (1992). "Chemoprevention of mammary carcinogenesis by hydroxylated derivatives of d-limonene". Carcinogenesis 13 (7): 1261–4. doi:10.1093/carcin/13.7.1261. PMID 1638695
Nostro A, Cellini L, Di Bartolomeo S, Di Campli E, Grande R, Cannatelli MA, et al. Antibacterial effect of plant extracts against Helicobacter pylori. Phytother Res. 2005;19:198–202. [PubMed]
