The Anti-Cancer Benefits of Sea Cucumbers

Sea cucumbers are marine invertebrates and a distant relative to the starfish and urchins found in deep sea water all over the world. They are not very pretty to look at, but they are considered a delicacy, especially to those in Asia. There is a new increased demand for sea cucumbers as people learn of their health benefits, however, they have long been used for food and folk medicine in Asia and the Middle East.

According to PubMed, “Nutritionally, sea cucumbers have an impressive profile of valuable nutrients such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B1 (thiamine), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (niacin), and minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc. A number of unique biological and pharmacological activities including anti-angiogenic, anticancer, anticoagulant, anti-hypertension, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antithrombotic, antitumor and wound healing have been ascribed to various species of sea cucumbers. Therapeutic properties and medicinal benefits of sea cucumbers can be linked to the presence of a wide array of bioactives especially triterpene glycosides (saponins), chondroitin sulfates, glycosaminoglycan (GAGs), sulfated polysaccharides, sterols (glycosides and sulfates), phenolics, cerberosides, lectins, peptides, glycoprotein, glycosphingolipids and essential fatty acids.”

Triterpenoids are the most abundant secondary metabolite present in sea cucumbers and triterpenoids are known to be toxic to tumor and cancer cells.  To find it online, try my Amazon store .  I like that they offer it in capsule form for those of us who may be grossed out by the look of them.  🙂

Here is some specific PubMed research concerning the healing properties of sea cucumbers:

1. Antitumoral – exhibited an inhibitory effect on cell proliferation through induction of apoptosis.
2. Anti-tumor activity associated with decreased proliferation of tumor cells and increased apoptosis of both endothelial cells and tumor cells.
3. Inhibitor of selectin interactions, which play vital roles in inflammation and metastasis progression.
4. Anti-pancreatic cancer effects
5. Sea cucumber can be used for reducing the risk of atherosclerosis and hyperlipoproteinemia.
6. Oxidative stress
7. Anti-cancer
8. Lung cancer
9. Leukemia
10. Breast cancer

I always find it amazing what we find in nature that benefits our health…Sea cucumbers, yum!