I have to admit that when I heard the word “soursop” several months ago, I had no idea what it was. It wasn’t until I heard another of its common names, “graviola,” that I realized I was indeed familiar with this funny-sounding plant. For years I have seen this dark-green, prickly fruit in the supermarket; and I have read about the cancer-fighting properties of graviola (not soursop) in various nutritional and wellness periodicals.
Soursop is a tropical fruit grown in the warmest regions of North and South America, including the Amazon. Soursop cancer-fighting properties are due to a set of chemical compounds called Annonaceous acetogenins found in the leaf, stem, and bark, and in the fruit.
I am currently assisting a friend in her fight against breast cancer. And in the process, I have researched and read many studies that support the use of various foods, herbs, and supplements in cancer treatment and prevention. But I must say that the anti-cancer properties of soursop are second to none, to say the least! One could conclude that soursop is good for everything except death.
Cancer, one of the most feared words today, is characterized by abnormal cell growth. For the most part, cancer is predominantly a twentieth-century disease and is the result of the industrialization of our world. Once developed, cancer can be difficult to treat. Therefore, it is extremely important to engage in preventative measures that will promote health through cellular protection.
Chemotherapeutic agents
God not only created an amazing body that is designed to heal itself and be well, He also created a vast array of plant life to help us when we are sick and to help us cure what some say is “the incurable.” There are many plants (foods) that possess phytochemicals with anti-tumor properties, but soursop appears to be the mother of them all.
The more than fifty acetogenins found in soursop make it an effective tumor-killing machine, especially against those tumors which have been proven to be resistant to anti-cancer drugs. This is vitally important because cancer cells that survive chemotherapy can develop resistance to the drug originally used, as well as to other anti-cancer drugs. All cells, including cancer cells, need energy (adenosine triphosphate- ATP) to grow and reproduce. The drug-resistant cancer cells develop an intercellular pump which pushes out the anti-cancer drug before the drug has a chance to kill it. Soursop depletes ATP going to cancer cells, allowing for targeted cellular death without harming healthy cells. In other words, soursop pulls the plug on cancer cells.
Soursop is used in different parts of the world to treat and cure “dis-ease” ranging from abscesses, asthma, and blood cleansing to the pangs of childbirth. But here in the United States, soursop is mainly used to treat all types of cancer and tumors, as well as depression, fungal infections, high blood pressure, and parasites. In addition to its amazing cancer-killing properties, soursop also contains vitamins C, B1 and B2, calcium, and significant amounts of phosphorous, potassium, and magnesium.
