Other things you can do when dealing with brain mets

[agness]

Soapberry (and Soursop)

Soapberry fruits and even soursop are both know for lowering blood glucose and have been associated with hypoglycemic conditions on the body in malnourished individuals or those who eat too much. There is a place though for these fruits to help reduce brain blood glucose in a state of ketosis -- it just hasn't been studied yet from what I can see. There is a secondary action there which also can aid the body in fighting brain tumors but the amount needed needs to be established, what is termed "encephalitis" in other quantities I believe could help and be beneficial to the brain. This is all in addition to standard oncology treatments of course.

Here are some links to check out:

Lychee is a member of the soapberry (sapindaceae) family. This page has lots of examples if you look under notable species.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapindaceae
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychee


Soursop also lowers glucose through a similar action:
https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/in...herbs/graviola


They have identified that members of the soapberry family are associated with illness when taken in large quantities:
https://www.chinaabout.net/be-careful-of-litchi-disease-no-more-than-300g-of-litchi-per-day/
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/21/5/14-1650_article
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25632950
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ackee-- look under toxicity

They have isolated some of the active elements in lychee including methylenecyclopropylglycine and hypoglycin A.

Quantification of metabolites for assessing human exposure to soapberry toxins hypoglycin A and methylenecyclopropylglycine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26328472
Mechanism of hypoglycaemic action of methylenecyclopropylglycine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2730593


I stumbled across these by accident in this context of lowering brain glucose levels and I'm using them myself judiciously. From what I can tell they haven't thought of this connection.

[agness]

Citrus oil and zest

Use foods and oils to help enhance your body's ability to deal with brain cancer, possibly enhance radiation effects on cancer cells and help your body heal.


There is actually evidence and it has been studied, d-limonene is the volatile oil found in citrus peel and it has some interesting anti-cancer properties.

Human breast tissue disposition and bioactivity of limonene in women with early-stage breast cancer.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed...20oil%20cancer

It also looks like limonene helps induce apoptosis and works to inhibit PARP
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23117412/

PARP-inhibitors are one drug research pathway that has been studied for HER2

HER2 overexpression renders human breast cancers sensitive to PARP inhibition independently of any defect in homologous recombination DNA repair
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3458582/



There are also citrus flavanoids that appear to have anti-cancer properties:

Anticancer Activities of Citrus Peel Polymethoxyflavones Related to Angiogenesis and Others
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2014/453972/

"One of the most basic features of cancer cells is their ability to proliferate chronically. Apart from blocking cell cycle, flavonoids in citrus peel can also inhibit cell proliferation and promote apoptosis, especially in triple-negative (ER-/PR-/HER2-) breast cancer (TNBC)."




An interesting thing that isn't discussed is that our noses, our olfactory sense, crosses the blood brain barrier. Researchers have looked into alternate means to deliver chemotherapy agents into the CNS including via the nose.

Strategies for Enhanced Drug Delivery to the Central Nervous System
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792490/



Citrus Zest
Grate citrus zest into food or water, don't heat it. Grapefruit zest is strongest but lemon is good too, probably certain orange zest also. I get the sense that mandarins have less but maybe that is me.


Essential Oils

Use citrus essential oils in a carrier oil or add onto a diffusion device. Use different types and brands to find ones that work for you or have different properties.

Note that straight citrus oil can cause skin reactions and can increase chemical sensitivities. Be judicious.

Terpene Profile: Limonene
http://theleafonline.com/c/science/2...file-limonene/


Lava Bead Bracelets
https://www.etsy.com/search?q=lava%2...oil%20bracelet