New Research Shows Tobacco Leaves May Be Anti-Cancer

Cancer touches all of us in the most tragic ways. Whether it’s our mother, father, cousin, uncle, friend, another family member…

The list can go on and on because many of us been touched by this disease in one way or another. New research shows interesting and promising results.

Everyday trials and tests are being run to find, if not a direct cure, ways that we can stop the progression of the disease, reduce the side effects, prolong life or stop the mutation from occurring at all.

In 2011, researchers at the University of Louisiana found that tobacco leaves may offer anti-cancer benefits.

So what does this mean exactly? The leaf and flower of the tobacco plant contain high amounts of something called Cembranoids. Cembranoids are a primary flavor ingredient in tobacco plants. In this case, it seems as though they also have anti-cancer properties.

This research is so profound that a patent was applied for and granted by the US Patent and Trademark office, which in itself shows that there may be some weight behind this discovery.

The researchers managed to isolate the compound and were very surprised by their discovery since tobacco is typically known as a carcinogen and something similar to a poison for the body.

The Cembranoids show potential for possibly controlling metastatic breast cancer and prostate cancer, two very deadly types of the disease. Once the leaves have been processed the majority of the benefits are lost, so this does not apply to commercial tobacco products.

There has been other research that shows there is some health benefit to tobacco use if used in the right way for the right purpose.

Fresh tobacco is a very relevant crop in the United States and the knowledge that these plants can help to possibly aid in the fight against these very real life changing diseases is heartening.