Seaweed

U-Fucoidan: Anti-Cancer Substance

Konbu (Laminaria ssp.) contains a substance that causes cancer cells to self-destruct. It has only been recently discovered in Japan that this substance is U-fucoidan, a complex polysaccharide, one among many polysaccharides found in konbu. In research in Japan, U-fucoidan administered to cancer cells in a laboratory dish were virtually wiped out within 72 hours. The process by which these cells withered away was self-induced, in that the DNA within each of the cancer cells was broken down by digestive enzymes contained in the cells themselves. This process is known by the technical term "apoptosis".

Although U-fucoidan is found in other seaweeds and plants, konbu is particularly rich in this substance. And, very importantly, in order to consume fucoidan in its pure and effective form, one has to eat konbu raw or dried without heating. It is interesting to note that Okinawa, Japan has the lowest cancer mortality rate in Japan where the people eat their konbu mostly, versus other parts of Japan where it is used mostly in cooking.

(Reference: Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd. Biomedical Group, Otsu, Shiga, Japan)

Modifilan contains nothing but the central vein of Laminaria which has been gently dried without heating, and without any chemical sprays or preservatives. Modifilan, unlike plain dried seaweed, contains a much higher percentage of complex polysaccharides or alginates (40%), in which the U-fucoidan is contained.

SEAWEED

Alginate

Alginates are heteropolysaccharides made up of mannuronic and guluronic acids. Modifilan has 40-60% alginates. It is widely known that alginates from brown seaweed offer the best protection from radiation and environmental pollutants. Alginates bind with heavy metals such as lead, mercury and other; radioactive elements: strontium, barium, cesium etc. and are then excreted from the body. Alginates are non-toxic and are not reabsorbed into the rest of the body from the gastrointestinal tract. Alginates do not adversely effect the body’s ability to absorb calcium and other natural minerals.

Benefits of Modifilan
by Leonid Gordin, M.D.
Cambridge, MA

SEAWEED

Modifilan is a concentrated extract of the brown seaweed Laminaria japonica. This seaweed is gathered in the clean waters of the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Forty pounds of raw Laminaria japonica is needed to make just one pound of Modifilan. This unique patented technology "semidigests" the tough outerlayer of seaweed fibers exposing, concentrating and making much more bio-available the macro-and micronutrient-dense central vein of the Laminaria.

Although the nutritional and medicinal powers of seaweeds have been known for thousands of years the scientific basis of their health benefits has been established only recently.

One of the most impressive aspects of Modifilan that sets it apart from other types of seaweed products is its very high content of soluble polysaccharides like fucoidan, laminarin and alginate. The former compound is particularly rich in such simple sugars as glucuronic acid, mannose and fucose that give Laminaria its distinctive taste.

The ongoing research into fucoidan has conclusively demonstrated its ability to induce cancer cell apoptosis (programmed cell death) in leukemia, stomach and colon cancer cell lines. This biological data support epidemiological observations that Laminaria is an important factor contributing to the relatively low breast cancer rates reported in Japan.

The technology involved in processing Laminaria japonica preserves and at the same time concentrates this vulnerable thermolabile substance thus making Modifilan one of the richest sources of cancer-fighting fucoidan.

Another polysaccharide concentrated in Modifilan that may have anti-cancer properties is laminarin. It is known that tumor formation and growth require a highly charged extra-cellular matrix. Solid tumors provoke ongoing high-level fibrin leakage from surrounding capillaries. This fibrin clot gets invaded by various cells recruited by solid tumors including fibroblasts and endothelial cells. The former cells lay down a heavily charged matrix throughout the tumor and the later cells participate in tumor angiogenesis (vascularization). Angiogenesis is a prerequisite for tumor expansion and metastasis. It has been shown that laminarin sulfate and fucoidan inhibit the binding of basic fibroblast growth factor (BFGF) to an extra-cellular matrix leading to inhibition of fibrin clot invasion by tumor- recruited fibroblasts and endothelial cells suggesting a novel approach to tumor therapy based on blocking angiogenesis.

Cancer metastasis involves the tumor cell adhesion to host tissue basement membrane followed by tissue invasion facilitated by tumor cell surface and PA (urokinaze-type plasminogen activator) associated plasminogen activation. Fucoidan interferes with cancer cells metastasis (anti-metastatic activity) by inhibition of physical interaction between the tumor cells and basement membrane as well as suppression of the proteolytic cascade of plasminogen activation.

Interaction and organization of cells and tissue in general and tumor and host cells in particular may be mediated by the interactions between cell membrane polysaccharides and the corresponding protein receptor. Fucoidan, a sulfated fucopolysaccharide, inhibits the adhesion process (cell-cell interaction) by blocking lectin-like adhesion molecules (glycoproteins) on cell surfaces and therefore interfering with tumor cell colonization (metastasis).

Another mechanism of antiproliferative (anti-tumor) properties of fucoidan was shown in vitro and in vivo on a cell line derived from a nonsmall-cell human bronchopulmonary carcinoma (particularly chemoresistant tumor). Fucoidan exerted antiproliferative activity with a block observed in the G1 phase of the cell cycle.

It has also been demonstrated that fucoidan acts as a so-called activator of the reticulo-endothelial system, specifically as an enhancer of phagocytosis. This suggests another aspect of antitumor activity of fucoidan related to the activation of macrophage-mediated tumor cell killing.

There are also non-polysaccharide fractions from Laminaria that have been found to have a significant cancer-preventative anti-mutagenic (anti-DNA damage) activity against typical genotoxic substances.

Another promising use of the sulfated polysaccharides fucoidan and laminarin is in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Several mechanisms are involved: the inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation (monoclonal hyperplasia) which is an important step in atherogeneses; activation of enzymes involved in the beta-oxidation of fatty acids which can be useful in the prevention and treatment of hyperlipedemia. Laminarin has been shown to have a hypotensive effect. It also exhibits 30% of the anticoagulant activity of heparin.

All of these properties of sulfated polysaccharides make Modifilan clinically applicable in the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, atherosclerosis, cancerogenesis and cancer metastasis.

Another extremely important area of Modifilan application is in the environmental medicine. Polysaccharide laminarin has been shown in four animal species (mice, guineapigs, dogs, and monkeys) to prevent acute radiation sickness and death (about LD90) when administered within 24 hours after radiation exposure. This research suggests that the brown seaweed Laminaria can be clinically useful in the treatment and prevention of the adverse effects of ionizing radiation.

The non-digestible polysaccharide alginate that comprises 50% of Modifilan's total dry weight has the unique ability of binding heavy metals and radioactive substances to its own molecules. As the alginate is non-digestible it is excreted from the body together with toxic compounds. This is particularly important for cadmium and mercury, as these metals are found at dangerously high levels in air, water and food. Alginate can also remove isotopes that have previously been absorbed by the human body from the environment. Even small amounts of radioactive pollution will expose surrounding cells to harmful radioactive emission. The way alginate facilitates the excretion of toxic substances that find their way into the body from the environment can be shown using, as an example, the elimination of radioactive strontium:

Sr 2+ (food)
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Sr 2+ (in GI tract) + alginate = strontium alginate feces
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Sr 2+ (blood)
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Sr 2+ (bones)

A percentage of Strontium molecules stored in the bone structure (or any other toxic substance stored in the tissue) is constantly released and is traveling with the blood stream. As the blood feeds the saliva and bile, part of the released strontium or other toxic metal ends up in the large intestine. Most of the liquid in the large intestine is reabsorbed by the body including the radioactive isotopes and heavy metals which are re-deposited back into the tissue. Alginate can break this process, as toxic substances are bound to the alginate molecules and released from the body with feces. Alginate binds to all heavy metals including lead, mercury, cadmium, cobalt, copper and radium.

Modifilan should be consumed over at least a four-month period to expedite removal of toxic substances stored in the body as a result of previous exposures.

Modifilan is an excellent bio-available source of organic iodine which is extremely helpful in treating thyroid disorders. Also in bio-available forms are the B vitamins, calcium, selenium, chromium, amino acids and many more trace elements. Clinical studies of Modifilan also show it can be effective in lowering cholesterol, triglyceride levels and high blood sugar, aiding digestion and elimination, strengthening hair and nails (including hair re-growth after radiation), and increasing energy.

Vladimir P. Shurlan, M.D.
Orthopaedics, Sport Medicine, And Rehabilitation

July 10, 1999
Pacific Standard Distributors, Inc.

Dear Gentlemen;

I have used your product MODIFILAN extensively over the last year (1998/1999) for numerous reasons. I am fully aware of the naturopathic effects and biochemistry of this product and, therefore, I have found it to be a great adjunct and treatment choice for many of my patients. Since I have done most of my work in arthritis, collagen research and functional nutritional biochemistry, immunity and chelation therapy, I have applied and used this product for those reasons. The response was very good, gratifying and in some cases, rather significant. Some of my patients have reported excellent results in conjunction with oral chelation therapy, e.g. detoxification re: mercury, cadmium, lead, etc. Personally, I have experienced the same effects over the last 6-8 months. Certainly, I am planning to continue on a daily basis with taking Modifilan. It is needless to say that Modifilan would affect and lower cholesterol (LDL), regulate blood sugar and exert different anti-viral and anti-cancer effects. It is one of the best, most pure vitamin supplements and there is a good use for hypothyroidism due to iodine content. Also, it is a well known fact that cholesterol metabolism is closely connected with algorithm of collagen cartilage breakdown—e.g. osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. This botanical product or Laminaria japonica (Modifilan) is one of the most clean, cold-water harvested plant from Northwestern Pacific (non-polluted geographic portion of our earth).

I am sure that an ongoing use of this product would bring up more of the results in many areas and disciplines of patient’s care (generally and specifically).

I can fully recommend this product.

Sincerely Yours,
Vladimir P. Shurlan, M.D.

Franka Mladineo Chavez
October 30

Dear Vladimir M. Bajanov;

I have been eager to write to you in regards to your product, Modifilan. I spoke to you recently during the Cancer Conference in Universal City, California during the month of Sept. 1999. I have used your product Modifilan over the past 12 months. I was eager to speak to you during the conference to express to you how pleased I am with your product.

I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years and four months ago. As a result of my condition my doctors performed an intensive surgery called a Whipple procedure. After my surgery, I also underwent chemotherapy and radiation.

Due to the surgery and my chemotherapy and radiation, I was told by my doctors that I would never get back to my original weight. I had lost a total of 18 pounds.

A year ago I had met you and discovered your product at a Cancer Conference in Pasadena, California. I was desperately seeking something that would help me feel more energized and help me put back some of the weight I had lost. After searching all day at the conference, I finally found your product on my way out. Since then I have been taking Modifilan daily.

As a result, I have gained back almost all of my weight, 14 pounds. I have also noticed an increase in my energy level and my red blood cell count is back to normal. I truly believe your product is responsible for my new health because I have not tried any other products. I am happy to say that to this day I am cancer free and enjoying life tremendously every day.

Thank you for helping me get my health back! I will continue to use your product daily and highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about trying it.

Sincerely Yours,
Franka Mladineo Chavez

Mr. and Mrs. S. McGrath,
San Carlos, CA

Dear Vladimir,

For the past five years I have worked in the computer industry. I noticed I was losing my hair all over my head. My energy level was not very good.

I started to take Modifilan, three capsules per day, about one year ago. I immediately noticed I had a great deal more energy and felt better in general. After about one month, I noticed my hair stopped falling out when I combed it in the morning. I also noticed that the structure of my hair felt stronger and the color was richer-looking.

My wife at the same time also began taking Modifilan, about one capsule per day. She noticed a big increase in her energy level and sense of well-being as well. She noticed her nails became stronger.

I highly recommend this product for everyone who works in front of a computer and for general health for everyone.

Jill Buzan,
Sarasota, FL

Dear Vladimir,

I have always known that I get the most minerals from eating sea vegetables yet I don't always take the time to prepare them. Modifilan makes it easy for me to get those nutrients. I also love the way it tastes and I like to open up the capsules and put it on my food. It's great on a salad or rice and it takes the place of salt. Because the kombu is processed in it's raw state I know that I am getting the most nutrients from it.

I highly recommend this product and a staple to anyone's diet.

L. Wood
San Diego, CA

My husband and I are using Modifilan ritually and feel increased energy and good digestion. He is not taking Tylenol for his headaches anymore. He certainly is not changing his bad diet, so it must be your product. Thank you for your wonderful product.

Dear Vladimir and Rosemary:

As a person who is currently receiving chemotherapy, I feel very fortunate to have discovered Modifilan.

I started taking this heavy duty cancer treatment on February 1st of this year. After my second treatment on February 22nd, clusters of my hair fell out daily until, about two weeks later, my scalp felt smooth as an egg shell. During this time I was afraid that a strong wind could have blown all my hair away!

On or about February 17th I started taking between 12-18 capsules of Modifilan every day. Around the beginning of April, my scalp felt like a day's growth on an unshaved beard.

Yesterday, a friend who examined my scalp in April observed that my hair is slowly growing despite the medication.

Most importantly, my energy has returned and I feel that I'm getting better all the time. I trust in God to answer my prayers for a full and complete recovery.

Barbara R. Winer
Tarzana, CA
May 6, 2000

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Pacific Standard

329 Linfield Place

Menlo Park, CA 94025
Tel. 650-853-1131
Fax 605-853-1132
www.modifilan.com
vova@netwiz.net