Do Sulforaphane, Melatonin, and Cayenne Pepper work?

[SisuMike]

I've been a lurker for a while. First time post. I have had a radical prostatectomy, chemo (docetaxel - 6 infusions 3 weeks apart), radiation (38 doses) and Lupron (18 months). I am done with all treatment for now. PSA minimum was 0.02, now at 0.04. I've been reading a lot about sulforaphane (BROQ), melatonin, and cayenne pepper to suppress and perhaps kill prostate cancer cells. I was wondering if there are any success stories out there among you warriors where the PSA actually went down (and stayed down)? Or, are all these articles and studies just giving us false hope? Thanks.

[Nusch]

There is some evidence that diet and exercise can slow down growth of PC. I would never pick out a single component a there‘s no evidence for it. Personally, after experimenting a while, I decided to go with a whole food plant based diet plus fish (pesco-vegetarian) and daily exercising such as weight lifting, gymnastics and jogging. Currently in year 7 after diagnosis and under Lupron with undetectable PSA. Will stop Lupron after more than two years in 2024 and see what happens.

[London441]

Exercise works better than any of it, and even if it doesn’t your quality of life is orders of magnitude better anyway.

[lcfcpolo]

I take Sulforaphane and Melatonin but I have no idea if they work. I'm also on the Care Oncology Clinic protocol plus Lupron and Enzalutamide. So far so good and PSA is low.

I understand your thought process. I think you have to bite the bullet and follow your research. Everyone responds differently and what is very apparent, everyone's prostate cancer is different. Good luck and if you do have success with what you take then please post an update.

[GreenStreet]

I tried cayenne pepper at pretty high doses and it did not seem to impact on my PSA progression. I have recently (a few months back) added the European equivalent of BROQ to my supplement list and was pleasantly surprised when my recent 3 motnhly PSA reading came in with no increase and I am currently not on any treatment. Was this due to BROQ or was it an un related a one off who knows? We are all different. I am going to carry on with BROQ. I discontinued cayenne pepper a number of years back. Good luck with your decisions.

[rocket09]

My thoughts are just that but there is some evidence that sulforaphane helps and melatonin may help as well. I have also read those supplements are not harmful. I take them and my psa has remained steady at .2 . Why , I really don't know . I am thankful for that.

[Teufelshunde]

BROQ and Melatonin have studies to back them up. "Articles" are different than studies, especially if they have the placebo group. Here is the one on BROQ (has a different name in France) which was used in the study. If you use it, use the dosage used in the study. Kind of a no brainer. Do not do less as results have a dose dependency. The youtube on Melatonin has several studies the doc goes through and you can look all those up. I take both, still undetectible. No downside to those two other than $, but not that big a deal. Good luck.

aacrjournals.org/cancerprev...

youtube.com/watch?feature=y...

[Professorgary]

there is no such thing as false hope, only false expectations. God Bless.

[RMontana]

Sulforaphane has a lot of medical evidence that it works against PCa (prostate cancer)...I take supplements and grow micro spouts. I take a 150mg supplement daily and consume 100g of fresh sprouts in a smoothie as well...from what I read this compound is effective against PCa...check these links out. Rick

healthunlocked.com/active-s...

healthunlocked.com/active-s...

As for exercise, as Dr's have stated, if it could be put in a pill they would FORCE us to take it...check out this podcast.

healthunlocked.com/active-s...

[j-o-h-n]

Will Sulforaphane, Melatonin, and Cayenne Pepper work?

On a bagel in the morning.............. why not?

Good Luck, Good health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 12/04/2023 10:51 PM EST

[SisuMike]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. I am going to try BROQ. I think I can only afford 20mg daily. I will let you all know how it goes.

[jazj]

Both pre and post primary treatment I spent a couple hundred hours reading. The diet (mainly limiting, not necessarily eliminating, animal protein except for fish and avoiding "bad" fats, lots of high-fat dairy, lots of choline [eggs]) combined with exercise is probably the most effective at ANY stage of the disease.

The problem with the supplements is there lacks funding to do a lot of large cohort, randomized, placebo arm studies and a lot of cancer patients, especially at advanced stages are not going to want to role the dice on their life and take one supplement so many of the studies have combinations of things and it's hard to tell which substance made the most difference. Then if the results are positive, maybe a few more million is made off broccoli sprout extract but not like the billions that are made off pharmaceuticals. So there's just not a big profit driving factor to fund a lot of large well-designed studies about supplements.

Dr. Jed Fahey, the sulforaphane expert, has recently expressed skepticism if any of the supplements have high enough biocavailabilty and/or dosage in human subjects to really make a difference at prevention or long-term outcomes of PCa patients even though that study that used Broq that got the industry buzzing about broccoli sprout extract did show compelling evidence of improved PSA dynamics. He admits sulforaphane itself is highly unstable, so anything claiming 'stabilized sulforaphane' is false marketing. It;s all basically sprout extract (glucosinolate) with myrosinaise (forgive my spelling) and you have to read labels carefully and do some math. Having done that myself, I honestly suspect the Jarrows Broccomax may be the better bang for the buck over Broq or Avmacol which are considered the two "best." You can take 2 capsules twice a day of Broccomax for less than the recommended dosage of Brow or Avmacol and their formulation appears to be "legit." Is Broq better? Who knows. They are charging a premium because it's the one used on the most compelling study. If you have deep pockets, might as well go for Broq at the recommended dosage.

In general, I'm suspect of the long-term benefit of sulforaphane supplements but I can fit Jarrows Broccomax in my supplement budget so I'm going to see over the next 6+ months what my PSA looks like. Problem is, that's not the only thing I'm taking. So we circle back to the typical answer on all this supplement stuff... "who knows!?!"

I think avoiding acohol is another good practice and when having drinks supplementing prior with something that decreases the acetaldehyde production which is the carcinogenic metabolite of the processing of ethanol in the live. NAC or Sylimarin (Milk Thistle), both antioxidants, will reduce acetaldehyde and reduce ROS. But there is contradictory evidence that once you have cancer whether taking antioxidants can be counterproductive or not. So best to stick to zero or one beer/wine and maybe skip taking the antioxidants.

There's evidence that controlling insulin sensitivity (reducing blood sugar) through Metformin or Berberine (natural supplement) can hamper the cancer.

Melatonin as mentioned has some good evidence but it appears at an advanced stage you want to use it in very high doses 20+ mg as a PRO-oxidant but prior to that a low dose may be best (3-5 mg max).

Low-dose aspirin has compelling evidence if you don't run a high risk of complications from taking a blood thinner. It's anti-coagulation effects are significant even at low doses.

I personally feel the evidence is strongest on the Melatonin and Aspirin with Metformin/Berberine and Sulforaphane being questionable but potentially promising.

[jazj in reply to jazj]

I should add there has been previous discussion about substances not actually preventing or retarding cancer progression but masking PSA. Curcumin (turmeric) I believe is one substance commonly mentioned in this respect. I think it's generally a good idea to stop all supplements at least 48 hours before your PSA test to basically perform a washout.

[SisuMike]

Thank you jazj! Special thanks for doing all that research! I need to look into Broccomax, Aspirin, and Berberine. That is only the 2nd time I've ever heard the term Berberine, and the first time was earlier today. I am intrigued.

I was a bit confused on the diet part. You said to avoid bad fats. But then you said (if I read it correctly) to eat lots of high fat dairy and eggs (for the choline). Does that mean the high fat dairy is "good" fat?

Thanks again for the feedback. Lots to digest (pun somewhat intended). Much appreciated!