Calcium D-Glucarate

Calcium D-Glucarate - Cellular Detoxifier†

Calcium D-Glucarate is a relatively common nutrient found in many fruits and vegetables. Many believe that this nutrient aids the body in the elimination of many harmful substances and helps to lower abnormally high levels of steroid hormones including estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone.† Both of these effects may help to protect against the development of certain tumors.

One tablet (500 mg) of Calcium D-Glucarate is equivalent to the phytonutrient activity found in 82 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. This nutrient is currently the subject of numerous clinical studies and is proving to have great potential for addressing various health concerns.

Why do healthy cells change into unhealthy tumor cells? Unfortunately science cannot yet answer that question. However, we do know that any nutrient capable of interfering with cell growth resulting in tumors would be of great interest and benefit to those with fibroids and other tumors.

Calcium D-Glucarate is a botanical extract found in grapefruit, apples, oranges, broccoli, spinach, and Brussels sprouts. It's also made naturally in small quantities by the body.

Scientists are discovering that it appears to provide superior immune support via a different mechanism than antioxidants such as Vitamin C, carotenoids, and folic acid. These vitamin antioxidants work by neutralizing toxic free radical damage in the body. However, there are other mechanisms by which the human body can detoxify itself, such as conjugation and glucuronidation.

Conjugation and Glucuronidation are detoxification processes that occur when toxins, carcinogens, and used hormones are combined with and bound to water-soluble substances in the liver, thus making them more easily removed from the body. D-glucarate has been shown to support this vital process by inhibiting an enzyme called beta-glucuronidase that can break bonds between toxins and used hormones and allow them to be re-circulated into the bloodstream rather than excreted.

Calcium D-Glucarate is known for:

• Lipid Lowering - Preliminary results in humans show D-Glucarate reduced total serum cholesterol up to 12 percent, LDL-cholesterol up to 28 percent, and triglycerides up to 43 percent. ¹
• Estrogen Removal - Calcium-D-Glucarate allows the body to excrete used hormones, such as estrogen before they can become reabsorbed. Large doses of Calcium-D-Glucarate have been shown to lower serum estrogen levels in rats by 23 percent. Studies are showing a beneficial connection between glucarate and estrogen receptors. ^{2, 3}
• Tumor Prevention - Animal studies have shown positive results regarding the use of Calcium D-Glucarate for detoxifying carcinogens in the colon, skin, lung, breast, and liver.⁴

How Calcium D-Glucarate Removes Toxins and Excess Estrogen

Are human’s toxic? Sounds like an outrageous question, but consider what the body has to accomplish with all the substances we pour into it. Any substance which is not useful for energy or building tissues is dumped by detoxification before it can harm the body. Breathing polluted air, diet, and water all carry potential carcinogens, so although we bathed and scrubbed ourselves clean today, all of us can still be toxic.

The human body rids itself of toxins by a mechanism called detoxification. During detoxification, a chemical binds to a carcinogen in order to eliminate it from the body. This is called conjugation. Conjugation can be thought of as the packaging of dangerous toxins into water-soluble forms that are easily removed from the body.

D-Glucarate helps eliminate toxins by conjugation. Upon ingestion and exposure to the acidic environment of the stomach, Calcium-D-Glucarate is metabolized to form D-glucaric acid. D-glucaric acid is further metabolized in the gastrointestinal tract into other compounds.

When detoxification involves D-Glucarate, it is called Glucuronidation. When glucuronidation occurs, the active substance that binds to a toxin is called glucuronic acid. A healthy system uses detoxifying enzymes to conjugate and bind carcinogens to glucuronic acid. This complex is then called a glucuronide complex. These toxins can now be safely eliminated.

Normally, the glucuronide conjugate passes from the liver into the bile, then into the gut where the body gets rid of it. However, sometimes there are high levels of a bad enzyme called beta-glucuronidase that can rip the glucuronide conjugate of a toxin or estrogen hormone. This reverses the glucuronidation process and allows toxins, carcinogens, tumor promoters, steroid hormones, and estrogen to remain in the body where they can potentially cause harm to cells.

When there is a rise in the levels of beta-glucuronidase enzymes, estrogen receptors also increase in numbers. This means that re-circulated toxins and more free estrogen can occupy these receptor sites and can potentially cause breast and uterine tissue to grow and develop into tumors. Studies indicate that Calcium D-Glucarate corrects this problem by inhibiting beta-glucuronidase so that glucuronidation is NOT reversed.

Simply put, toxins and estrogen bound for excretion stays bound, and the total toxin and estrogen load on the body is reduced.†

Importance of Reducing Toxins and Excess Estrogen

Many of the toxic substances that we are exposed to are known as xenoestrogens and can increase levels of circulating estrogen in women and men. Therefore, an increase in toxins can raise the levels of estrogen that can disrupt hormonal balance in both sexes. One of the processes by which toxins and estrogenic compounds are metabolized, broken down, and eliminated is through the conjugation and glucuronidation processes, as mentioned above.

We now know that Calcium D-Glucarate helps to inhibit or stop the beta-glucuronidase enzyme that can interfere with the glucuronidation process.² When a used toxin or hormone, such as estrogen remains bound to its water-soluble bond it will be eliminated from the body rather than being re-circulated in the blood stream.

Too much estrogen is a major concern for women and can lead to a condition known as estrogen dominance, which is associated with a hormone related disorders. Therefore, reducing toxic exposure and maintaining healthy estrogen levels can help reduce the risk of symptoms associated with:

• Uterine fibroid tumors
• Fibrocystic breasts
• Endometriosis
• Premenstrual syndrome

In a 1988 study Z. Walaszek found that supplementing with Calcium D-Glucarate can reduce both the number of estrogen receptor sites (which send hormone signals) by 48%, as well as tumor growth in the breast. ³

Conclusion

As new research sheds light on the importance of proper hormone balance in relation to our health, it is vital to protect ourselves from the increased burden of estrogen that we are encountering today. Calcium D-Glucarate is a timely nutrient that can make a real difference.

Obviously estrogen is needed by the body. However, too much can lead to cellular disruption. Since it can be very difficult to avoid the estrogenic chemicals rampant in our environment, another strategy is needed, and that is to reduce their negative effects by supporting the body’s natural ability to remove excess hormones and toxins. The removal of excess toxins and estrogen can be increased by this all natural substance known as Calcium D-Glucarate.

Consider supplementing with Calcium D-Glucarate to help keep the detoxification pathway moving forward. This will limit the amount of free estrogen being reabsorbed, and preserves the amount of glucuronic acid available for detoxifying other problem toxins.†

Suggested Further Reading

The Baseline of Health Foundation on Calcium D-Glucarate

Estrogen Dominance and Xenoestrogens

Cleansing and Detoxifying for Improved Health Did you know that 20-50% of women of childbearing age have uterine fibroids? Learn How Foreign Estrogens Can Alter Hormonal Activity in Women and Men The Skinny on Fat - And the Role Hormones and Obesogens Play Surprise! Both Women and Men can be Estrogen Dominant Summer Barbeques: How to Limit the Toxins Associated with Grilling

References

1. Walaszek Z, Hanausek-Walaszek M, Adams AK, Sherman U. Cholesterol lowering effects of dietary D-Glucarate. FASEB 1991;5:A930.
2. Walaszek Z, Hanausek-Walaszek M, Minton J, Webb TE. Dietary Glucarate as anti-promoter of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced mammary tumorigenesis. Carcinogenesis 1986;7:1463-1466
3. Walaszek, Z., E. Flores. And A. K. Adams. 1988 Effect of dietary glucarate on estrogen receptors and growth of 7,12 dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced rat mammary carcinomas. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 12:128
4. (J National Cancer Inst, 1989;81:1820-3 and Bio Chem Pharmacol, 1991;41 (10):1471-7)
5. Walaszek, Z. 1993. Chemopreventive properties of D-Glucaric acid derivatives. Cancer Bulletin 45:453-7

Other References

• Colborn, Theo. Our Stolen Future, New York: Dutton, 1996.
• Curley, R.W., Jr., et al. (1994) Life Sciences 54(18): 1299-303.
• Dwivedi, C. (1990) Biochemical Medicine & Metabolic Biology 43(2): 83-92.
• Heerdt, A.S., et al. (1995) Israel Journal of Medical Sciences 31(2-3): 101-05.
• Robbins, John. Reclaiming Our Health, Tiburon: HJ Kramer, 1996.
• Walaszek, Z., et al. (1986) Carcinogenesis 7(9): 1463-6.