The wealth of traditional knowledge about medicinal plants, passed down through generations, offers valuable insights into treating various illnesses, including cancer.

However, modern science often requires empirical evidence to substantiate these claims. Unfortunately, natural remedies that cannot be patented often face funding challenges due to limited corporate interest.

Native American Recipe Demonstrates Cancer-Fighting Potential

Occasionally, traditional practices are validated through modern research. One such breakthrough came from a Native American high school student who demonstrated the cancer-fighting potential of a traditional recipe at the International Science Fair in Los Angeles.

According to Indian Country Today, Destany “Sky” Pete, a member of the Shoshone and Paiute Tribes from the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Idaho and Nevada, was inspired to explore her ancestors’ diet. She connected her community’s modern health issues with the absence of traditional foods, particularly toishabui, or chokecherry pudding—a long-forgotten recipe.

Sky hypothesized that chokecherry pudding might possess cancer-fighting properties. She collaborated with Dr. Ken Cornell, a biochemistry professor at Boise State University specializing in cancer cell research, to test her theory. Dr. Cornell tested four chokecherry samples against uterine sarcoma cancer cells.

Remarkably, only the traditional pudding—with its inclusion of crushed chokecherry pits—demonstrated the ability to inhibit cancer cell growth, with the cells beginning to die within 24 hours.

This finding earned Sky the First Grand Prize at the 2017 Elko County Science Fair in Nevada, where her project surpassed more than 440 others. Sky plans to continue her research by testing the pudding’s effectiveness against other types of cancer cells over extended periods.

Reflecting on her discovery, Sky emphasized the role of traditional foods in health: “It was the traditional preparation of toishabui with the crushed seeds that had the results,” she explained. “I feel like our ancestors were really healthy. Nowadays, we’re prone to diabetes and other diseases. But back then, it was our food that made us healthy.”