What vitamins are good to keep cancer at bay?

I am currently taking multi-vits, folic acid, omega 3/6, eve primrose oil and vitamin e do I need to be taking any more?

What vitamins are good to keep cancer at bay?
Vitamin C Shields Cells



Sure they're tasty, but there's another reason that you might want to down a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, slice a red pepper over your green salad and nibble a handful of fragrant strawberries. You'll be getting lots of vitamin C, potentially potent protection against cancer.



"Approximately 90 population studies have examined the role of vitamin C-rich foods in cancer prevention, and the vast majority have found statistically significant protective effects," reports researcher Gladys Block, Ph.D., of the University of California, Berkeley. "Evidence is strong for cancers of the esophagus, oral cavity, stomach and pancreas. There is also substantial evidence of a protective effect against cancers of the cervix, rectum and breast."



One review that looked at the results of several population studies found that women with the lowest risk of breast cancer were getting about 300 milligrams of vitamin C a day, the equivalent of about 4? oranges or about three cups of orange juice. Their risk was reduced by about 30 percent.



In a study from Latin America, an area with one of the highest rates of cervical cancer in the world, women who got more than 314 milligrams of vitamin C a day had 31 percent less risk of developing cervical cancer than women whose intakes were under 153 milligrams a day.



And in a study from New Orleans, people getting at least 140 milligrams of vitamin C in their diets (about two oranges' worth) every day were only half as likely to develop lung cancer as those getting less than 90 milligrams a day.



"Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant," explains Balz Frei, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine.
Reply:i heard if you drink grape juice it can keep cancer at bay. or if you drink any kind of fruit juice like a smoothie but with only fruit juice no extra added sugar that it can help and eat tons of fruits and veggies.
Reply:While herbs and vitamins can keep you healthy, the amount of vitamins in a healthy diet should be more than enough to sustain your health. There are no medical studies that PROVE any vitamins/herbs work. (People always say that "such and such is used in treatment," but then again, a lot of people have died during and after that "treatment." The question you should ask is, "how many of those people who received that treatment got better?")



There are also a lot of people that go on and on about toxins - you never hear too much about that from a REAL doctor, because the human body has its own ways of getting rid of toxins, and the body stops working, vitamins and herbs won't help.
Reply:Have you checked with your doctor. All of these things could be working against each other. Best foods for fighting cancer are Omega 3 (particularly salmon or other fish products). Be careful with Vit. E (has been linked to problems). Also, antioxidant foods (like red colored foods, green colored foods).
Reply:None of them. Vitamins are used for various purposes but none of them have any impact on cancer which is caused by the uncontrolled division of cells. For example a recent study found no proof that vitamins had any impact on lung cancer.
Reply:There are several herbs that can help. One is Pau D'arco, it has been used to treat cancer and can reduce the size of tumors. I can supply you with a list of other herbs if you want them. Contact me.
Reply:Drink green tea, do not smoke, avoid sunlite - and you will get your chance even without those stupid pills!
Reply:You've asked a great question, but you may get a variety of 'answers'.



Vitamins and minerals play many critical roles in cancer prevention. They are needed for proper function of the immune system (immuno serveillance), for synthesis and maintenance of DNA (your genes) and for DNA repair (damaged DNA is the first step in the production of most cancers). They also play major roles in the Antioxidant Network in the body; helping to limit oxidative stress which is a major source of DNA damage.



I would like to provide you with a fairly long quote, but it is critical to understanding just how important vitamins and minerals are for the prevention of many cancers: "Deficiency of vitamins B12, folic acid, B6, C or E, or iron or zinc appears to mimic radiation in damaging DNA..." "Half the population (U.S.) may be deficient in at least one of these micronutrients." Source: Bruce Ames; Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2004, Mar 1;423(1):227-34 "A Role for Supplements in Optimizing Health: the Metabolic Tune-up". Another source, by the same author, that discusses these issues in great detail is: Journal of Nutrition, 134:3164S-3168S, 2004, "Supplements and Tuning Up Metabolism".



Bruce Ames is the inventor of the famous Ames Test - this is the test that is used to determine if chemicals are carcinogenic (can cause cancer). He is the former chairman of dept of Biochemistry at U.C. Berkeley.



This is very important information. Most people understand that radiation (e.g. xrays or ultraviolet radiation from the sun) can cause cancer. They do not realize that (I am paraphrasing Dr. Ames words here) "common vitamin and mineral deficiences" CAUSE THE SAME TYPE OF CANCER CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE GENES (DNA) BUT IT IS POTENTIALLY THOUSANDS OF TIMES MORE IMPORTANT (Dr. Ames uses the phrase 'several orders of magnitude more important').



In addition to the above noted vitamins, vit. D deficiency is now at epidemic levels in the U.S. Many scientific studies suggest that low levels of vitamin D contribute to increased risks for many common cancers. (Dr. Michael Hollick has published many medical articles in leading medical journals on this.) Note: Cod liver oil is an excellent source of vitamin D - try Carlson's or Nordic Naturals.



If I haven't overwhelmed you yet, please allow me to add one more issue - Omega 3 fatty acids. Chronic Inflammation appears to be a significant factor for increasing cancer risk. NSAIDs (Advil, Motrin, Aleve, and aspirin) help to reduce inflammation and therefore may reduce the risk for some cancers (especially colon cancer). Omega 3 fatty acids block inflammation through the same biochemical mechanism as these drugs. However, Omega 3's are safe and generally can't kill you the way the drugs can. Most people have a significant deficiency of omega 3 fatty acids in their diet. So supplementation can be very helpful. Fish oils (including cod liver oil) are good sources.



I hope you find this helpful. The references noted can be found at the medical research website (where medical research studies world-wide are listed and stored) 'Pubmed'. If you go there and do a search for 'vitamins' and 'cancer prevention' you will find 2577 research papers listed!!!



Bless you and good luck!
Reply:im not sure but on the subject of vitimins there was a huge article in The Irish Times about two weeks ago claiming that The Seven Sea's codliver oil capsules can actually cause cancer because they contain certain toxins!
Reply:IMHO



Buying and taking any supplements should ONLY be considered for periodic use if you know that you are not able to consume a good, healthy diet for any reason, for a prolonged period.



Supplements can be expensive, vary in quality, and may even result in negative impacts/adverse effect if you are not completely clued-up about how they inter-act.



It would be far better to try and divert supplement spending onto purchasing good fresh foods - PARTICULARLY organic foods (don't be distracted by the nay-sayers - organics are the only products that will definitely help you reduce toxins in your food consumption).



To reduce your chances of developing cancer (for that is all you can do - in the Western/developed world there is an incidence as high as 1 in 3 for developing some kind of cancer in our lifetimes now) you need to REDUCE your exposure to toxins, and generally overhaul your lifestyle.



The three major routes we are exposed to toxins - are - via the foods/liquids we consume; via the air we breathe/environments we are exposed to; via the substances our skin comes into contact with.



Rather than keep lining the pockets of the 'pill companies' - think about the strategies you can implement in these three areas of exposure to toxins that you can take readily and easily...to whit:



1) Reduce consumption of processed foods and drinks of any kind. Increase consumption of reliable source of pure clean water. Choose less toxically grown foods - fresh vegetables from organic farms; meats and fish also farmed organically. Try and include some oily fish in your diet - (but not too much - some oily fish are known to be more likely to carry their own toxic burden, of heavy metals like mercury, due to environmental pollution.) Try and cook fresh daily, and do not eat overly large portions - huge meals are a 'huge' challenge to the physical system - and can not only exacerbate 'ageing' effects, the polluting effect of foods that lay in nooks and crannies of your bowel, due to regular overloading and slow digestive system - can lead to potential problems. It is good idea to go through a complete digestive-system ‘detox’ - then rebuild your gut flora using a beneficial genuinely organic pro-biotic food source (mail me for some info if you are interested in how to do this in more detail). NOTE: Taking supplements on top of an impaired system may, at the least have reduced effect, and at worst is like literally doing no more then throwing your money down the toilet!



(2) Avoid heavily polluted atmospheres, keep your own home environment as toxin free as possible - for instance - avoid using toxic-chemical based air-sprays, polishes, hair-spray, deodorants and room fresheners, etc. - avoid plug-in 'vaporizer' products that evaporate chemicals into your 'local' air. If you live in a city - it is a tough job trying to control the air you breathe - and some who have the money will resort to installing expensive air filtering systems...Yet by reducing chemical products used in your home to a minimum you can have a real effect on reducing your exposure to toxins - ban any propelled spray products, keep dust down, stop using talcum powder...take sensible precautions.



(3) Often still overlooked - if you want to reduce exposure to cancer causing chemicals - you MUST completely overhaul your 'bathroom products and cosmetics'...What use is there taking a 'vitamin pill' - if you are plastering your body with toxic creams, lotions, moisturizers, soaps, shampoos and conditioners, etc...??? This is amazingly important - as your skin will absorb up to 50% of what you put on it. It is far better to divert 'pill and vitamin' money to 'treat yourself properly' and buy the slightly more expensive products made ONLY with 100% natural ingredients - BUT beware there is a lot of 'false natural' claims out there. The products need to be made with NO chemicals, and ideally with Certified Organic ingredients (Otherwise he so-called natural ingredients may be derived from chemically-cultivated sources...therefore you may still be exposed to chemicals unwittingly). Please do get in touch if you want more info about finding these safer alternative products.



Do not be put off by those who are ignorant of the facts. Taking pills, potions and vitamins is of little real benefit (other than making you 'feel/think' you may be doing yourself some good) IF you have not sorted out your lifestyle and done all you can to REDUCE your exposure to toxins and toxic chemicals in your environment - via ALL 3 means described.



Mankind has introduced around 100,000 unnatural chemicals to our daily lives over less than 50 years. In this time CANCER has risen to all time high. You cannot avoid exposure to cancer causing agents (carcinogens) by taking pills - it is about REAL lifestyle change.



Cancer is essentially where normal body cells suddenly start reacting/reproducing in an aberrant way - forming tumours and growths - due to having been caused to mutate/ become 'sick' particularly when the body's normal immune response is compromised. Immune response is weakened (amongst other things) by the huge onslaught of chemicals that our systems have to deal with daily.



If your system is compromised and your lifestyle and environment are poor, then no number of pills and combinations of vitamins etc will be any real help.



Hope this is useful.