Vitamin Supplements as Cancer Therapy
Long before chemical medications were being developed in laboratories, our ancestors were practicing botanical and mineral medicine for whatever ailed them. No doubt the cancer epidemic we are experiencing today has a lot to do with the toxins our stomach, lungs, and skin ingest. However, the damage the toxins are allowed to do is worsened by the nutritionally impotent and tainted food we eat. We should be giving our bodies the benefit of the natural cancer prevention and healing that previous generations enjoyed. Supplemental nutrients, especially those with anti-cancer properties, are extremely helpful for cancer patients when taken according to the advice and counsel of medical professionals. Numerous supplements have shown to have cancer fighting properties. Let’s look at just a few over the course of this week’s blogs.
Vitamin A was the first micronutrient to be acknowledged as having a cancer prevention quality. Some medical experts warn against the toxicity of high doses of vitamin A that would be required by cancer patients. While vitamin A probably has the greatest potential of toxicity of any anti-cancer vitamin, there is plenty of evidence that it is safe, particularly in comparison to its potential benefit. Many European cancer clinics administer up to 2.5 million iu’s per day of emulsified vitamin A for several months with no cause for concern. Of course, dosages at these levels must be under the supervision of medical professionals, but they illustrate the relative safety of the vitamin. Beta-carotene, a form of vitamin A, takes on a host of responsibilities to ensure that cancer cells are not allowed to develop. It protect immune cells, inhibits the initial dividing of cancerous cells, and acts as a barrier against carcinogens. Once cancer has initiated, beta-carotene, as a powerful antioxidant, is believed to slow or stop the growth of oxygen-burning cancer cells.
Very recent reports have argued that vitamin A and other vitamins have not proven effective against cancer. However, tests in those reports involved the vitamins taken in pill form. Clinical injection or intravenous infusion of these vitamins has not been adequately tested. Use of vitamin A and other vitamins at proven levels and pathways should be practiced along with conventional therapies for the best synergy of treatment. Vitamin therapies for cancer patients need to be a high priority for clinical trials. Their use in concert with drug protocols could produce a faster recovery with lesser side effects. Integrative oncologists and researchers are striving to integrate vitamin A and other vitamins and minerals into various cancer treatments. They need your support.