Vitamin C May Slow Down Cancer
August 10, 2008 by ruth
Filed under Food & Nutrition
In an animal trial, injections of high doses of vitamin C have been demonstrated to reduce tumor weight and growth rate by about 50 percent in mouse models of brain, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers.
The NIH researchers, however, tested the idea that ascorbate, when injected at high doses, may have prooxidant instead of antioxidant activity. Prooxidants would generate free radicals and the formation of hydrogen peroxide, which, the scientists hypothesized, might kill tumor cells. In their laboratory experiments on 43 cancer and 5 normal cell lines, the researchers discovered that high concentrations of ascorbate had anticancer effects in 75 percent of cancer cell lines tested, while sparing normal cells. In their paper, the researchers also showed that these high ascorbate concentrations could be achieved in people.
Why injections? Apparently, our bodies precisely regulate the amount of ascorbate absorbed by the body when it is taken orally. So even if you eat lots and lots of oranges and other foods rich in vitamin C, our natural physiology prevents blood levels of ascorbate from exceeding a certain range. Hence, the injection approach.
There was a post about this at cancercommentary.com. I find it extremely interesting that the direct injection of the Vitamin C can be much more effective than when it is taken orally. I seem to remember that too much oral Vitamin C can be counterproductive to cancer fighting, but I am unsure if that is correct.
The body limits the amount of ascorbate that it can absorb, so isn’t directly injecting going against what is safe? They are beneficial in this case, but are there cases where injections are dangerous?
Vitamin C is great, so is increasing your intake of Omega 3’s and Omega 6’s. I love fitflax for this as it has chia and golden roasted flax and can be eaten straight frm the bag without grinding. http://www.fitflax.com
Very interesting … I guess that is similar to Vitamin B whereby injections are far more effective than oral forms. Maybe in the not to distant future we will be lining up for our daily vitamin shots!