Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

Scotty/Sioux City — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:01:38 GMT

I have a question: Would Milk-Thistle be good or bad for someone who is on or recently administered Chemo? Milkthistle is a very mild herb that soothes liver-cells and supports liver function. I would suspect that it could be helpful to strengthen the liver, which must be terribly shocked and stressed by any Chemo-treatment? I further wonder that perhaps it could interfere with the chemo by "de-toxifying" the intentional poisonous effect that Chemo has on the bad cells as well as the body's healthy cells??? SO, I wonder if it is a good idea to recommend this to my friends and relatives who are currently on Chemo? Scotty/Sioux City

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

fontana — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:20:05 GMT

I believe in Dr. William D. Kelley's method for curing cancer. He said that cancer is simply inability to metabolize protein properly. If persons pancreas is malfunctioning, doesnt produce enough pancreatic enzymes to protect against cancer. His method cured cancer by diet and nutritional suplements, most importantly by pancreatic enzymes. He cured himself from pancreatic cancer and then many others from different cancers. My friend cured herself just following his method from pancreatic cancer that spread all over her body when she was 50 years old. Now in just few veeks she is going to be 82 stil alive and well.

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

sue17 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:50:44 GMT

This article really surprises me. How can they make a generalization about Vitamin E based on one particular study. From what I learned, Vitamin E is actually beneficial to cancer patients.

From The Real Vitamin & Mineral Book by Shari Lieberman, Ph.D. and Nancy Bruning, "Evidence indicates that Vitamin E is also useful in the treatment of existing cancers. In animal studies, Vitamin E has enhanced the ability of radiation treatments to shrink implanted cancerous tumours"..."Vitamin E's protective effect against cancer and cancer treatment may be due to its antioxidant powers or its ability to suppress the growth of the blood supply that feeds a tumor."

Ofcourse, the author is referring to natural D-alpha tocopherol, not the synthetic form Dl-alpha tocopherol.

Vitamin E is not only good for sick people to take, but "healthy" people too (and i put healthy in quotes because many people think if they are not sick they are healthy). Even eating a healthy diet can't give you all the nutrition your body needs. Taking natural vitamin and mineral supplements is not a bad idea for anyone.

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

BuffyTheRWSlayer — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:18:56 GMT

Response to JuliaJ: Julia, you say that your great-grandma, grandma and mother all lived past 90 and never took supplements, juiced, etc. I share that with you. Sure, a couple of people here and there may have gotten a disease, but my grandparents, great-grandparents and further back, generally lived way into their late 90s and never took any supplements, never did any juicing, and never exercised in any gyms, etc. However, they lived at a time when not everything they stuck in their mouth was chemical and toxic. Nowadays, our lives are different from that which our ancestors lived. Our veggies and fruits are treated with pesticides, they're fertilized with dangerous chemicals, they're depleted of nutrients because, unlike in the past, rotation of crops just isn't done, and now they're even genetically altered. Our animals for consumption are fed the half-rotted carcasses of sick animals, they're fed antibiotics daily, they're given hormones, then they're tortured on the way to death so mass quantities of toxins can be manufactured in their bodies before death. The water we drink and bathe in is pumped full of fluoride, chemotherapy drugs have been found in our water as well as a kaleidoscope of other toxins. There's no area of our country (and our planet, really) that we have not toxified, or are not toxifying. The further we go back in our families, the further away they are from all that toxicity, poison and nutrient-empty foods. We are being poisoned, *and* our food no longer is nutrient-rich. And THAT, is why we now need nutrients and supplements, where our ancestors did not. I don't like it either, but what are we going to do about it? How do we fight it, so we can live long like our ancestors did?

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

Jim Coyle — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:18:06 GMT

Read leading biologist Ray Peat's article on cancer related to estrogen imbalances,etc. All his other articles are a fascinating read also. See

www.raypeat.com/articles

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

saynotoquacks — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:54:02 GMT

I am surprised that Turmeric was not mentioned as a cure for cancer. I had a little skin cancer once, from psychiatric drugs, and in two days turmeric made it vanish. I have absolutely no fear of cancer at all. Thaks to this site I know the causes, and I also know the cure!

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

wlftru — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:17:26 GMT

Informative, however lacks recommendation for medicine grade and organic supplement suppliers.

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

KSVaughan2 — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:24:34 GMT

The only time it matters whether vitamins increase the health of cancer cells in a petri dish is when the vitamins will be applied topically, using the concentration tested in the study.

Ingesting vitamins means that the body is breaking them down and using them for its purposes long before they arrive at the site of the cancer, by which time the immune system is tonified and the concentration is extremely low. To say that taking vitamins orally is in any way equivalent to putting them on cells in a test tube or petri dish is nonsense.

They might as well claim that one is better off fighting cancer while unhealthy, eating a vitamin depleted diet.

That said, carotinoids, flavanoids and tocopherols and tocotrienols are found in complexes, not in isolates. That may explain why beta carotene as an isolated carotinoid appeared to make cancer worse. Whole food form vitamins are better than isolates, and vitamins and minerals should be taken with food to allow cofactors to be maximized.

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

MSMock14aol — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:57:24 GMT

This was very informative.

I had a brush with very early stage incitu breast cancer nearly 3 years ago. Had a lumpectomy and took radiation. Am clean. I have been taking Mannatech glyconutrients and their vitamins for 2 1/2 years and am doing very well. Colonoscopy was clean as a whistle. PTL!

Thanks for your wonderful articles, wisdom, knowledge and advice.

Blessings,

Marjorie Mock

Grapevine,TX

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

Sigh — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:39:33 GMT

I am new to the site but have to say WOW! Hats off to you people! I spent hours here reading your posts which I found extremely helpful and motivating! But I do not know how to start "juicing" and what supplements to take! I do not have a very healthy lifestyle, do not eat right and could gain a few pounds. I don't look unhealthy just old. Stress and anxiety is high in my life along with bad diet and smoking.I know yuck..and family history of cancer.. Please help, with some start up suggestions, examples of Juicing ( maybe some recipes??) How to, and supplements. How do you KNOW and trust that you are really getting the right supplements, Whole food, natural. And fruits and veggies are so high, I NEED and WANT to make changes, just don't know where to start. What about Aqua detoxing of the feet. I started this, and will have a hair analysis soon....HELP!!!

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

jupiter2 — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:26:24 GMT

As usual, I agree with everything that Dr. Mercola says. This is particularly true of cancer. I read George Oshiwa's book on Macrobiotics many years ago in which he stated that cancer and leukaemia where very simple to get rid of by firstly fasting for 3 days (not a total fast of course, but using fruit and vegetable juices and water), and then following the macrobiotic diet. This way of eating equates with the understanding in many quarters these days of "Cancer can't live in an alkaline body" - acid and alkaline being the same as yin and yang.

I would also like to draw attention to the website www.cancerfightingstrategies.com, which may be quite well known to you switched on Americans but which I only found here in the UK last year. The list includes Liquid Zeolite which is apparently able to clear the body of heavy metals. I am able to get hold of this in the UK via a small company which imports it from USA. Why do the health authorities never mention these things? I think we can all guess why, can't we.

I would love to hear Dr. Mercola's views on the above, or indeed, anybody elses.

God bless and good health to you all.

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

OmShanti6 — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:07:20 GMT

Greetings fellow health seekers.

The book that PepperR23 mentions, "The China Study"

is the ultimate proof that cancer, heart disease, diabetes

etc is 90+% the product of diet and nutrition.

Thats the reason a group like HalleluliahAcres.com

with their nutrition and prayer program is successful.

Malnutrition breaks down our bodies and erodes

our defenses. Linus Pauling and Matthias Rath proved that

cardiovascular/heart disease is caused by vitamin and mineral

deficiencies and can be successfully treated with the appropriate

supplements and improved diet.

Sometimes our whacked out

diets starve the pancreas that's producing certain of the enzymes

that normally scavenge budding cancer cells. A pancreas operating

at 30% might not hack it.

Read "Politics in Healing" by Daniel Haley. Each of the 12 chapters

is the story of a significant, genuine nontoxic medical breakthough (CURE)

for cancer, heart disease, etc and how Allopathic

Medicine and the Phamaceutical Cartel use their control of Government

agencies, Medical boards, hospitals, the insurance industry, and 99% of

the media to squelch the competition to their Monopoly business of extracting

our money via expensive long term illness. These are not nice people.

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

LouV33 — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 06:28:00 GMT

My dad passed away last week at 81- he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer a few months ago. But it wasn't the cancer that got him - it was the doctors. If you want to see the poor state of medicine in this country, just visit a hospital for 2 weeks as I did. They just want to perform surgery, prescribe chemo & radiation, antibiotics, etc. The pre-surgery radiation weakened his other systems (they forgot to mention that) & we decided against the chemo. There was no special coordination with the nurses or hospital staff post surgery. They did not encourage sleep, fed him processed hospital food - jello, artificially sweetened sorbet, bland soup, processed vegetables, etc. He would have been the first to admit though that the cause of the cancer was linked to a lack of vegetables consumed during his lifetime. One it was found, I think ellagic acid from raspberies & walnuts would have reduced the tumor better than the radiation did and would have eliminated the negative side effects.

Regarding your article & tips - don't forget to mention the consumption of all colored fruits & Vegetables and to limit one's meat intake. Meat is definately nutritious, but most affluent societies overdo it. Digesting meat produces acidic conditions & free radicals. Reducing one's acidity in general is helpful in preventing cancer. Alkaline producing vegetables such as asparagus help in this regard. Obviously Selenium is key to preventing cancer - but never too much of it. Please see Passwater's book on Selenium for a great piece on anti-oxidants. General intestinal health with fiber, good bacterium from yogurt, enzymes from raw food , low acidity, and a huge variety of vegetables/fruits should be added to your nutrition tips.

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

Beccadog — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:29:54 GMT

Again, at the University of Maryland Alternative Medicine web site: "Vitamin E, along with other standard treatments, may also be beneficial for the following:

Slowing the aging of cells and tissues; diminishing the negative effects of environmental pollutants; Improving anemia; speeding wound and burn healing; reducing scarring; lowering blood pressure," and more.

"The richest source of vitamin E is wheat germ," but I received white bread or fiber-free cereal in the hospital. Yuk! Other foods that contain a significant amount of vitamin E include:

Liver (which is also the storehouse for toxic metals in the body); Eggs; almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts; sunflower seeds; Corn-oil margarine; Mayonnaise; Cold-pressed vegetable oils, including olive, corn, safflower, soybean, cottonseed, and canola (all GMOs); Dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale; Greens (beet, collard, mustard, turnip); sweet potatoes, avocado; asparagus; Yams. Only chemically pressed vegetable oils were served to me and I chose to eat low fat vegetarian for fiber and to reduce my blood cholesterol. The others were not served to me in the hospital.

Again, according to the U. of Maryland:

"Always check with your doctor before taking vitamin E supplements. Vitamin E may interfere with certain medications, especially blood thinners such as warfarin." That's probably what was in those stomach injections!

"In November, 2004, the American Heart Association stated that high amounts of vitamin E can be harmful. Taking 400 IU per day, or higher, may increase the risk of death."

www.umm.edu/.../vitamin-e-000341.htm

I've taken 400 IU per day for 20 years and I'm still alive, fiesty and very opinionated!

Feedback is welcomed.

re: Are Vitamin Supplements a Bad Idea for Cancer Patients?

Beccadog — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:15:07 GMT

After an emergency surgery for a total hip replacement after falling and fracturing my hip in 2005, I wanted to put vitamin E mixed tocopherols on my incision, but the nurses and physicians would not hear of it. Nor, would they allow me to take my own vitamins internally for the healing process. When they injected me with blood thinning medication in my stomach every day to prevent blood clots, causing massive black and blue bruises, I decided that was it. I had my husband bring my vitamins from home and took with meals 400 I.U. vitamin E, (200 IU's were in the Solgar Multiple Vitamin; 200 IU's were in a Stress tab B-complex vitamin with vitamin C), but this made the nurses and hospital physician on the floor very uncormfortable. They insisted that the vitamins stop and insisted that the injections continue. I tried to explain that my periodentist told me not to take vitamin E prior to surgery because it thinned the blood too much, and if that be the case, why couldn't the vitamin E be used in place of the injections.

There was no explanation, but the answer was no. So I increased my dose adding another 400 I.U. vitamin E. That really got their attention. They came back with medication to lower my blood pressure. Vitamin E it appears raises one's blood pressure possibly when taking other medications. I told them I would only reduce my dosage, if they backed off on the injections. It was a battle and I wanted out of there sooner rather than later.

My surgeon had my vitamins removed, and the injections continued. When I was released, I had 10 prescriptions for medications I never needed before in my life. They were not renewed. I learned that they layered me. When side effects occurred, other drugs reduced the side effects, and on and on. With all the medications and surgery and hospital stay the bill was over $500,000.