Prevent Cancer, Naturally

In this age of processed foods and fast-paced, stressful lifestyles, it can be very hard – if not impossible – to nourish your body completely through diet alone. That’s especially true if you want to give yourself the best chance to prevent cancer and other chronic diseases. If you’re like most people, you may need a little help in the form of nutritional supplements.

Following are five key dietary-supplement recommendations to significantly reduce the risk of cancer. But keep in mind that these are supplementary measures. Vitamins and minerals by themselves cannot provide all the benefits you seek. In fact, taking certain supplements without the support of a diet rich in phytochemicals (disease-fighting components of plants) may actually pose some serious risks. Supplements are of greatest value when used as part of a health-promoting diet and lifestyle.

Your body needs essential vitamins and minerals – each in the right amount – for your tissues to do their jobs. Every one of your billions of cells must have these ingredients to maintain the strength and integrity of their delicate membranes and other vital structures.

One of the most crucial functions of your cells is to produce hundreds of enzymes – molecules that trigger and control chemical reactions. Enzymes are in charge of numerous tasks – among them, repairing damage to cells and restoring DNA to its original form. But if your cells’ enzyme-manufacturing system isn’t up to par – for example, because your body lacks one or more key nutrients – you are far more vulnerable to cell malfunction. Cancer is one possible result. Other consequences include accelerated aging and chronic diseases other than cancer.

Most enzymes in the body have both a vitamin portion and a mineral portion. That’s why we recommend taking a high quality product – one that provides adequate levels of all (or most) of these essential vitamins and minerals. Read labels carefully to find multiple vitamin and mineral formulas that contain doses in the right ranges. And don’t expect to find a formula that provides all these nutrients at these levels in one single pill – it would simply be too big. Usually you’ll need to take at least three to six tablets per day to meet these levels. (See "Our Recommended Dosages for Vitamins and Minerals" table for more specifics.) [Please see editorial notes at end of article regarding Life Force products that fit this category.]

There is no question that antioxidant nutrients in the diet – vitamins C and E, the carotenes, selenium, and zinc – help protect against cancer. What is not yet clear is how aggressive you need to be in taking supplemental antioxidants. Many scientific studies are under way that should help answer this question, but the results won’t be available for several years. From our reading of the literature and from our experience with thousands of patients over the past decades, we believe that getting optimal levels of antioxidant nutrients is a key step in the battle against cancer.

Clinical trials utilizing antioxidant vitamins have produced inconsistent results. One shortcoming of many dietary studies is that researchers often focus on the effects of just one vitamin or mineral. In a way, this is like judging an entire symphony by listening to a single trombone. Such research has its value, but it’s not complete and often raises more questions than it answers.

Another issue is that not all antioxidants are created equal. When it comes to mopping up free radicals, each may have a somewhat different (and usually very narrow) range of activity. For example, beta-carotene is an effective quencher of a free radical known as singlet oxygen, but it is virtually powerless against other types of free radicals. It turns out that most antioxidants require one or more "partner" antioxidants that allow them to work more efficiently. In fact, scientists have discovered that when beta-carotene is used alone, it can become damaged. Damaged beta-carotene is extremely toxic to the liver, the lining of the arteries, and the lungs. This may explain some of the disappointing results from recent beta-carotene studies, which showed that synthetic beta-carotene supplements, given alone, actually increased the risk of cancer in smokers. In contrast, when beta-carotene is given with vitamin E and selenium, it may reduce cancer deaths (by a significant 13 percent in one study).

Mounting scientific evidence confirms that a combination of antioxidants will provide greater protection that any single nutritional antioxidant. In one double-blind trial, for example, researchers examined the use of a combination of vitamins and minerals with the goal of reducing the recurrence of bladder cancer. Sixty-five patients who had undergone surgical removal of the bladder cancer were randomized to receive daily either a multivitamin / zinc supplement with RDA concentrations of all components, or the RDA multivitamin / zinc supplement plus 40,000 international units (IU) of vitamin A acetate, 100 milligrams (mg) of vitamin B6, 2,000 mg of vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, and 90 mg of zinc. During five years of supplementation, tumor recurrence was seen in 80 percent of the RDA vitamin-supplemented group, but in only 40 percent of those receiving the mega-dose vitamin therapy. The probability of this occurring by chance is extremely small.

Plant pigments known as flavonoids exert antioxidant activity that is generally more potent and effective against a broader range of oxidants than vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, selenium, and zinc. Besides lending color to fruits and flowers, flavonoids are responsible for many of the medicinal properties of foods, juices, herbs, and bee pollen. More than 8,000 flavonoid compounds have been characterized and classified according to their chemical structure. Flavonoids are sometimes called "nature’s biological response modifiers" because of their anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, antiviral, and anticancer properties. Because they have a broader range of antioxidant activity as well as other important anticancer effects, we recommend taking a flavonoid-rich extract or supplemental dose of specific flavonoids. This will provide extra insurance that your body can mop up any free radicals or oxidants that escape the other protective systems. (See the "Flavonoid Supplements" table.)

Green foods such as young barley grass or wheat grass, or algae sources such as spirulina and chlorella are exceptionally high in nutritional value. They are rich in natural fat-soluble chlorophyll – the green pigment that converts sunlight to chemical energy in plants, algae, and some microorganisms. Like the other plant pigments, chlorophyll also possesses significant antioxidant and anticancer effects. Many are available as "green drinks" – dehydrated products that are designed to be mixed in water of juice, then drunk. Popular brands include TrueGreens, Enriching Greens, Green Magma, KyoGreen, Greens +, Barleans’s Greens, and ProGreens. We recommend drinking one to two servings daily in addition to eating a diet rich in phytochemicals.

Green tea – which, like black tea, is derived from Camellia sinensis – contains compounds called polyphenols that have high levels of therapeutic activity, including anticancer activity. The major polyphenols in green tea are flavonoids, the most active of which is epigallocatechin gallate. In addition to serving as antioxidants, green tea polyphenols may increase the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the small intestine, liver, and lungs. Studies have shown that green-tea polyphenols inhibit cancer by blocking the formation of cancer-causing agents. Green tea appears to be most effective in preventing cancers of the gastrointestinal tract (including cancers of the stomach, small intestine, pancreas, and colon), lung cancer, estrogen-related cancers (including most breast cancers), and prostate cancer. [Please see editorial notes at end of article regarding Life Force products that fit this category.]

The term probiotics literally means "for life". Probiotics are friendly microfloa (bacteria and other organisms) that are vital to our health. Normally at least 400 different species colonize the human gastrointestinal tract. The most important healthful bacteria are Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum.

Probiotics play a vital role in determining how we absorb the nutrients from the food we eat. They are also involved in maintaining immune-system function, regulating cholesterol metabolism, and processing toxin loads. They may hold the key to preventing many forms of cancer, both within the intestinal tract and in other tissues, such as breast, lung, and prostate.

Several studies have suggested that the consumption of high levels of cultured milk products, such as yogurt and buttermilk, may reduce the risk of colon cancer. That’s because these products contain high levels of Lactobacillus bacteria. The beneficial effects of Lactobacillus extend well beyond the colon, however. Various probiotics species have demonstrated immune-enhancing and anti-tumor effects, but they also play a critical role in the detoxification of many cancer-causing substances, including hormones, meat carcinogens, and environmental toxins.

To make sure your digestive system maintains the proper balance of bacterial flora, you can supplement your diet with Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum. Lactobacillus preparations are available in powder, liquid, capsule, and tablet form. Dosage is based upon the number of live organisms. Four to ten billion viable Lactobacillus and Bifodobacteria cells is a sufficient daily dose for most people. We prefer products that have been "enteric-coated" to prevent the capsule from breaking down in the stomach, thereby increasing the changes of delivery of the organisms to the small and large intestines. Examples: Protec (Natural Factors), JarroDofpilus EPS (Jarrow), and PrimaDophilus (Nature’s Way). Or look for a new probiotics called Innersync Plus (Natural Factors), which provides the bacterium Propionibacterium freudenrichii, historically used in the production of Emmenthal Swiss cheese, in addition to Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria. In human studies, this bacterium has been shown to dramatically increase the growth of beneficial bacteria while exerting some beneficial actions of its own, including enhancing immune function and protecting against colon cancer. Take one to two capsules (5 – 10 billion organisms) daily – equal to approximately 3.5 – 7 ounces of Emmenthal Swiss cheese, but without the fat and calories.

Adding a fish-oil supplement to your daily routine provides extra insurance that you are getting sufficient levels of the essential fatty acids known as omega-3s. The longer-chain omega-3 fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA), found in fish – especially cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, and halibut – are especially important to good health. Take enough capsules to provide 120 –360 mg of EPA and 80 – 240 mg of DHA daily. We prefer the fish oils to flaxseed oil, because although the body can convert alpha-linolenic acid (and omega-3 fat) from flaxseed oil into the more potent molecules of EPA and DHA, it is much more efficient to use fish oils. All told, about 60 different health conditions have been benefited by fish-oil supplementation, including cancer, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, psoriasis, eczema, asthma, attention deficit disorder, and depression.

When selecting a fish-oil supplement, it is essential to use a brand that you trust. Quality control is an absolute must to ensure that the product is free from heavy metals like lead and mercury; pesticides; damaged fats (lipid peroxides); and other contaminants. We recommend three brands of fish oil products: Natural Factors, Enzymatic Therapy, and Nordic Naturals. All three are widely available in health-food stores.

About the authors: Michael T. Murray, N.D., is a writer, educator, lecturer, and member of the faculty at Bastyr University in Seattle, the first accredited university of natural health sciences n the United States. He is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on natural medicine. Timothy Birdsall, N.D., is the founding editor-in-chief of Alternative Medicine Review and national director of naturopathic medicine and research for Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Joseph E. Pizzorno, Jr., N.D., is confounder and former president of Bastyr University. He contributes regularly to Natural Health and Better Nutrition magazines. Paul Reilly, N.D., is one of the pioneers of integrating naturopathic medicines with conventional oncology care for cancer patients. Reprinted from How to Prevent Cancer With Natural Medicine by Dr. Tim Birdsall, Dr. Joseph E. Pizzorno, and Dr. Paul Reilly. Published by Riverhead Books, Copyright 2002.