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Can Vitamin C Be an Effective Cancer Treatment?
It has been said that for true healing, our bodies need vitamins and minerals. Not drugs. Sure, modern medicine has it’s place and need but it’s good to remember that there is not a drug deficiency epidemic…there is a nutrient deficiency epidemic.
When cells are damaged, it can be due to depleted levels of key nutrients. In order to repair these cells, replenishing necessary vitamins and minerals is a must. One key nutrient that can assist with health recovery from multiple diseases is vitamin C.
Many diseases are linked to nutrient deficiency, including cancer.
Killing Cancer with Vitamin C
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have been studying the alternative therapy of using vitamin C for cancer treatment. Specifically, in colorectal cancer, which is the third most common cancer diagnosed in the U.S.
One study found that intravenous vitamin C therapy was more effective than chemotherapy when it comes to colorectal cancer (source). They found that high-dose vitamin C delivered through an IV, can actually stop the growth of tumors. This study was performed by researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Tufts Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.
Another clinical trial, led by scientists at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, studied the effects of giving between 800 and 1,000 times the daily recommended dose of vitamin C (intravenously) to patients with brain and lung cancer. They found the therapy weakened cancer cells and made them more vulnerable to radiation therapy and chemotherapy (source).
Don’t Try to Eat Eat 300 Oranges
Now before you go buying a bunch of citrus fruit, the amount of vitamin C used in these studies is equivalent to about 300 oranges. Also, the amount required for vitamin C therapy is not something we can consume from food or supplements.
Not to mention that our bodies cannot absorb that much orally.
That’s why vitamin C therapy is delivered intravenously. This is called IVC.
Delivering vitamin C intravenously bypasses this metabolic checkpoint and leads to vitamin C levels in patients’ blood that are comparable to the cancer cell–killing levels in the lab experiments. In the clinical trials, each infusion aims to raise the concentration of vitamin C in a patient’s blood to 20,000 micromolar. The normal blood level for vitamin C in a healthy adult is about 70 micromolar. (source)
During this type of treatment, the antioxidants from vitamin C convert to an oxidized substance and enter the cancer cell. This then causes the cancer cell to die from oxidized stress while healthy cells are left unharmed.
How the Research Stacks Up
Biochemist and Nobel Prize winner, Linus Pauling, was the first to experiment with high-dose, IV vitamin C therapy for cardiovascular and heart disease. A study showed that “men who took 800 mg of vitamin C per day had less heart disease and lived up to six years longer than those following the conventional guideline of 60 mg/day.” (source)
Linus Pauling also found that vitamin C helped cancer patients live about four times longer than cancer patients not given vitamin C.
Two studies showed improved quality of life and fewer side effects when cancer patients receive an IV of a high-dose of vitamin C. (source)
IVC may improve time to relapse and possibly enhance reductions in tumor mass and improve survival in combination with chemotherapy. IVC may improve quality of life, physical function, and toxicities associated with chemotherapy, including fatigue, nausea, insomnia, constipation, and depression. Case reports document several instances of tumor regression and long-term disease-free survival associated with use of IVC. (source)
Vitamin C is water-soluble; so unlike other vitamins, no harm will be done if you take more than your body needs (with the exception of possible loose stools). And remember that vitamin C is an important booster of the immune system.
In fact, another study that involved almost 11,200 elderly people found that there was an overall reduced mortality rate of 42% in people who took high-potency vitamin C and E.
Looking for ways to increase your vitamin C intake just to simply boost your health? Try these foods:
- Oranges
- Sweet peppers
- Broccoli
- Sweet potato
- Tomato
- Papaya
- Kiwi
- Cantaloupe
- Strawberries
- Grapefruit
- Kale
If you are going through a health crisis such as cancer, you may want to consider seeking a functional or alternative health practitioner that administers high dose intravenous vitamin C. This service is not known to be offered by conventional doctors.
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