Only a pittance of the millions spent on cancer research has been used for nutritional investigation. The effect of different diets, however, has been studied by giving them to strains of mice that develop spontaneous malignancies; and to animals into which growing cancer tissue has been transplanted or active cancer cells have been injected. Malignant tumors have also been induced in variously fed animals by x-rays or by such materials as thyroid, mineral oil, estrogen, stilbestrol, arsenic, coal-tar or azo dyes, and dozens of other substances.

Effect Of Vitamin A

Massive amounts of vitamin A or carotene have stopped the growth of spontaneous cancers in mice, and have retarded the development of transplanted cancers. When 300,000 units of vitamin A and 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C were given daily for three to six months to 218 cases of inoperable cancer, the malignancies regressed in size or remained stationary.

The B Vitamins And Protein

In some experiments, animals given azo dyes when deficient in vitamin B2 quickly died of cancer, whereas adequate vitamin B2 completely prevented cancer development. In other studies in which dye-fed rats deficient in vitamin B2 developed cancer of the lymph glands or liver, giving the vitamin after the cancers were growing "remarkedly delayed" further development; again animals on an adequate diet remained cancer-free.

Susceptibility to cancer increases tremendously when diets are deficient in protein or essential amino acids. Thus dye-induced cancers have been more numerous and developed earlier when protein was deficient, but these growths were prevented by either additional vitamin B2 or adequate protein. Moreover, cancer-susceptible mice given diets rich in protein and vitamin B2 no longer developed spontaneous malignancies. Their requirement for these nutrients is merely higher than those of cancer resistant animals, a finding that may prove equally true of cancer-susceptible humans.

Several other B vitamins exert a protective influence against many types of malignancies produced by various other means. For example, cancers develop quickly when vitamin B6 is deficient, but excessive amounts cause vitamin B2 to be excreted, thus increasing cancer growth. Similarly, excessive vitamin B2, by inducing a deficiency of vitamin B6, has caused tumors to grow more rapidly. Partly for this reason, I believe that all B-vitamin supplements should contain the same amounts of vitamins B2 and B6.

A mild deficiency of cholin lowers the resistance of animals to spontaneous cancer of the liver, especially if protein is also under supplied. Such cancers can be prevented by doubling the amount of milk protein in the diet. If animals with liver cancer are given cholin and a diet containing 20 per cent protein, they recover so completely that no malignancy is found on autopsy. Cancers in rats given low protein, low-cholin diets are said to show the identical pathological changes seen in human liver cancer . A number of investigators believe that damaged liver and cirrhosis are forerunners of cancer of the liver in humans.

A vitamin-like substance, betain, rich in beet tops and roots, can pinch-hit for cholin. It also increases the survival time of rats with malignancies. When 22 persons with inoperable cancers ate large amounts of beets daily for several months, showed improvement and their cancers decreased in size. Concentrated beet juice was equally valuable, but when discontinued for financial reasons, cancer growth resumed in three to four months.

Autopsies reveal that go per cent of persons dying of kwashiorkor have cancer. This disease, prevalent in Central America and South Africa, results from diets extremely low in protein and the B vitamins; and it clears up rapidly when milk, rich in both protein and vitamin B2, is taken.

Relation Of Vitamin C

Little is known of the influence of vitamin C on cancer development; the research has been done largely on animals which synthesize this vitamin. Cancers induced in rats by giving various drugs, chemicals, or dyes, however, have caused the urinary loss of vitamin C to increase 50 to 75 times above normal within six days; and several species of animals with induced cancer have shown symptoms of severe vitamin-C deficiencies.

There is growing evidence that many cancers are caused by viruses. Since vitamin C appears to nullify the damage done by viruses (ch. 11), this nutrient may prove to be particularly important. Any cancer is such severe stress that it tremendously increases the need for vitamin C; and most cancer patients, especially children with leukemia, show bruising, bleeding gums, and often outright hemorrhaging characteristic of a vitamin-C deficiency. When 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams (100 milligrams per kilogram of body weight) were given daily to patients with inoperable malignancies, cancer growth was inhibited and in some cases it regressed.

Vitamin E And Cancer

Research indicates that vitamin E may be especially valuable in cancer prevention. Malignancies induced in animals receiving varying amounts of vitamin E were fewest, smallest, and slowest in developing when the most vitamin was allowed. Certain cancer cells grow rapidly in blood plasma, but their growth has stopped when vitamin E was added; and generous amounts of this vitamin have sometimes caused transplanted cancers to shrivel and die. Giving vitamin E has decreased cancers induced in mice. Cancers produced by giving estrogen, which increases the vitamin-E requirement, were also fewer when this vitamin was most generous; and the number of breast cancers in mice has been markedly reduced by vitamin E. When iron salts that destroy vitamin E have been added to the diet of animals, induced cancers developed rapidly, whereas animals not given iron in this form remained cancer-free. Cancers have also been produced by feeding mineral oil in which vitamin E dissolves and is excreted.

Since oils increase the need for vitamin E, cancer-producing substances injected into mice fed com oil or lard caused twice as many cancers to develop in the oil-fed animals; adequate amounts of vitamin E "remarkably protected" similarly treated mice. When cod liver oil, peanut oil, coconut butter, or a hydrogenated fat similar to margarine was given to rats fed cancer-producing dyes, the largest number of cancers occurred in animals given the margarine; as long as vitamin E was adequate, no cancers developed even when excessive oils were fed.

Cancers produced in animals by exposing them to x-rays or forms of radiation simulating fallout can be completely prevented by giving vitamin E; and the number is reduced by generous amounts of vitamin C. Unless vitamin E is adequate, x-rays cause toxic substances to be quickly formed from the oxidation of fats, but if sufficient vitamin C is available, the offending materials are detoxified. Some 90 per cent of the people whose adolescent acne has been treated by x-rays develop skin cancers later, probably preventable if the intake of vitamins C and E had been increased during the treatments.

About The Author
David Crawford is the CEO and owner of a Male Enhancement Reviews company known as Male Enhancement Group which is dedicated to researching and comparing male enhancement products in order to determine which male enhancement product is safer and more effective than other products on the market. Copyright 2010 David Crawford of Natural Male Enhancement This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.