Interesting Article About the Effects of Vitamins on Lung Cancer.

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, November 18, 2011
Vitamins Decrease Lung Cancer Risk by 50%

by Robert G. Smith, PhD

(OMNS, Nov 18, 2011) A recent study [1] of the effect of B vitamins on a large group of participants reported an inverse relationship between blood serum levels of vitamin B6, methionine, and folate and the risk of lung cancer. High serum levels of vitamin B6, methionine and folate were associated with a 50% or greater reduction in lung cancer risk. This exciting finding has not been widely reported in the media, but it confirms a growing body of evidence gathered over the last 40 years that B vitamins are important for preventing diseases such as cancer.

The study gathered information about the lifestyle and diet of 385,000 people in several European countries. The average age was 64 years, and most had a history of drinking alcohol daily. Blood samples were then taken from these participants, and some of those (889) that developed lung cancer were analyzed for the level of several B vitamins and related biochemicals such as methionine, an essential amino acid. These nutrients were studied because they are known to be important in the metabolism of single carbon compounds, which is necessary for the synthesis and repair of DNA in the body's tissues [2]. Thus, B vitamins are helpful in preventing defects in DNA which can cause cancer [2-4].

Specifically, a high level of either vitamin B6, or methionine, or folate reduced the risk for lung cancer. High levels of all these nutrients together produced an even lower risk. The effects were large, so the results are highly significant.

The study divided the participants into three categories, depending on whether they currently smoked, had previously smoked, or had never smoked. While smoking is the most important lifestyle factor in the risk for lung cancer, interestingly, the effects of vitamin B6, methionine, and folate were fairly constant among the three categories. That is, those with higher levels of these B vitamins had a significantly lower risk of lung cancer no matter whether they smoked or not. The report emphasizes that this result strongly suggests that the effect of these essential nutrients in lowering the risk for cancer is real and not purely a statistical correlation. And, the report reiterates that smoking is dangerous, greatly increasing the risk for lung cancer in older people after decades of insult to the lungs.

Some widely-reported health studies have suggested that B vitamins can increase the risk of cancer. The theory is that these vitamins can help to prevent cancer from their effects in strengthening DNA synthesis and repair, but that when cancer is present, the vitamins supposedly help the cancer to grow [5]. However, there is a long history of health studies, including the above mentioned study, reporting that B vitamins including folate and vitamin B6 can help to prevent many types of cancer, such as breast, prostate and colorectal cancer [1-6].

It is just amazing how the news media could have missed this, but they pretty much did. In one much-publicized study [7] it was widely claimed that "Multivitamins increase deaths in older women!" Actually, the study found that B complex vitamins were associated with a 7 percent decrease in mortality, vitamin C was associated with a 4 percent decrease in mortality, vitamin D was associated with an 8 percent decrease in mortality, and several minerals were associated with a decrease in mortality.

Essential nutrients in a well-balanced diet, including B-complex, C, D, and E vitamins, are crucial to maintaining good health into old age for a variety of reasons. Persons taking adequate levels of vitamins will live longer, with fewer heart attacks [7] and other serious diseases such as diabetes [8], multiple sclerosis [9], and dementia [10].

The question begged by the report is, what role did vitamin supplements play in the blood levels reported for these essential nutrients? Taking a multivitamin that includes B-complex vitamins will obviously increase the blood levels of these essential nutrients. However, the value of supplements was not emphasized in the report.

So we will emphasize it here. Vitamins dramatically lower lung cancer risk. Supplements provide these nutrients in abundance. Modern diets do not.

References:

1. Johansson M, Relton C, Ueland PM, et al. Serum B vitamin levels and risk of lung cancer. JAMA. 2010 Jun 16;303(23):2377-85.

2. Xu X, Chen J. One-carbon metabolism and breast cancer: an epidemiological perspective. J Genet Genomics. 2009;36: 203-214.

3. Larsson SC, Orsini N, Wolk A. Vitamin B6 and risk of colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. JAMA. 2010;303:1077-1083.

4. Ames BN. Prevention of mutation, cancer, and other age-associated diseases by optimizing micronutrient intake. J Nucleic Acids. 2010 Sep 22;2010. pii: 725071.

5. Mason JB. Unraveling the complex relationship between folate and cancer risk. Biofactors. 2011 Jul;37(4):253-60.

6. Giovannucci E. Epidemiologic studies of folate and colorectal neoplasia: a review. J Nutr. 2002;132(Suppl):S2350-S2355.

7. Mursu J, Robien K, Harnack LJ, Park K, Jacobs DR Jr. Dietary supplements and mortality rate in older women. The Iowa Women's Health Study. Arch Intern Med 2011. 171(18):1625-1633.

8. Pfister R, Sharp SJ, Luben R, et al. Plasma vitamin C predicts incident heart failure in men and women in European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Norfolk prospective study. Am Heart J. 2011 Aug;162(2):246-53.

9. Harding AH, Wareham NJ, Bingham SA, et al. Plasma vitamin C level, fruit and vegetable consumption, and the risk of new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus: the European prospective investigation of cancer--Norfolk prospective study. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Jul 28;168(14):1493-9.

10. Solomon AJ. Multiple sclerosis and vitamin D. Neurology. 2011 Oct 25;77(17):e99-e100.

11. Selhub J, Troen A, Rosenberg IH. B vitamins and the aging brain. Nutr Rev. 2010 Dec;68 Suppl 2:S112-8.

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Posted with permission from OMNS

If you are looking for some exceptional vitamins to fill the gaps in your diet, check out Daily CompleteTM at Amador County's Online Health Food Store.  With 243 nutrients (including vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, amino acids, a greens blend and more) it should greatly help you ensure that you are getting enough nutrients in your diet.*

New "Lifestyle" Post.

I just added another post in the lifestyle section of this blog.  It's titled "Vitamin D and Calcium Help with Weight Loss"  feel free to have a look.  :)

New "Lifestyle" Section

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up about the new "Lifestyle" section of this blog.  The link to it is on the left side of this page under the *New Section* heading (Sandwiched between the "Pages" list and the "Product of the Month" listing).  :) 

This section will contain articles from the Awareness Lifestyle eMagazine which is put out by the company that produces the products I carry in Amador County's Online Health Food Store.  They contain healthy eating tips, product information, weight loss tips, nutrition information, etc. and I want to make them available for you to read.  :)

I hope you all enjoy reading this new section and find the information useful for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

Click Here to visit the NEW Lifestyle section of the blog.

Pure Trim - Product of the Month for August 2011 :)

I'm really happy to be featuring this product as "Product of the Month".  This is BY FAR one of my favorite products on this planet and it is something I depended on heavily while I was training in China.  Many of my students and friends swear by it and I can't blame them. :)
This month's "Product of the Month" is the Pure Trim - Mediterranean Wellness Shakes.  They are high in nutrition, boasting ingredients like 50% of your daily Vitamin D, A, and E intake, B12, Biotin, and many other nutrients.
It also contains a Protein Complex that is soy and whey free, an Essential Fatty Acids blend, Anti-Stress and Energy blend, a Skin and Digestion blend, and even a Super Greens blend.......there's quite a bit more in them, but I don't want to bore you with an ingredients list here.  :p  In fact, people seem to discover the ingredients on there own after they try these shakes for the first time.

They usually are skeptical when I give them a shake to try for the first time, but the next time I see them they are super excited and say, "I need to get some of those shakes from you!  I've never felt so good!"  ha ha!  I always love hearing that from people because there are few things as rewarding as helping someone improve their health in such a noticeable way.  After they get some shakes and have been using them for a little bit they usually come to me and say, "The other day I was reading the package those shakes come in......do you know what's in them?!?!..."  Then they start telling me about how much "good stuff" is in them and reveling in the high nutrition content of these shakes.....and it makes me love what I do even more.  :)

As I mentioned before I used these shakes while I was training in China to keep my energy up so I could keep up with the intense training schedule and I still use them to keep my energy up without having to use drugs like caffeine.  But these shakes can be used for more than just energy and nourishment, they can also be used as a means of healthful weight loss.  Instead of starving your body to lose weight they nourish your body to its healthy weight and keep you going strong while doing so. 

One of my friends and carido kickboxing students uses Pure Trim and loves it.  A few months back she let me post her story so everyone would know how they have changed her life.  Click here to read her story.

If you know anyone who would be interested in learning more about a product like this have them check it out on Amador County's Online Health Food Store.  Or if they contact me I would be happy to give them a shake to try for them self.

You can also check out some of the celebrity fans of this product by clicking here.