Sheldon Saul Hendler
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 Some protection is afforded by substances such as beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, selenium, copper, folic acid and vitamin B12. A 1988 report in the medical literature indicated that precancerous lesions in the airways of smokers were reversed after the smoker received megadoses of folic acid and vitamin B12 daily for several months. The dose of folic acid used in the study was 10 mg and that of vitamin B12, 500 meg.
The Formula
1) Stop smoking. This is easier said than done, but try to.
2) Vitamin/mineral supplement. |
Patricia Hausman & Judith Benn Hurley
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 Harvard researcher involved with this project, points out that "even if beta-carotene were effective in reducing deaths from lung cancer by as much as 50 percent, lifelong smokers would still have a risk 10 to 15 times greater than nonsmokers, rather than 20 to 30 times greater than they do now."
As we see it, there's more good in this than bad. Anything that can reduce a risk factor even a little is something to be grateful for. Especially when it tastes so good!
At the Market: Choose sweet potatoes that are firm and nicely shaped and have lively color. |
Michael Lerner
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 The Gerson raw foods diet, with frequent ingestion of fresh vegetable juices, provides a very high intake of beta-carotene. I have personally known several melanoma patients who did well for periods of years on the Gerson program. On the other hand, the course melanoma takes is highly variable, and there may be, as I reported in chapter 10, an important psychological component in improved outcomes with this disease. |
| Similarly, a study of diet and lung cancer which compared the dietary histories of 332 lung cancer patients with 865 controls found a clear negative association between dietary beta-carotene intake and risk of lung cancer.10 This finding is supported by a 1990 review of 12 studies by W.C. Willett at Harvard Medical School. In each study, high intake of fruits and vegetables containing carotenoids was associated with reduced risk of lung cancer, though this finding is also compatible with the possibility that some other factor in these foods is responsible for the result. |
| About 20 reports have evaluated cancer incidence and vitamin A or beta-carotene intake. In nine retrospective studies, a significant increase in cancer risk at various sites was associated with diminished vitamin A intake. Risks reported for groups with low vitamin A intake were about twice those for the high intake groups.6
The National Academy of Sciences Diet, Nutrition and Cancer report concluded: "Studies in animals indicate that an increased intake of this vitamin [A] has a protective effect against the induction of cancer by chemical carcinogens in most, but not all, instances. |
| Serum beta-carotene, Vitamins A and E, Selenium and the Risk of Lung Cancer," New England Journal of Medicine 315:1250 (1986). Abstracted in Werbach, Nutritional Influences on Illness, 104.
10 L. LeMarchand, et al., "Vegetable Consumption and Lung Cancer Risk: A Population-Based Case-Control Study in Hawaii," Journal of the National Cancer Institute 81(15):! 158-64 (1989).
II W.C. Willett, "Vitamin A and Lung Cancer," Nutrition Review 48(5):201-11 (1990).
12 W. Bollag, "Vitamin A and the Retinoids: From Nutrition to Pharmacotherapy in Dermatology and Oncology," Lancet 8329(1 ):860-3 (1983). |
Committee on Comparative Toxicity of Naturally Occurring Carcinogens
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 A number of intervention studies based on dietary modification or the use of chemopreventive agents (vitamin A and related retinoids, beta-carotene, vitamins E and C, calcium etc.) are in progress or are being developed (see Chapter 4). It would be desirable to incorporate some of the above biologic markers into these studies, in order to refine the assessment of biologic responses in individuals and to provide mechanistic insights. |
Earl Mindell and Hester Mundis
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 An all-natural high-potency multiple vitamin and amino acid—chelated mineral complex (containing digestive enzymes for better absorption and no preservatives or artificial colors) and
A broad-spectrum antioxidant formula (containing alpha- and beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, ginkgo biloba, coenzyme Q10, bilberry, L-glutatbione, soy isoflavones, grapeseed extract, and green tea extract)
Take each of these twice daily, A.M. and P.M., with meals. (Dosage is suitable for individuals over twelve years of age. |
Committee on Comparative Toxicity of Naturally Occurring Carcinogens
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| A cursory look at the foods in which caffeic acid is present reveals many that are high in fiber, vitamins A, E, C, beta-carotene, and numerous other protective compounds that might significantly affect the fate of caffeic acid in the body.
On the basis of studies in animals, IARC (1993) concludes that caffeic acid is possibly carcinogenic to humans and has classified it as a Group 2B carcinogen. |
John Boik
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 The strongest association was between low levels of beta-carotene and the subsequent development of lung cancer. Results indicate that it is unlikely that any one of these micronutrients is associated with protection against all cancer types. Other epidemiological studies of the cancer preventive effects of antioxidants have been inconclusive, partially because the beneficial effects have been small and thus may be due to other confounding factors
Comstocketal., 1992; TTennekensel al.. |
Bill Gottlieb
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 Juice Therapy
Juices rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C can help slow the development of cataracts, according to Cherie Calbom, M.S., a certified nutritionist in Kirk-land, Washington, and co-author of Juicing for Life. "These nutrients protect the eye from free radical damage caused by exposure to the sun," says Calbom. To prepare her Eye Therapy Express juice, Calbom says to bunch two endive leaves and a handful of parsley, then juice them along with two celery stalks and four or five carrots. |
Ruth Winter
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 PRECURSOR • A biologic process in which a substance turns into another active or more mature substance. beta-carotene is a precursor of vitamin A, because the body can use it to make vitamin A.
PREDNISOLONE • Metacortandrolone. Cortalone. Delta-Cortef. Introduced in 1955, prednisolone is related chemically to Cortisol. It is used to treat inflammation in cattle. FDA residue tolerance for milk is zero. It is used to treat severe inflammation, as an immunosuppressant, in the treatment of ulcerative colitis, and in proctitis in humans. |
Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
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 Regression of experimental oral carcinomas by local injection of beta-carotene and canthaxanthin. Nutr Can-cer.l988;ll:35-40.
8. Gensler HL. Reduction of immunosuppression in UV-irradiated mice by dietary retinyl palmitate plus canthaxanthin. Carcinogenesis. 1989;10:203-7.
9. Grubbs CJ, et al. Effect of canthaxanthin on chemically induced mammary carcinogenesis. Oncology.l991;48:239-45.
10. McGuinness R and Beaumont P. Gold dust retinopathy after the ingestion of canthaxanthine to produce skin-bronzing. Med J Aust.1985; 143:622-3.
11. Bopp S, et al. |
| It was a more effective antimutagen than retinol, beta-carotene, vitamin C or vitamin E (4).
Some rats were given free access to food and water containing chlorophyllin. After five weeks University of Illinois scientists gave them a chemical that causes colon cancer. Rats that had been given chlorophyllin had significantly fewer cancer-like changes in their colon cells than rats that did not. "This implies that chlorophyllin, a known antimutagen, may have anticarcinogenic properties as well," the scientists concluded (5). |
| Other scientists showed that chlorophyllin, beta-carotene and a form of linolenic acid inhibited the activity of the "powerful mutagen" and anticancer drug, thio-tepa. Each of these natural protective compounds inhibited the harmful effects of this drug by 70 to 85 percent (6). Chloro-phyllin also protected fruit flies from the effects of radiation, according to scientists at Brown University (7). |
Ralph Moss, PhD
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 And lutein is five times more readily available from vegetables than beta-carotene. (453)
Lutein has many beneficial effects in experimental animals. It increases the time until the tumor appears, suppresses the growth of breast tumors, and also enhances the growth of normal white blood cells. (340) What was particularly exciting was that very low amounts of lutein, comprising no more than two-thousands of the overall diet by weight, "can efficiently decrease mammary [breast] tumor development and growth in mice. |
Committee on Comparative Toxicity of Naturally Occurring Carcinogens
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| These include broad classes of foods such as fruits and vegetables, as well as specific substances such as beta-carotene and vitamin A. Because the human diet is a complex mixture of many constituents, dietary cancer risk assessment needs to take into account the potential for synergistic and antagonistic interactions among dietary components.
Methods for estimating cancer risk rely largely on epidemiologic and toxicological data. |
Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., Lisa Y. Lefferts and Anne Witte Garland
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| In labs across the country:
> Scientists have genetically engineered carrots with 25 percent more beta-carotene than normal, and are hoping for the day when they can produce foods with specifically enhanced nutritional qualities—more soluble fiber, say, or more calcium.
>• Potatoes and alfalfa have been engineered to resist certain pests. Tomatoes have been developed that can be picked when red and ripe, and stay firm for three weeks.
> Livestock specialists have crossed a goat with a sheep, dubbing the offspring a "geep. |
Ralph Moss, PhD
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| It turned out that the higher cancer rate was in the beta-carotene and vitamin A group: 28 percent more lung cancers and 17 percent more deaths from all causes in the vitamin-treated group.
Needless to say, these results were surprising and disappointing. They put a damper on the belief that one or two nutrients could be a "magic bullet" for cancer.
We are still suffering from the after effects of these studies. In fact, every attempt to rekindle interest in antioxidants is invariably met with, "What about CARET? |
David Heber, M.D., Ph.D.
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 While I am not advocating that you do this, it does illustrate how the fat under the skin and throughout the body can store fat-soluble antioxidants such as the beta-carotene and alpha-carotene in carrots.
Fat Cells, Fat Cells—Everywhere
Fat cells are everywhere. They are under your skin, where they determine if you have the soft contours of a woman or the hard body of a man. They are in your liver, where they influence the storage and production of fats that circulate in your bloodstream. |
| They can be stored in the body, as is the case with lycopene, lutein, and beta-carotene, or they can be broken down by the body extensively, as is the case with soy protein and green tea. This first system is dependent on diet, since many of these compounds, such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and lycopene, are not made in the body.
Second, the presence of these chemicals in the body triggers the genes in the liver and other tissues to develop proteins to break down the chemicals consumed in the diet in large amounts. |
| A three-and-a-half-ounce serving of mango contains nearly 4,000 IUs of beta-carotene, putting it squarely in the orange group on the Color Code.
Papaya
Though its origin is rather obscure, the papaya may represent the fusion of two or more species of Carica native to Mexico and Central America. Today it is cultivated throughout the tropical world and in the warmest parts of the subtropics. The papaya fruit is slightly sweet, with an agreeable, musky tang, which is more pronounced in some varieties and in some climates than in others. |
| In some experiments, where the ability to protect DNA from oxidation was studied, green tea was 2,500 times as potent as beta-carotene as an antioxidant.
Green tea also prevents tumor cells from growing new blood vessels, which is one of the main ways tumors grow and spread in the body. There are many drug companies developing expensive agents for the prevention of blood vessel growth by tumors and these are called "angiogenesis inhibitors." If given to a cancer patient, they would have to be taken for life. |
| The Core Group of Vitamins and Minerals
•> A multivitamin/multimineral pill containing 400 micrograms of folic acid, about 5,000 IUs of vitamin A with half as beta-carotene, 45 to 60 milligrams of vitamin C, about 15 to 30 IUs of vitamin E, 20 milligrams of zinc with 3 milligrams of copper, and a series of B vitamins near the recommended dietary allowance (RDA). This is the basic vitamin pill that has the
RDA levels of all vitamins and minerals. If you take this and eat an equal amount in your diet, there will be no problem. Vitamin E, 400 IUs. |
Ruth Winter, M.S.
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 CAROTENE • See beta-carotene.
CAROTENOIDS • Found in parsley, carrots, sweet potatoes, and most green, red, and yellow vegetables and fruits, these are vitamin A precursors that are antioxidants and cell-differentiation agents (cancer cells are undifferentiated). There are hundreds of carotenoids in nature.
CARRAGEENAN • Irish Moss. A stabilizer and emulsifier, seaweedlike in odor, derived from Irish Moss, used in oils in cosmetics and foods. It is completely soluble in hot water and not coagulated by acids. Used medicinally to soothe the skin. Nontoxic. |
Christian Ratsch
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 They are also rich in vitamins (especially vitamin C, but also thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, and beta-carotene) and minerals (Mg, Fe, Ca) as well as tannins, catechol tannins, sugars (mannitol, glucose, fructose, rhamnose, galactose, xylose), flavonoids, glycosides, amino acids (phenylalanine, choline, etc.), and proteins (Krikorian and Getahun 1973). There are also reports of an essential oil (Qedan 1972).
Effects
The primary effect of khat is an increase in energy and wakefulness (Widler et al. 1994). |
Ruth Winter, M.S.
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| Many of the colors are vegetable compounds—beet powder, caramel, beta-carotene, grape skin extract. A few are of animal origin—cochineal extract, taken from the dried bodies of certain insects.
Among the natural colors used are: annatto, carotene, chlorophyll, saffron, and turmeric. The big problem with coal tar colors, of course, is their potential as carcinogens but they are also potential sensitizers. Each batch of a coal tar color has to be certified as "safe." F & C Red No. 40 is one of the most widely used coal tar colorings. See also Yellow No. |
Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., Lisa Y. Lefferts and Anne Witte Garland
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| Animal studies suggest that the fiber, beta-carotene, and vitamin C in these foods all may protect against cancer.
The National Cancer Institute recommends doubling or tripling daily fiber intake from 10 grams to 20 or 30 grams. Fiber-rich foods include canned or cooked dried beans and peas (such as black, kidney, pinto, navy, great northern, and garbanzo beans; split and black-eyed peas; and lentils), whole-grain breads and cereals, and vegetables and fruits. How to boost your fiber:
þ Add garbanzo beans to salads. Try vegetarian chili, and lentil, split pea, or other bean soups. |
| The naturally derived colorants, such as beta-carotene (the vegetable form of vitamin A used to color margarine), beet-juice extract, or substances extracted from flower petals, haven't generally been well tested, but they're presumed to be safe. The great bulk of artificial colorings used in food are synthetic dyes: Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2, Citrus Red No. 2, Green No. 3, Red No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, and Yellow No. 6.
Too much iodine? |
Jean Carper
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 He analyzed the eating habits and lung cancer risk of about two thousand men over a nineteen-year period. Male smokers, even those who had smoked for thirty years, who ate the least beta carotene-containing foods had eight times the risk of developing lung cancer as those who ate the most beta carotenecontaining foods, mainly carrots. Since cancer is a long process—typically taking three or four decades to appear—it seems that beta-carotene foods interfere with cancer development at late stages. |
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