Vitamin C: Fighting Cancer?

Vitamin C

Vitamin C also known as L-ascorbic acid can help to impede the growth of some types of cancer the researchers say. This is done via a mechanism different from the one many experts have come to expect.

They of course used mice ( always an animal) to implant with human cancer cells, either blood cancer lymphoma or prostrate cancer. Another well known antioxidant N-acetylcysteine also limited tumor growth in the mice say the researchers.

What are Antioxidants

Antioxidants are nutrients that can prevent some ofr the damage from unstable molecules known as free radicals, created when the body turns food into energy. Vitamin C and Vitamin E, plus beta carotene are among the best known antioxidants.

Professor Dr. Dhi Dang of John Hopkins Unvivesity, Oncology found that antioxidants are working to underine a tumor’s ability to grown under certain condtions.

Scientists figure that if they can discover how antioxidants impede tumors they can determine how they might be harnessed to fight cancer. Other types of cancer thought to be vulnerable to Vitamin C include colon cancer and cervical cancer .

However Dr. Dang cautions against going out an taking buckets of vitamin C based on his findings.
Dr. Linus Pauling in the 70’s thought that vitamin C could ward off some cancers but the notions became contentious. I seems they were unable to understand or clarify the mechanism back then.

So the moral of the story comes back to eating your nutritious greens, yellow and orange vegetables again.