High Doses of Vitamin C Kills Cancer Cells

Natural health experts have long maintained that vitamin C can fight cancer – if given in sufficiently large doses. But it is sometimes difficult to achieve the high blood concentration that is necessary for it to be effective.

Now, a new form of vitamin C is correcting that frustrating problem – and proving to be a game-changer.  Liposomal vitamin C has been found to create blood levels that are 100 to 500 times higher than levels seen with conventional oral ingestion, setting the stage for the vitamin to aggressively combat cancer.

Cell and animal studies show impressive results with vitamin C

Recent research conducted at the University of Iowa confirms that vitamin C selectively kills cancer cells – while leaving normal cells undamaged. In one study, vitamin C reduced cancer-causing mutations in mice; in another, it was found to kill up to 50 percent of human lymphoma cells.

In a joint study conducted by leading medical institutions that included Harvard Medical School and Tufts Medical Center, researchers found that high-dose vitamin C impaired the growth of two different types of mutant colorectal cancer cells – in both test tubes and animals.

Problem solved: Past studies used insufficient dosages

In the past, researchers at the National Institutes of Health and at the Mayo Clinic dismissed vitamin C as a potential cancer treatment, maintaining that it is impossible to achieve cancer-killing concentrations of vitamin C in the blood through oral administration. In many studies, however, researchers simply failed to give sufficiently large amounts of vitamin C –  leading to ‘inconclusive results.’

There was one notable exception to this pessimistic view of vitamin C’s abilities. In a 2008 review published in Puerto Rico Health Sciences Journal, the researchers examined the results of studies that used extremely high doses of intravenous vitamin C – and came to a different conclusion.

The authors noted that the efficacy of vitamin C therapy could not be judged when oral doses were given — but stated that vitamin C “may indeed be effective against tumors when administered intravenously.”

One would expect such an encouraging finding – involving a cheap, safe and natural way to treat cancer – to be trumpeted from the rooftops. Yet, this was not the case.

Although the authors urgently called for a re-examination of vitamin C’s ability to treat cancer, the article received little notice, and at one point was out of print or otherwise unavailable to the public – leading some vitamin C advocates to speculate that it was being deliberately suppressed.

Vitamin C uses novel mechanisms of action to target cancer

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that reduces damage from free radicals and fights the inflammation that is strongly associated with the development of cancer.

But it has other cancer-fighting weapons in its arsenal as well.

A percentage of vitamin C is metabolized into a new compound, DHA, which is capable of passing through cancer cell membranes – in a manner that has been likened to that of a Trojan horse. When the cancer cells try to “put the genie back in the bottle” and turn the DHA back to vitamin C, they become depleted in the attempt and eventually die of oxidative stress.

Intriguingly, colorectal cancer cells seem to be particularly susceptible to this effect.

In addition, a new study published last month in Redox Biology showed that vitamin C generates hydrogen peroxide in connective tissue, thereby destroying tumor cells and converting them harmlessly to water, while leaving normal cells unaffected.

Liposomal vitamin C offers convenience and effective dosage

The usual formulation consists of 1,000 mgs of vitamin C encapsulated in lecithin, a phospholipid. The lecithin creates a bubble that shields the vitamin from the digestive enzymes that would otherwise break it down.

Liposomal vitamin C slips easily through the digestive system, is absorbed by the intestines, and is then transported to the liver for release into the bloodstream. This route helps to eliminate the gastric upset, inconvenience and waste of conventional vitamin C tablets, while keeping blood concentrations high.

Phospholipids feature a host of benefits, including lowering harmful LDL cholesterol, raising beneficial HDL, improving blood flow and circulation, removing plaque from arteries, reducing the adhesiveness of blood cells to reduce the chance of stroke, promoting liver repair and function and improving memory – the list goes on and on.

If you are interested in supplementing with liposomal vitamin C, natural health experts recommend opting for a formula that contains phosphatidylcholine, with the liposomes under 300 nanometers in diameter.

This exciting new development promises to put vitamin C in the forefront of potential natural cancer remedies, where it belongs.

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