Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) and cancer therapy

There is also an extensive bibliography on the anti-tumoral action of natural vitamin C. Cancer therapy and Ascorbic acid activity in body

 

The pioneers of this oncological therapy were Pauling, who received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and the Italian Pantellini.

Ascorbic acid is mainly known for its ability to reduce metallic ions in various enzymatic processes and above all for its ability to act as an anti-oxidant agent, thus able to remove free radicals, reducing the damage caused at a genome level.

Furthermore it may be able to block the formation of nitrose at a gastro-intestinal level, as well as carrying out a preventative action on the formation of adenomatose polyps.

Even though ascorbic acid is well known for its collagene forming action, and the well known effect of scurvy in cases of reduction or absence of this acid in the diet, this vitamin is also important, alongside vitamins A and E as a first class anti-tumoral agent.

It reinforces the intercellular bond and forestalls the destructive action of the hyalurons produced by many neoplastic cells.

Above all, vitamin C stimulates the Natural killer lymphocytes, it supports the macrophagic activity, the chemio-tactical mobility of the white corpuscles, the production of antibodies and the response of the T cytotoxic lymphocytes to the antigenes.

Cameron found very low plasmatic levels of vitamin C in cancer patients (0.26 mg/100 mL) compared to normal plasmatic values (54).

In other studies, 154 cancer patients, undergoing analysis, were found to have low levels of vitamin C not only in their plasma (0.31 mg/100 mL), but also in their leucocytes (15.9 mg/10 E+8), with a positive correlation (r = 0.42) between these two values; in particular the authors attributed the alteration in the immune response to the tumor, especially of the phagocytosis, to the low concentration of vitamin C in the white blood corpuscles.

Already in 1974 Goetz had shown that vitamin C, in vitro, was capable of stimulating the motility and the chemiotaxis of neutrophiles.

The doses advised in literature for anti-neoplastic therapy are about 3-10 grams a day, reaching even 40 grams daily, because the vitamin is not toxic, at high doses it only has a laxative effect. It would be better to take it by eating fresh fruit, but it is difficult to reach such high doses of the vitamin in this way.

According to the author, integrating fresh fruit (kiwi, oranges, lemons and grapefruit) with the juice of raw carrots and tomatoes, Rosa canina (dog rose, wild rose) to reach a daily dosage of at least 5- 8 grams of natural vitamin C, avoiding however, the use of pharmaceutically prepared vitamin C tablets.

Natural vitamin C, rich in its metabolites and other components called bioflavenoids (Citrin, Hesperidin, Campherol, Galangine, Isoamnetin, Rutine, Hyperoxide, Quercitin, Pychnogenol, etc) is more powerful and efficient, and furthermore is devoid of unpleasant gastric effects which are the result of high doses of synthetic vitamin C.

Natural vitamin C is moreover, characterized by a significant reduction in the formation of Calcium oxalate in the kidneys, as opposed to synthetic vitamin C. It is also easier for the intestine to absorb and has greater bio-availability, above all through its most important metabolites such as tronic acid, lixonic acid, xilonic acid etc.

This bio-availability has a critical importance in the immune defense system because the white blood cells tend to absorb Natural vitamin C 4 times more than they absorb synthetic vitamin C. Recently, Myrciaria paraensis (camu-camu) has appeared on the European market. It is a small exotic fruit, similar to a small orange, but it contains 50 times more natural vitamin C than Citrus aurantium (orange), and it could therefore provide the daily dosage, of at least 3 grams, of vitamin C.

Also Malpighia punicifolia (acerola), a cherry from the Antilles, is very rich in vitamin C, containing 50 to 100 times more than citrus fruits.

Natural vitamin C is therefore efficient because it is naturally associated to the bioflavenoids (Citrin, Hesperidin, Campherol, Galangine, Isoamnetin, Rutine, Hyperoxide, Quercetine, Quercitine, Pychnogenol, etc..) and other molecules, in plants often characterized by an immune stimulating activity (Echinacea purpurea, Plantago major, Capsicum frutescens)…

N.B. According to the author, with very high therapeutic doses (>8-10 grams a day), Magnesium (e.g. Dolomite) must also be taken to avoid the risk of kidney stones.

Here enclosed scientific papers extracted from Catherine Kousmine (“Save your body”, page 129, “Effects of C vitamin on our body according to Linus Pauling, edition Tecniche Nuove):

“…an intake of 1500 milligrams of ascorbic acid by mouth determines a concentration of 1.5 milligrams of C vitamin for each 100 millilitres of blood. By increasing the intake, the concentration suddenly increases up to 2.5 milligrams and then goes back to 1.5 millilitres for each 100 millilitres blood. There are enzymes which help the conversion of most ascorbates into useful oxidation products. If the intake remains high, the body increases the amount of enzymes useful to the conversion; otherwise, if the ascorbic acid dose is suddenly reduced for some days, an excess of conversion enzymes and then a too law level of vitamin C in the blood occur. This means a number of disorders, as for example a higher sensibility to infections. The adaptation to a lower proportion takes place by reducing the number of conversion enzymes: it is necessary to gradually decrease the dose of vitamin C. By taking 100 milligrams a day and in presence of a plasmatic level of 1 milligram for every 100 millilitres blood, urines do not contain ascorbic acid because it is reabsorbed by renal tubules. If the intake is higher than 100 milligrams, i.e. 1-2 grams a day, 25% go in urines and the rest is kept by the body. Healthy people, who lack in vitamin C for some months, have to take 2-4 grams in order to eliminate them through urines. In case of cancer patients, who are used to take high doses of ascorbic acid, an interruption of some days requires an intake of 50 grams (fifty grams) of vitamin C so that this one can be found in urines”.

Source: The book Thousand Plants against Cancer without Chemo-Therapy, author Giuseppe Nacci, M.D