Other Cancer-Protective Nutrients

Other Cancer-Protective Nutrients

The nutrients we’ve discussed are among the most important for breast cancer
defense but certainly do not constitute an exhaustive list. Numerous studies also
demonstrate a potent protective role for beta-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin K, and
several others. By “eating the rainbow” of vegetables and fruits, plus nuts, seeds,
healthy grains, oils, antibiotic-free, hormone-free protein, and the previously
mentioned booster foods from the Eating for Health plan, you will get a beneficial
dose of all essential nutrients. Enjoy!

Questionable Dosages

Although most of the approximately forty known nutrients have an extremely
wide margin of safety, we’re concerned about a few of them when it comes to breast
cancer. According to current research, the ones that seem to cause problems or have
the potential to do so are iron, copper, and synthetic folic acid.

IRON

The mineral iron is required for the health and survival of all cells and tissues.
The major mineral component of hemoglobin, iron plays a pivotal role in helping
to circulate oxygen throughout the body. But, in excess, iron can be as toxic as other
heavy metals (such as mercury and lead), because like them, it can produce an
excess of free-radical activity that can cause tissue damage (as mentioned earlier,
free radicals are atoms or molecules that cause cellular injury).

We tend to get a lot of iron in our commercial food supply, because federal law
mandates “fortifying” flour with this mineral. Indeed, at one point several years
ago, a magnet could pick up a well-known breakfast cereal due to its high iron
content! Iron is also included in many multivitamin products.

People with either diagnosed or undiagnosed cancer tend to have higher levels
of iron in their bodies. We suggest getting a blood test that looks at your ferritin and
TIBC (total iron-binding capacity) levels, two measures of iron in the body. Try to
keep your levels in the lower half of the normal range without letting yourself
become anemic. You can start by making sure that your daily multivitamin does not
contain iron, particularly if you’re no longer menstruating or are male. Also avoid
eating iron-rich foods with citrus or other produce that’s high in vitamin C, because
vitamin C enhances absorption of iron. In our practices we suggest taking extra
vitamin E (600 to 1200 milligram mixed tocopherols), which protects against excess
iron in the system. In Natural Strategies for Cancer Patients, Dr. Russell Blaylock
(2003) also recommends black tea; the flavonoids quercetin, rutin, hesperidin, and
naringenin (think apples, onions, citrus fruits, apricots, cherries, and buckwheat);
and the supplement inositol phosphate-6 (IP-6) as effective iron chelators
(chemicals that facilitate the removal of metals from the body).

COPPER

Copper, like iron, can exhibit two different faces. On the one hand, it’s a vital
component of dozens of enzymes in the body. It helps out with cellular energy
production and supports connective tissue health, and is a critical ingredient of one
of the body’s powerful endogenous (made internally) antioxidants known as
superoxide dismutase. Copper also helps in the formation of new blood vessels, and
there’s the rub: tumors need blood vessels in order to grow. In the angiogenesis
process (in Latin angio means “blood vessel,” and genesis means “to create”), a
tumor sends out specialized chemical signals to help it build a complex of blood
vessels for transporting nutrients and enzymes to facilitate its growth and
development.

Dr. Judah Folkman, surgeon and scientist, first documented this phenomenon in
the 1960s (Cooke 2001). His discoveries eventually led to the development of the
cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab), designed to cut off this overzealous network of
blood vessels. Meanwhile, other researchers determined that the specialized
enzymes that promote angiogenesis depend on the mineral copper to function
appropriately (Brem et al. 1990). And it turns out that breast cancer patients often
exhibit elevated levels of copper, a sign that the tumor is attempting to sustain the
process of angiogenesis (Zowczak et al. 2001).

To translate this information into a risk reduction strategy, we recommend
keeping your copper levels at the low end of normal to help prevent recurrence of a
tumor. When copper levels are reduced, an incipient tumor has greater difficulty
forming new blood vessels to take in nutrients and oxygen. According to Dr. Sofia
Merajver, quoted in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Vanchieri 2000),
“There is a window at which copper levels are low enough to block angiogenesis,
but not so low that they harm more essential cellular processes.”

Blood tests, such as for serum copper and ceruloplasmin (a protein produced by
the liver that binds copper for transport in the blood), can help you ascertain how
much copper you are carrying around. If it is too high, you’ll want to avoid highcopper
foods, such as shellfish, chocolate, calf liver, sesame seeds, and cashews.

Make sure your multivitamin is copper free, avoid copper cookware, and filter your
water to avoid taking in copper from household pipes. If none of these strategies
brings your copper levels down sufficiently, you can employ both nutritional and
pharmaceutical chelating strategies to reduce copper levels. You’ll need to consult a
nutritional or medical specialist to implement these strategies.

FOLIC ACID

Folic acid, also known as folate or folacin, is one of the B-complex vitamins
widely known for its key role in preventing neural tube defects during pregnancy.
The terms “folic acid” and “folate” are sometimes used interchangeably, although
folate is the natural compound found in food such as green, leafy vegetables, while
folic acid is a synthetic form of the vitamin found in supplements.

Aside from its role in pregnancy, folate also plays an essential role in helping
all cells divide and reproduce exactly as they’re meant to. Because of folate’s key
contributions to the normal process of cell division, folate deficiency has been
associated with not only breast cancer but also cancers of the cervix, colon and
rectum, lung, esophagus, brain, and pancreas (Maruti, Ulrich, and White 2009).

But folic acid, the synthetic form of folate, can be a double-edged sword. When
people ingest large doses of folic acid in fortified cereals, breads, and pastas, for
example, they are getting more folic acid than the body can handle, and it is not
chemically identical to the natural folates found in green, leafy vegetables and other
foods. In fact Dr. Barry Boyd (2010) believes that synthetic folic acid can interfere
with the proper metabolism of natural folate. Other experts are convinced that
excess synthetic folic acid can act like a “fertilizer” in a garden of cells, supporting
the growth of cancer cells as well as normal cells (Cristiana Paul, MS, Nutrition
Science, pers. comm.).

To be safe, make sure your multivitamin uses folate or folinic acid, a natural
form of folate. And remember to stay away from fortified, processed grains,
because they will not support your health under any circumstances.