Natural ways to prevent cancer

Learn the natural ways to prevent cancer with vitamins, minerals, and supplements which researchers have deemed anti-cancer causing agents.

The American Cancer Society has estimated that nearly 552,000 Americans will die of cancer this year. More than 1,500 people die each day of the disease. Cancers of the stomach, liver, lungs, breast, prostate, skin, pancreas and others account for one out of every four deaths, ranking the disease as the second leading killer in this country. It is not hard to understand why, for most Americans, cancer is one of the most feared diseases. Nearly everyone knows someone who has had or has cancer.

The good news is that medical research has also shown that 80 percent of the causes of cancer have been identified and are preventable. Some of these factors include smoking, drinking, exercise, and diet. Research has also identified certain vitamins, herbs, and supplements that act to inhibit cancer. This research has propelled people seeking to prevent cancer, and to prevent the spread of cancer, to turn towards alternative medicine to ward off cancer.

Cancer begins as a single abnormal cell that begins to multiply out of control. Groups of cells from tumors invade healthy tissue. If undtected, the cells multiply and spread to other areas of the body. The agents that cause cancer are called carcinogens, because they promote the growth of cancerous cells. Cancer is caused by external carcinogens, like chemicals, radiation, and viruses, as well as internal factors, like hormones, immune conditions, and inherited mutations.

Studies have also indicated that eating fatty foods, drinking alcohol and smoking regularly increases the likelihood of cancer. The evidence compiled so far suggests that about one-third of the 500,000 cancer deaths that occur in this country each year is due to dietary factors. Another third is due to cigarette smoking.


Fatty foods, alchohol and smoking act as promoters, helping abnormal cells to grow more quickly. Fatty foods are increasingly linked to increasing the risk of breast and colon cancer. Excessive alcohol has also been linked to increasing the risk for breast, mouth, pharynx, and esophagus cancer. If one is a smoker, the risks are multilplied.

Because the symptoms of cancer often mirror other illnesses, the symptoms of cancer may go undetected for a long time. Internal cancers, like colon cancer, are also difficult to detect early because symptoms often don't begin to surface until the cancer has progressed, and often spread.

Because of this, the American Cancer Society has established recommendations to detect cancer early. Early detection examinations can help save lives and reduce suffering from most forms of cancer. Some of these cancers can be detected by self-examinations [breast examinations], physical examinations by a health professionals [skin cancer], or by x-rays and blood tests.

Symptoms of cancer will manifest in the organ of the body effected by the growth, and can result in pain and discomfort, or physical abnormality, as is the case with breast and skin cancer.

The most conventional methods for treating cancer are chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.

Surgery is the oldest form of treatment for cancer. About 60 percent of people with cancer have had some type of operation.

Chemotherapy is the use of medicines and drugs to treat cancer. Systematic chemotherapy uses anti-cancer drugs that are usually given into a vein or mouth. These drugs enter the bloodstream and reach all the areas of the body.

Radiation therapy is one of the oldest, cost effective cancer therapies. From the time of the discovery of x-rays by William Roentgen and radioactivity by Marie and Pierre Curie, about a century ago, there have been efforts to use radiation to treat cancers. Advances in technology and a better understanding of how radiation works in the body have made radiation therapy a significant part of cancer treatment. It is estimated that 50-60% of all people with cancer will receive radiation at some point during their cancer treatment.

Research has also identified vitamins, minerals, herbs, and vitamins that will act to prevent, or prevent the spread of cancer.

The growing trend of alternative medicine in fighting cancer has been well-documented by medical doctors. What they have found is that some vitamins, minerals, herbs and supplements actually work as inhibitors, preventing abnormal cells from growing. Unlike surgery and chemotherapy, these natural remedies have no deleterious side effects.

Carotenoids, the pigment that give fruits and vegetables its dark green and yellow color, has been shown to prevent cancer. Beta-Carotene, present in yellow and green vegetables, helps protect against lung cancer and my help prevent cancers of the bladder, mouth, larynx, esophagus, breast and others.

Vitamin C may also lower the risks for cancers of the esophagus and stomach. Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant, neutralizing cancer-causing chemicals that form in the body. It also blocks the conversion of nitrates to cancer-causing nitrosamines in the stomach.

Vitamin E is also touted as an anti-oxidant that prevents cells from damage by free radicals and fights off cancer.

Selenium has been found to have the same antioxidant effects as Vitamin C and Beta-Carotene. Vitamin B has also been found to have this effect.

While the final verdict is not back, Ginseng has been found in many studies to inhibit the formation of tumors. This research has been very successful in animals, but conclusive human studies have not yet yielded concrete results.

Preliminary studies have also revealed that Cat's Claw has tumor inhibiting and immune-stimulating properties.

Garlic is toxic to some tumor cells. The pungent flavor from garlic detoxifies potential carcinogens. Garlic extract has slowed the growth of breast, skin, and colon cancers in mice.

Vitamin D has also been shown to be a viable option for the prevention of skin cancer.