The Denver Post — September 15, 1993
by Jeff Nesmith — Cox News Service
WASHINGTON — Daily doses of beta-carotene, vitamin E and selenium dramatically reduced the risk of dying from cancer among thousands of residents in a rural area of China.
The experiment sponsored by the National Cancer Institute is the first hard evidence that some antioxidant substances can provide a "protective" effect against cancer, scientists said yesterday.
Other dietary supplements — vitamin C, retinol, zinc, riboflavin, molybdenum and niacin - had no statistically significant effect on cancer after five years, the study said.
However, in a group of middle-aged adults who took the combination of beta-carotene, vitamin E and selenium for five years, the results were striking: 13 percent fewer deaths from all cancers, 21 percent reduction in deaths from stomach cancer and a 9 percent decrease in deaths from all causes.
In presenting their results at a press conference, the government scientists cautioned that participants in the experiment have some of the worse cancer rates — and worse diets — in the world.
That could mean that the results may not apply to people whose basic diets provide more of the critical nutrients.
"This is a hopeful sign that vitamins and minerals may help prevent the onset of cancer in healthy individuals," said Dr. William J. Blot of the institutes biostatistics branch, "but the results don't automatically translate into Western populations.
The experiment was conducted among residents of Linxian, a rural county in Henan Province of north-central China. The rates of esophageal cancer and cancer of the gastric cardia - the point where the esophagus attaches to the stomach — among the people of Linxian are among the highest in the world, said Dr. Blot.
Epidemiologists have investigated pickled vegetables, mycotoxins in food and a tendency to gulp down scalding hot tea as possible causes. The diet of residents of the area is low in fruits and meats and other animal products and persistently deficient in a number of vitamins and minerals.
After selecting about 29,000 people between 40 and 69 years old, the scientists arranged daily pill-taking schemes in which various participants received different combinations of supplements: retinol and zinc, riboflavin and niacin, vitamin C and molybdenum, beta-carotene, selenium and vitamin E, and a placebo pill that contained none of the nutrients.
Participants received from one to two times the U.S. recommended daily allowances. Daily doses of beta-carotene, for which no RDA has been established, was 15,000 micrograms, or about the amount found in a carrot.
Beta-carotene is common in carrots, leafy vegetables and some fruits. Vitamin E is plentiful in margarine, vegetable oil, meats, nuts and leafy greens.
This study has recently been repeated in France with even better results. I will post the study soon.
In the mid 1970's I attended a "Friends of China" meeting in Milwaukee, WI where this project was discussed. At the time my main focus was the study of hydroculture. If anyone can provide more details about this project, I would love to hear from you.
The Chinese had a very high rate of esophageal cancer in one of their provinces. After an exhaustive study that included moving the population of an entire town and replacing all their livestock, the problem was identified to be a lack of a trace element in the soil. The remedy that completely eliminated the cancer epidemic, was simply to soak their seeds in a solution of molybdenum before they were planted. The plants were not properly utilizing nitrates and had a very high content of this toxic compound at harvest time. Molybdenum is involved in the reduction of the nitrates, releasing the nitrogen for use in other compounds. The high nitrate content of the plants coupled with the way the food was prepared, when acted on by stomach acid, created a carcinogen that induced the cancer.
This success story leads one to wonder how many other diseases could be eliminated using a similar technique with other trace elements that are known to be needed by the human body and plants. We need to encourage our agricultural community to include in their plant food formulas, not only those atoms that were determined necessary for plants, but also those that are now known to be needed by the higher life forms also.
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The Tortoise Shell "Science of Health" Newsletter
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