Here you'll find the answers to a wealth of health and wellness questions posed by Healthy Talk fans. Listen in because what you know helps ensure healthy choices you can live with. Today on Healthy Talk, you wanted to know:
What are the best supplements for treating cancer?
There are some supplements that have been studied as to whether or not they can heal cancer. If you're ever curious about supplements, don't hesitate to put it in Pub Med to check out the latest research.
Cruciferous vegetable extract, a multivitamin, curcumin, reishi mushroom extract, green tea, modified citrus pectin, aspirin, and cats claw are few off the top of Dr. Mike's head that you should look into.
Do functional foods and beverages offer health benefits?
"Functional food source" means a food source that has had nutrients added into it. They sound great, but the amount of nutrients they are adding is not always to the correct dosage (under-dosed) and can't replace your multivitamin.
If you have a health question or concern, Dr. Mike encourages you to write him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or call in, toll-free, to the LIVE radio show (1.844.305.7800) so he can provide you with support and helpful advice.
Selected Podcast
Ask Dr. Mike: Supplements for Treating Cancer & Functional Food Source Benefits
Transcription:
RadioMD Presents:Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 1, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD
You're listening to RadioMD. It's time to ask Dr. Mike. Do you have a question about your health? Dr. Mike can answer your questions. Just email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call now: 877-711-5211. The lines are open.
DR MIKE: Alright. So, my producer, Sheldon Baker, just emailed me. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . He said, "Are you sure you want to tell people that they can tell you when you'll read the questions?" He's always looking out for me. Hey, by the way, you can email me questions right now. Maybe I'll get to it right now. Who knows?
But, again, if you want your question read at specific time, I'll do my best. I can't guarantee anything. Sheldon, I said that. I can't guarantee anything. I'll try my best. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Here's the next question: "What are the best supplements for treating cancer?"
This is awesome because I just got finished speaking with Dr. V about healing breast cancer naturally, so I think the best way to answer this is just to say, "Go to PubMed." No, I'm just kidding. By the way, you should go to PubMed.com. Or. is it PubMed.gov? I forget. Just put PubMed in Google. You'll find it. I go there all the time. It's where I check references. It's where I look for things. Sometimes when I just want ideas about something. I'll go to PubMed. I'll search grape seed extract and see what's going on and see what's been published recently about it. It's awesome. It's wonderful. It's amazing. But, I think the best way to answer this, this could be a whole hour long show. I could do a whole seminar—a weekend seminar on this—but if you just think about how a cancer cell forms and what it has to do to spread, it kind of gives you some idea of how I'm going to present this information.
There are basically four stages—I think that's a better way to say it than steps—four stages of cancer spread. The first thing is, Stage I. The cancer has to develop. That's called "carcinogenesis". The healthy cell has to become a cancer cell, right? That's the first thing. Once that happens, that cancer cell has to do things like avoid the immune system. It has to turn off programmed cell death which is called "apoptosis". More importantly, it needs to get together with other cancer cells. That's known as "cancer cell aggregation". That's Stage II.
So, you have carcinogenesis—the cause. Then, you have cancer cells getting together, hanging out together, that's called aggregation. Now, once they've aggregated together and they start forming more of a solid mass, in order to keep that mass alive, they need to grow blood vessels. That's Stage III. That's called "angiogenesis". Once that's happened, that globe, that glob of cancer cells with a bunch of vessels around it, it now needs to get out of where it's at, into the bloodstream and travel. That's called "metastatic spread" or metastasis. So, that's the four basic stages: initiation, aggregation, angiogenesis and spread. There are research-supported nutrients that can help with all three of those stages. So, the first one, carcinogenesis. Cruciferous veggie extract--a nice combination of maybe broccoli, kale, cauliflower. That's usually the combination. Sometimes you'll get these cruciferous vegetable extracts that they've added in some additional DIM, Diindolylmethane indole-3-carbinol, IC3.
Great stuff. Tons of research support with cruciferous vegetables in preventing cancer. Hey, don't forget about a multivitamin. In preventing carcinogenesis, in preventing initiation, multivitamins, the basic vitamins and minerals have been shown to be very powerful. As a matter of fact, there was a study that showed a 31% decrease in cancer incidence in men—it was focused on men—in a study called Supplementation and Vitamins and Minerals and Antioxidants. It was published, maybe 2 years ago. Another one looking at men, it was called The Physician Health Study II, also showed that a multivitamin over a 11-year period reduced cancer risk. So, even the basics, right? Multivitamin, cruciferous veggies. Awesome.
Now, what about Stage II, aggregation? Because, once again, remember once the cancer cells form, now it has to stick together, it has to hang out with other cancer cells, right? It can't really survive by itself. It has to stick together. It has to aggregate. Curcumin has been shown to decrease cancer cell aggregation. Certain mushroom extracts like reishi. I'm literally doing this off my head. There are tons more that I'm absolutely forgetting about. But, curcumin, reishi. They are what comes to mind.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.
RadioMD Presents:Healthy Talk | Original Air Date: April 1, 2015
Host: Michael Smith, MD
You're listening to RadioMD. It's time to ask Dr. Mike. Do you have a question about your health? Dr. Mike can answer your questions. Just email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call now: 877-711-5211. The lines are open.
DR MIKE: Alright. So, my producer, Sheldon Baker, just emailed me. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . He said, "Are you sure you want to tell people that they can tell you when you'll read the questions?" He's always looking out for me. Hey, by the way, you can email me questions right now. Maybe I'll get to it right now. Who knows?
But, again, if you want your question read at specific time, I'll do my best. I can't guarantee anything. Sheldon, I said that. I can't guarantee anything. I'll try my best. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Here's the next question: "What are the best supplements for treating cancer?"
This is awesome because I just got finished speaking with Dr. V about healing breast cancer naturally, so I think the best way to answer this is just to say, "Go to PubMed." No, I'm just kidding. By the way, you should go to PubMed.com. Or. is it PubMed.gov? I forget. Just put PubMed in Google. You'll find it. I go there all the time. It's where I check references. It's where I look for things. Sometimes when I just want ideas about something. I'll go to PubMed. I'll search grape seed extract and see what's going on and see what's been published recently about it. It's awesome. It's wonderful. It's amazing. But, I think the best way to answer this, this could be a whole hour long show. I could do a whole seminar—a weekend seminar on this—but if you just think about how a cancer cell forms and what it has to do to spread, it kind of gives you some idea of how I'm going to present this information.
There are basically four stages—I think that's a better way to say it than steps—four stages of cancer spread. The first thing is, Stage I. The cancer has to develop. That's called "carcinogenesis". The healthy cell has to become a cancer cell, right? That's the first thing. Once that happens, that cancer cell has to do things like avoid the immune system. It has to turn off programmed cell death which is called "apoptosis". More importantly, it needs to get together with other cancer cells. That's known as "cancer cell aggregation". That's Stage II.
So, you have carcinogenesis—the cause. Then, you have cancer cells getting together, hanging out together, that's called aggregation. Now, once they've aggregated together and they start forming more of a solid mass, in order to keep that mass alive, they need to grow blood vessels. That's Stage III. That's called "angiogenesis". Once that's happened, that globe, that glob of cancer cells with a bunch of vessels around it, it now needs to get out of where it's at, into the bloodstream and travel. That's called "metastatic spread" or metastasis. So, that's the four basic stages: initiation, aggregation, angiogenesis and spread. There are research-supported nutrients that can help with all three of those stages. So, the first one, carcinogenesis. Cruciferous veggie extract--a nice combination of maybe broccoli, kale, cauliflower. That's usually the combination. Sometimes you'll get these cruciferous vegetable extracts that they've added in some additional DIM, Diindolylmethane indole-3-carbinol, IC3.
Great stuff. Tons of research support with cruciferous vegetables in preventing cancer. Hey, don't forget about a multivitamin. In preventing carcinogenesis, in preventing initiation, multivitamins, the basic vitamins and minerals have been shown to be very powerful. As a matter of fact, there was a study that showed a 31% decrease in cancer incidence in men—it was focused on men—in a study called Supplementation and Vitamins and Minerals and Antioxidants. It was published, maybe 2 years ago. Another one looking at men, it was called The Physician Health Study II, also showed that a multivitamin over a 11-year period reduced cancer risk. So, even the basics, right? Multivitamin, cruciferous veggies. Awesome.
Now, what about Stage II, aggregation? Because, once again, remember once the cancer cells form, now it has to stick together, it has to hang out with other cancer cells, right? It can't really survive by itself. It has to stick together. It has to aggregate. Curcumin has been shown to decrease cancer cell aggregation. Certain mushroom extracts like reishi. I'm literally doing this off my head. There are tons more that I'm absolutely forgetting about. But, curcumin, reishi. They are what comes to mind.
This is Healthy Talk on RadioMD. I'm Dr. Mike. Stay well.