Eat your carrots and prevent Cancer

By Dr. W. Gifford Jones

"Est-il-heureux?" "Is he lucky?" Napoleon Bonaparte asked while debating whether to promote a junior officer. There's little doubt that luck decided the fate of many historic battles including Napoleon's own Waterloo. Chance also continues to play a major role in determining the human battle with cancer. But each year evidence mounts that a prudent diet helps to remove some of the gamble. Now a major finding, that beta-carotene reduces cancer risk, has yet to hit the headlines.

Today most people are aware that curtailment of cigarette smoking decreases the risk of lung cancer. Research also proves the wisdom of eating foods high in fiber to protect against cancer of the large bowel. Studies are also proving that cutting down on fat consumption by substituting fish and poultry for meat, and consuming foods high in vitamin C and E decreases the risk of malignancy.

Dr. Richard M. Salkeld, a researcher in Zurich, Switzerland, and a world authority on beta-carotene and vitamin A, recently visited Canada. In an interview he revealed convincing evidence that adequate amounts of beta-carotene helps to protect us particularly from cancer of the lung.

Beta-carotene is the yellow pigment found in all chlorophyll containing plants. The beautiful yellow and orange colours of autumn are partly due to carotenoids in plant life and the fading of chlorophyll. Beta-carotene is found in dark, green, leafy vegetables like broccoli, spinach, greens from beets and turnips. It's also present in yellow-orange vegetables such as carrots, pumpkins, apricots, peaches, cantelope, papaya and melons.

Beta-carotene is often referred to as "provitamin A". In the intestinal cell ingested beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A. How much is changed depends on the body's need for vitamin A. Today about two-thirds of total vitamin A requirements are obtained from animal sources and one-third from carotenes in plants.

Dr. Salkeld says beta-carotene works in several ways to reduce the risk of malignancy. It helps to strengthen cells that line the lungs and stomach. It toughens the body's immune system against cancer. And it stimulates the T-cells' lymphocyte response to nitrogens which are thought to trigger cancer of the large bowel.

Beta-carotene acts like vitamin C and E which have scavenger-like properties. They are all anti-oxidants with the ability to prevent the production of free radicals during normal metabolism of the cells.

Free radicals have the potential to damage cells by injuring chromosomal material in the nucleus of the cell. It's believed these aberrations may also initiate the development of cancer cells.

Dr. Salkeld's advice applies to everyone. But smokers, in particular, should listen carefully to his thesis. He quotes several studies which show a lower incidence of lung cancer among patients with increased levels of beta-carotene and vitamin A. The risk of developing lung cancer was reduced four times for non-smokers. But for smokers the risk was up to eight times lower. Dr. Salkeld believes it's the beta-carotene deposited in the cells of the lung, rather than the vitamin A, which helps to protect the cells against the carcinogenic affects of smoke.

How much beta-carotene do we need every day? The present recommendations call for 1.5 milligrams daily, the amount most people consume. However, recent research data indicates this should be increased to at least 6 mg. and possibly 20 mg. daily. To obtain this amount four servings of fruit and vegetables are required each day.

The safety of beta-carotene is a major advantage over vitamin A. Patients with skin problems have consumed up to 400 milligrams a day for several years. The only complication , the skin turning yellow , disappears when the intake is reduced.

Vitamin A, however, is a fat soluble vitamin which stores extra and unused amounts in the liver. Excessive amounts of vitamin A can cause serious neurological problems. Some hunters have become acutely ill after eating polar bear liver due to the high concentration of vitamin A in that organ.

Currently the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki Finland is conducting a major study on beta-carotene. 29,000 males aged 50 to 69 who have smoked at least five cigarettes a day for the past 30 years have been recruited..One group will receive 20 mg. of beta-carotene a day. A second group will be given 50 mg of vitamin E daily, the third group a combined dose of beta-carotene and vitamin E and the last group a placebo. Results of the trial won't be known until 1993. But in the meantime Dr. Salkeld advises that smokers in particular shouldn't wait for more details. The message is clear; eat your carrots.

W. Gifford-Jones M.D is the pen name of Dr. Ken Walker graduate of Harvard. Dr. Walker's website is: Docgiff.com

My book, �90 + How I Got There� can be obtained by sending $19.95 to:

Giff Holdings, 525 Balliol St, Unit # 6,Toronto, Ontario, M4S 1E1

Pre-2008 articles by Gifford Jones

Canada Free Press, CFP Editor Judi McLeod