The ultimate goal of cancer treatment requires two components: To kill cancer cells AND preserve normal cells. Our traditional healthcare system seems to have a good handle on the first part, but has ignored the second component. This can be explained by a few reasons:

• Expensive treatments make a lot of money, vitamins and nutrients don’t give much of a return on investment in the form of actual money (though, they do in the form of good health)
• Health systems have constant discord between business and clinical interests, both have to be considered and communicated effectively to keep a hospital open, profitable and safe. Very few leaders are able to do this well due to the complex communication and collaboration skills required.
• Our current healthcare system is behind on research, we’re still treating cancer like it’s an external virus to be killed through medical intervention alone. The reality is, cancer is something that grows inside of our own bodies (it actually arises from our own normal cells), which would be better managed through medicine AND lifestyle interventions. 

Fortunately, more people are starting to listen and learn from their highly individualized bodies. Naturopathic and integrative practitioners are popping up all over the place, with patients who are healing from therapies that work alongside standard cancer treatments (chemo, radiation, etc). One of the most notable support therapies that has substantial evidence behind it is high-dose vitamin C. Vitamin C comes in multiple forms, but high doses in intravenous (IV) form act beneficially WITH standard chemotherapies to strengthen the immune response and alleviate the toxic side effects from chemotherapy or immunotherapy. 

You may have a practitioner who says that there isn’t enough evidence yet to support its use or that it’s not commercially available. You can respond by providing the articles below and suggest that he or she consider doing more research since the current evidence is pretty solid for its benefits in cancer, as well as general immune health. You can also let them know that there are plenty of wellness clinics backed by competent medical professionals across the US offering IV vitamin C that accepts HSA funds as payment (reach out to us for help finding one near you).

High-dose intravenous vitamin C, a promising multitargeting agent in the treatment of cancer (2021)

Two faces of vitamin C – antioxidative and pro-oxidative agent (2020)

High-dose vitamin C for cancer therapy (2022)

As with everything that goes in your body, the quality and amount matters. Here are some helpful things to remember if you’re exploring vitamin C as an anti-inflammatory, immune booster for your body:

• Clinics or doctors’ offices that offer high-dose IV vitamin C infusions usually start at medically beneficial doses and may be combined with other nutrients, mixed in a large bag of fluid (like you would get in a hospital). These are vitamins that your body already consumes on a regular basis, this is a more direct way for your cells to absorb them in a way that your body can use right away.
• Vitamin C is one of the few vitamins that is water-soluble, which means that your body gets rid of what it doesn’t need. You don’t need to worry about taking too much. However, if you take more than the suggested dose, your bowels will be extra active, because it’s trying to get rid of what you can’t absorb. This is just letting you know to take less next time.
• If you are not ready to have someone stick you with an IV, there is also a high quality, oral high-dose vitamin C powder that you can mix into water and it tastes delicious. You can buy Sufficient C on Amazon, which is a less expensive alternative that still offers some of the benefits of high-dose vitamin C. This formula was made by the daughter of a cancer patient who helped her Mom minimize the uncomfortable side effects of her chemotherapy during treatment. We use it regularly when we travel, first feel symptoms of anything, or know we’re going to be around a lot of people – works like a charm to prevent or make getting sick way more tolerable! Start with one scoop daily.

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The Cancer Team