Vitamin C infusion....I need your help!

Hi Timothy - I just think that when you are dealing with cancer, you need to do everything you can to ensure that you prevent a recurrence. There is much that we can do to help ourselves. Talking to a nutritionist who specializes in nutrition for cancer is a good idea. This can really help you to feel comfortable about the food choices that you make in order to maximize your immune system and help you to fight this disease. If there is a strong controversy that something could be harmful and counterproductive, why take a chance? I know that I don't. Best of luck.

Natural news is a completely bogus source. Is that where you learned that sugar "feeds" cancer?

You don't need a nutritionist to understand cellular metabolism. Read Motheroffour's post again.

Timothy - that is good. Best of luck at your appointment tomorrow!

Great, easy to understand article.  So it is excess insulin that may be the culprit.  Very interesting.  It also supports the idea of moderation.  I don't know about you ladies, but the minute I tell myself I can't have something, the more I have uncontrollable urges for it!  Kind of like that hard-to-get boy in highschool!  Moderation is achievable if you don't obsess about food.  Mostly vegies, whole grains, and protein, balanced with good fats.  Sugar as an occasional treat, not forbidden. And it has to be good to be worth it (think Ben and Jerrys, not frozen yogurt). Just my two cents.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's type I diabetes where the body fails to produce insulin, and then there is type II diabetes where the body may be less sensitive to insulin.   So if there is a correlation between diabetes and cancer, it could well depend on the type of diabetes.

TImothy - good point.  I was referring to type II diabetes (the type that can be controlled with a low sugar/low carb diet).  It would seem to me that since they have elevated blood sugar they should have a higher rate of cancer.  The test they give you (when you are pregnant they test for this) is a blood glucose test. 

Diabetes is such a huge issues in the USA - and, like many things on the rise.  I would think that is a well studied group of patients.

Just want to say something about sugar/cancer connection.  Yes, rapidly growing cells, like cancer cells, use extra amounts of glucose.  This is the whole basis for various scans, to determine the spots that use extra glucose.  A molecule similar to glucose with a radioactive marker is what is seen on the scans.  This shows areas of increased glucose uptake.

However, the glucose in the blood is maintained at relatively constant levels unless you have diabetis I or II.  Certain medicines can also affect glucose levels.

So, even if you have cancer, your body controls the level.  Cuttings carbs or sugars will cause the body to obtain glucose from other sources such as proteins or fats through several metabolic pathways.  Excess glucose is stored glycogen in the liver, and if extra energy is available, fat is formed.  So, even in cancer patients, the glucose is taken at a higher rate by the cancer cells, but the body would still maintain glucose levels in the blood stream. 

I just went online to examine the information from the Huntsman Cancer Center in Utah.  The article does NOT say sugar feeds cancers.  It indicates that an amino acid, glutamine, is responsible for cancer cells absorbing extra amounts of sugars.  Hopefully they will develop a therapy that the glutamine will be unable to trigger the absorbtion of glucose via the pathway currently used.

In other words, sugar is not the culprit.  The culprit is to find the metabolic pathways of sugar absorption in cancer cells, and slow it down.

The scientific information can be verified by any good college biology text or basic biochemistry text.

Hi there, I was also seen at Sloan-Kettering (2nd opinion) but had all my surgery, chemo (for stage 4 b.c.mets to liver and bone). FYI, they do have an online Integrative site where you can plug in all your supplements and get info. regarding how they affect (good or bad) your specific situation. I will go there when I read about something new. A sight I cannot recommend highly enough is Crazy, Sexy, Cancer led by Kris Karr. Get her books, go online..she has SO MUCH great practical advice and a wonderful online community. What I do: went through chemo, have monthly zometa, no sugar, LOTS of fresh green juice, lots of heavy breathing/excersise. I love spinning but also walk. Lots of supplements including raw vitamin C, quercenase, grapeseed, curcummin, cod liver oil etc, etc., no wheat or dairy. I pray constantly!  Also a fan of going with your gut. God Bless!!

One more thing, its not cheap.  Say $125 per infusion, weekly for 6 months or more. 

Vitamin C infusions do not "feed" cancer.  In fact, it is used by integrative oncologists to shrink tumors.  The National Institutes of Health actually published a study in which high dose IV C was shown to kill cancer cells.

Noble Prize winner, Dr Watson, the co-discoverer of DNA, said that the cure for cancer lies in the mechanism of sugan metabolism.  Glycolysis.  All cancer uses sugar as it's fuel to grow at tremendous speed.  For your doctor to encourage you to consume sugar is, excuse me, ill advised.  You need to pick up a few choice books that address the need to approach this disease with a nutritional and lifestyle assist that integrates your medical care.  They will help you intuit and see what suits you.  

The "relatively constant levels" is the problem.  High glycemic food will increase insulin levels.  Insulin is one of the pathways that favors cancer, particularly breast cancer.  Also, there are actually wide variances in the amount of sugar circulating in the bloodstream.  You want to stay at low tolerances if you have cancer. 

My understanding is that prolonged increased insulin levels, correlate with increased recurrence and primary risk.  Insulin provides pathways for stem cell propagation, including cancer stem cells and mets.