Posts Tagged ‘folic acid’

Melanoma causes, prevention, and management are known. There are natural strategies that can prevent and reverse melanoma. The truth is melanoma isn’t different from other types of cancers. It is dependent on your internal environment. The sun may have very little to do with the development of this condition. When you think melanoma, you think sun exposure. The fact that the rates of melanoma have gone up by 3.1 percent a year since 1992, may reflect changes in both our lifestyles, and a liberal use of suntan creams.

Suntan Lotions and Creams

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the ingredients in sunscreens marketed today have been used for many years and the agency does not have any reason to believe these products are not safe for consumer use.

The list of ingredients can vary from one brand to the next: the list of approved ingredients. Aminobenzoic acid-carcinogen implicated in cardiovascular disease, Avobenzone-carcinogen, Dioxbenzond-skin toxicity, carcinogen, and hormone disruptor, Diazolidinly Urea-carcinogen, affects the endocrine system, central nervous system and compromises the immune system, Methylparaben-interferes with  genes, Octocylene-affects liver, and carcinogen, Octyl methoxycinnamate-carcinogen, disrupts liver function, Oxybenzone-carcinogen and causes vascular disease, Phenoxyethanol, carcinogen, endocrine disrupter, Titanium dioxide-carcinogen when in nanomaterial form, and Zinc Oxide, toxic to the reproductive system.

Then there is retinyl palmitate a form of vitamin A, which is found in about 41% or sunscreens and is a photocarcinogen, which means it is a cancer-causing agent when exposed to sunlight. In a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study, researchers applied creams contain retinyl palmitate to animals’ skin, and then exposed them to sunlight. The study showed an increased incidence of skin cancer in these animals.

These are the safe ingredients; I hate to speculate on what is not considered safe. After all the research and development (R&D) money spent to withdraw these products would have shareholders in the company looking for new investments. The real benefit from suntan products comes from the commercialization. and sales.

Real Protection

Real protection doesn’t come from an over zealous application of chemical containing suntan lotions. The ozone level may be disappearing, but that may not be as applicable in terms of skin cancer. What is missing in the skin cancer guidelines is the many integrative solutions.

Facts

A new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that patients with decreased core muscle density were more likely to see their melanoma spread to other organs. They found it isn’t how old you are but how frail you are. Younger patients in poor health can have worst outcomes than older patients who are fit. What they found it was the underlying vitality of the patient that predicted the outcome.

Deficiencies of micronutrients are frequently found in cancer patients. There are some reports that blood levels of folic acid is 60 to 85% lower in people with cancer. There is conclusive evidence that a folic acid deficiency increases metastatic activity in cultured melanoma cells.

There are numerous studies and clinical evidence that high doses of melatonin can prevent and reverse melanoma. Melatonin suppresses ultraviolet (UV)-induced damage to skin cells. It shows strong antioxidant activity in skin cells exposed to UV light. There are a few studies that seem to suggest that selenium in vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Kale and Brussel sprouts helps your body target melanoma.

Vitamin D especially vitamin D3 fights melanoma. There are many  articles and clinical trials that show the positive effect Vitamin D3 has on killing melanoma cells.

There is a hidden gem that hasn’t been given much coverage. Dr. Dianne Godar of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had this to say: UVB light appears to be protective against melanoma. This is because your body produces Vitamin D in response to the UBA radiation. Dr. Godar points out the well know fact that the melanoma epidemic began long before sunbed usage, and that the dramatic melatonin increase occurs primary in indoor workers, not outdoor workers.

Low vitamin D levels actually predict melanoma, and all-year tans protect against melanoma. Melanoma patients who get sun live longer than those who don’t.

Conclusion

We are meant to survive in the environment that has sustained us for thousands of years. The sun sustains life on this planet. Never before in the history of man was the sun’s image so tarnished. If anything our contact with the outdoors is less then ever. We have withdrawn from our natural surrounding.

These are the factors that have a direct roll in the melanoma epidemic: One, is our reliance on pharmaceuticals (suntan lotion), two, the standard American diet which causes deficiencies of micronutrients, lack of adequate sunshine. From an evolutionary perspective sunshine is essential.

Fortified folic acid danger comes from the fact it is different from natural occurring vitamins and minerals. The folic acid used by food and the pharmaceutical companies work differently. On the passage through the intestinal wall, folic acid is converted to 5-methytetrahydrofolate, the naturally circulating form of folate. There are studies that imply that high oral doses of folic acid overwhelm the conversion pathway.

Concern

The concern is that fortified folic acid form may be detrimental; it is not a naturally occurring co-enzymatic form of the vitamin. Now that it is added to fortified foods such and breakfast cereals, pastas and grain products including breads a large percent of the population has un-metabolized folic acid circulating in the body.

Grains and cereals have been fortified since 1998, now large does of the vitamin have been linked to an increase in cancer and other chronic conditions. Lung cancer took the lead in this category.

Implications

If you just look at the overall picture and have no understanding of natural vs. synthetic you implicate all folate acid and vitamin B 12. Folate acid is one of the most important nutrients that are found in leafy green vegetables, fruits and animal protein.

Folate acid is destroyed by different cooking methods. Evidence has indicated that folate deficiency may promote cancer growth; the study’s authors suggested it was also possible that excess folic acid accelerated the growth of tumors. The real fortified folic acid danger is that it does not come from a natural source.

Bad Logic

One of the reasons that a folate deficiency may promote disease is that the things that deplete the supply are the of cause poor health. Alcohol, oral contraceptives, sugar, tobacco, sulfa drugs, and a calcium deficiency will deplete folate acid.

Folate acid is easily depleted by the above and environmental chemicals. Getting folate acid from the diet is the way the body is able to handle it the best.

Medications that interfere with folic acid utilization include:

• Anti-convulsant medications (such as dilantin, phenytoin and primidone)
• metformin (sometimes prescribed to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes)
• sulfasalazine (used to control inflammation associated with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis)
• triamterene (a diuretic)
• methotrexate (used for cancer and other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis)
• barbituratess(used as sedatives)

The Truth

We are fortifying our food supply, as we deplete everyone’s store of folate acid. Now we are oversupplying folic acid in a form that may cause harm. We blame the folate acid and the vitamin B12, and remain clueless. The most effective vitamins and minerals come from dietary sources, not from assembly lines.