EDITORIAL – JULY 2001

A number of readers have asked me to comment on the recent media hoopla concerning the "cancer causing" properties of vitamin-C reported in the June 15th issue of Science[1]. I have read the article and fail to see what all the commotion is about. The researchers reacted a fairly obscure chemical compound, 13(S)-hydroperoxy-(Z,E)-9,11-octadecadienoic acid (13-HPODE), with vitamin C in a test tube and observed the formation of some equally exotic compounds that may or may not, depending on conditions, be cancerous in mammalian cells. 13-HPODE is formed by oxidation of linoleic acid, however, vitamin C and glutathione would normally prevent this reaction. In order to get around this little stumbling block, the researchers synthesized the 13-HPODE first and then exposed it to vitamin C. To give them some credit, the researchers do not claim that their test tube findings are applicable to actual human beings or warn that people should stop taking supplements. They merely suggest that cancer researchers should consider their findings in future studies to evaluate the cancer-preventive properties of vitamin C.

To the best of my knowledge there has never been a single epidemiological study or verified clinical trial in animals or humans, which has concluded that vitamin C is in any way harmful. Quite the contrary, I am aware of dozens and dozens of studies and trials that have found vitamin C beneficial. Daily supplementation with 500 mg for 10 years or more has been found to cut the risk of developing bladder cancer by 60%. The spread of breast cancer (metastasis) is now believed to be predominantly due to free radical damage, which can be controlled through intake of increased amounts of vitamin C. Supplementation with 3 grams/day has been found to effectively prevent further polyp growth in colon cancer and an intake of more than 157 mg/day has been found to reduce the risk of developing colon cancer by 50%.

Researchers at the US National Institute of Aging report that elderly people who take vitamin-C and vitamin-E supplements have a 50% lower risk of dying prematurely from disease than do people who do not supplement. Other researchers have reported a protective effect against heart disease, stroke, heart attack, cataracts, glaucoma, diabetes, etc., etc. The list goes on and on. Less than a year ago researchers at the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute reported that men with high vitamin C levels (corresponding to an intake of 200 mg/day) had a 62% lower risk of dying from cancer than did men with low levels[2]. Why was this study not given extensive press coverage? One can only wonder!

In any case, I am not losing any sleep over the Science study and will continue to take my 500 mg of vitamin C with meals 3 times a day as I have done for the past 30 years.

1. Lee, Seon Hwa, et al. Vitamin C-induced decomposition of lipid hydroperoxides to endogenous genotoxins. Science, Vol. 292, June 15, 2001, pp. 2083-86
2. Loria, Catherine M., et al. Vitamin C status and mortality in US adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 72, July 2000, pp. 139-45