If you read any of the number of studies regarding vitamins and their benefit, or lack thereof, on helping prevent cancer, then take note. These studies are often performed by medical organizations that have an interest in showing how vitamins won't help in the prevention of some diseases, because that would mean less dependence on conventional medical intervention - i.e. drugs, chemotherapy, etc. It is ashame that these studies are not performed on whole food nutrition - i.e. any fruits, vegetables, or grapes or berries, OR supplements that contain nutrients from those foods as Juice Plus+ and others do. These studies can be misleading because of the headline that comes with such study. Case in point --
Vitamins Don't Prevent Cancer
Lots of people are convinced the key to preventing cancer is to take lots of extra vitamins and minerals. If only it were true.
In the latest evidence otherwise, a 1,500 patient trial presented here at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, showed that taking selenium supplements did nothing to prevent the recurrence of lung cancer in patients who had their tumors surgically removed. If anything, selenium appeared to make the disease more likely to recur and kill people.
The ten-year trial led by researchers at the MD Anderson Cancer Center took patients (mostly smokers) who had been operated on for early stage lung cancer and gave them either 200 micrograms of selenium, a typical dose in many supplements, or a placebo.
After five years 72% of patients taking selenium were alive and cancer free, compared to a greater 78% of those who got a placebo. While the difference was not statistically significant, it suggested that excess selenium might be harmful to smokers. read more...
Comments: The bolded title above is the headline for this story. First of all, this study is only referring to "selenium supplements", not VITAMINS. One mineral that is being studied is not consistent with the headline. Secondly, don't throw out the baby with the bath water - just because one mineral shows no benefit on its own, doesn't mean that the source of that mineral is not going to be of benefit. In other words, whole food fruits and vegetables (specifically dark green vegetables) that contain hundreds of nutrients may be the key to getting the right balance and antioxidant power that can prevent sickness and disease. The bottom line: if you're going to supplement your diet, do so with a whole food nutritional supplement that contains as much of the entire food's nutrients as possible. Juice Plus+ is one example of such a supplement. Except for specific needs that your doctor may recommend, you may want to avoid synthetic vitamins. (One such recommendation may be Vitamin D).
The Health & Wellness Institute
Official Juice Plus+ Distributor
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