Cancer naturally worries many of us, especially as we get older. A whole third of all people in developed nations will at some point in their lives suffer from cancer.
And, if you have a history of growths, a relative who had cancer, or are a member of a high risk group, you could be facing a one in two chance of developing cancer over your lifetime.
To boot, cancer is not one of those illnesses where getting it helps build immunity to it.
The more times you have suffered cancer in the past, the more at risk of cancer you are in the future – which basically means that whoever you are, whether you have suffered cancer or not, chances are, you are starting to worry about it as you break fifty.
Thankfully, we don’t have to just sit back and see what our DNA and environment have given us in the cancer lottery. There are natural, healthy ways of preventing cancer, slowing down its development, and encouraging our bodies to not redevelop it as we age.
One such way is appropriate vitamin intake. By consuming enough of the right sort of vitamins, we can give our body the tools it needs to fight back even harder against cancer cells.
It is important to bear in mind, first of all, that cancer is not a sudden, freak occurrence. Cancer cells form inside our bodies all the time. And really, they are just damaged, mutated cells, which should be eliminated by our white blood cells, the sentinels of our bodies.
But, when our immune system is in any way compromised, cancer cells can slip through the net and develop into full growths. Of course, it is possible that you will develop cancer despite your greatest efforts, or with the best immune system in the world. But the more likely reality is that by strengthening your immune system you will massively reduce your risk of cancer.
The following vitamins all play a role in building up our immune systems, strengthening our white blood cells and enabling them to fight back hard against any cancer cells which develop, giving us a better chance of either not developing cancer, or of surviving it.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is one of the most essential vitamins to fighting cancer. Either in the form of pure vitamin A, known as retinol, which is found in organ meats and eggs, or in the form of beta carotene – which we turn into retinol on our bodies – it is a great supplement to take.
It has been found to protect spongy and absorbent tissues, such as our skin, mouth, or lungs, from developing cancer related to environmental toxins.
But be careful with this vitamin. As it is fat soluble, it will be stored indefinitely, and can build up high in the body. This results in poisoning which can be seriously harmful for our health and even increase our risk of cancer. When in doubt, skip retinol sources and supplements, and instead choose beta carotene.
B Vitamins
All B vitamins are essential to making our immune systems as strong as physically possible, but some of them are more vital to avoiding cancer than others.
Vitamin B6 is probably one of the best for preventing hormonal and sexual organ cancers. Make sure to eat organ meats, bananas, apples, carrots, or sweet potatoes, to ensure that you develop and maintain a high level of this vitamin in your body.
Unlike vitamin A, this vitamin is water soluble and will leave our bodies easily if we do not regularly top it up.
Vitamin B9 is another B vitamin which is very important when it comes to defending our body against hormonal and sexual organ cancers.
It has even been found to influence how our body forms and copies its own DNA and RNA, so if there was an error that was resulting in cancer cells, this vitamin plays a huge role in reversing that error and helping us heal.
Make sure to eat piles of leafy greens, organ meats, red meats, seafood, etc., to keep your levels of this vitamin up. It is actually believed many people in developed nations are severely deficient in it.
