Originally published February 26 2006
Oregon researchers say vitamin C can protect smokers from cancer
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Oregon State University researchers claim that vitamin C supplements can help prevent the development of cancer in smokers.
Vitamin C supplements can help halt the serious depletion of vitamin E in smokers and possibly help prevent cancer, U.S. researchers report.
The study led by investigators at Oregon State University is the first to demonstrate this type of interaction between the two antioxidants in humans.
They researchers say the findings also suggest a possible mechanism by which smoking causes cancer.
Vitamin E is one of the lungs' first lines of defense against cigarette smoke, which creates destructive free radicals.
Adequate levels of vitamin E can help prevent destruction of lung membranes.
This study found that sufficient levels of vitamin C help vitamin E return to non-radical form and continue to protect the lungs.
"What this clearly shows is that to perform their vital roles, vitamins C and E work together," Maret Traber, professor of nutrition, said in a prepared statement.
"They have a synergistic effect that will not be gained just by intake of one or the other, and adequate levels of these nutrients is especially important for people who smoke."
"A lot of nutrition research in the past has been done by studying one nutrient or another in isolation, sometimes with conflicting results," Traber noted.
"What this and other studies like it are showing is that the protection we get from proper diet or supplements often comes from combinations of nutrients working together.
This has implications not only for smokers but also for many other people."
The findings come on the heels of a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that found that vitamin E supplements appeared to cut the risk of prostate cancer for men who smoke -- but not for non-smokers.
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