02 November 2023 , 07:28
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A charity has warned some multivitamin products should carry the same warning stickers as tobacco, as they could increase the chance of cancer by as much as 30%.
Killing Cancer Kindly says supplements “bombard the body with huge doses of wholly unnecessary nutrients”. As a result, they can enable cancerous cells to grow and multiply. Natural vitamins found in foods meanwhile pose no danger because they are absorbed slowly, and the body takes only what it needs before flushing out the rest.
Synthetic pills however 'flood' the bloodstream with up to twice the recommended daily dosage of nutrients, becoming a 'superfood' for cancers, says NHS oncologist Dr Mohammad Muneeb Khan. Multivitamin supplements could increase the risk of developing other cancers such as prostate, bowel, and breast cancer.
Dr Khan said: “Synthetic pills contain obscenely high and wholly unnecessary volumes of micronutrient that far exceed what the average human body requires. These tiny organic compounds are so numerous that our organs struggle to use them, and they’re left, in effect, to float about the body.
"The problem is these excess multivitamins are readily available to feed the hundreds of potentially cancerous cells that are made in our body every day. Normally, our body has the capability to destroy these cancer cells effectively but this becomes a challenge when they are well fed and able to increase in number quickly.
Warning as popular food and drink ‘increase risk of cancer death by up to 30%’
“Imagine hundreds of ravenous little Pac-Men running around and gobbling everything up and then multiplying in number exponentially over time until they are able to completely overrun our body’s anti-cancer defences such as the immune system. The solution, as controversial as it may at first appear, is to reclassify multivitamins as a drug and make people aware of their side effects.
"A health warning and prescription would work best alongside the general advice that most people, children and adults alike, do not need additional vitamins in their diet, period.”
The warnings appear in Dr Khan's new research book ‘You’ll Wish You Were an Elephant (Killing Cancer Kindly)’, a guide to preventing cancer in adults. Almost half of Brits are thought to take a daily supplement, which usually contain a broad spectrum of what manufacturers call ‘essential’ organic compounds. These are said to help maintain normal metabolic function – the chemical reactions in our cells that change food into energy.
Our bodies need this energy to do everything from moving and thinking, to growing and repairing. Until now, supplements were considered safe to use but unnecessary for anyone except those with recognised nutritional deficiencies.
Dr Khan added: “There is a growing body of scientific research pointing to synthetic multivitamin supplements increasing the risk if used daily over a prolonged period. In one flagship study, the CARET trial, the increased risk of developing lung cancer from taking a daily supplement including vitamin B6, B9 and B12 was estimated to be nearly 30 per cent.
"Studies looking at the daily use of supplements including vitamin A and vitamin B complex (including vitamins such as B1, B6 and B12) have, likewise, shown a correlation in increased risk for different types of cancer, though more research is required to confirm by how much. “And while research is likewise lacking at present for other vitamins, it’s fair to assume they will also have similar effects.
“Natural vitamins pose no danger as they are released slowly in the body so we only take what we need but synthetic multivitamins are rapidly absorbed, flooding the body with far more than it can use. This is great news for cancer cells as they can take in 10 times the quantity of vitamins and other nutrients that normal healthy cells can, speeding up their growth and reproduction and overwhelming our body’s abilities to destroy them.” A pioneering study into the cancer risk posed by multivitamin supplements will begin next year and involve KCK collaborating with an American university.