At first glance, CBD, vitamin C, and cancer may appear to be an odd trio. However, CBD and vitamin C are plant molecules with similar and complementary health benefits. When paired with traditional treatments, research shows both can support healing for cancer patients.
In this article, you'll discover a few remarkable things about vitamin C and some of the research on CBD and vitamin C for cancer treatment.
Vitamin C is Essential to Wound Healing
You may be surprised to discover how crucial Vitamin C is to your health. It supports your immune system, cardiovascular function, is essential to make collagen, and enables wound healing.
A shortage of vitamin C in your system causes scurvy, which still affects seven percent of Americans. Symptoms include weakness, anemia, gum disease, and skin problems.
Humans Cannot Produce Vitamin C
Remarkably, while most animals can produce vitamin C without ingesting it, humans lost the capacity to make our own vitamin C about 40 million years ago.
We have to absorb this required nutrient from food and supplements. Fortunately, vitamin C is readily available in citrus fruits, tomatoes, strawberries, and a few other fruits and vegetables.
Vitamin C and Cancer Treatment
In the 1960s, a Toronto medical doctor named William J. McCormick noticed that cancer patients often showed severely low vitamin C levels. This discovery was followed in the 1970s with several clinical trials in the U.S. and Japan that treated terminal cancer patients with ascorbate (vitamin C).
Initial findings were remarkable, with 22 percent of vitamin C-treated terminal cancer patients surviving for more than one year compared to only 0.4 percent of the control patients.
Later, the Mayo Clinic did a clinical trial but found no advantage to vitamin C treatment. Since the Mayo study was double-blind while other studies used past case records for the control group, these findings cooled the medical community on vitamin C for cancer treatment and delayed further research into its benefits.
Important Differences in Approach Unlock Answers
According to cancer.gov, research into vitamin C has resumed because there were two crucial differences between the studies.
The early studies administered vitamin C over the entire study duration, which was up to 12 years. In contrast, the Mayo Clinic stopped the vitamin C treatment the minute the patient showed tumor progression and switched to chemotherapy treatment. The median amount of time a patient received vitamin C in the Mayo Clinic study was only 2.5 months.
Secondly, the Mayo Clinic trials gave patients 10 g of ascorbate to patients orally. The earlier Cameron and Pauling trials administered their vitamin C both orally and intravenously. These two dosage routes produced a significant difference.
Plasma Concentration Levels are the Key
Later preclinical studies confirmed that high and sustained plasma levels of vitamin C can kill cancer cells while leaving normal cells undamaged.
In the 2000s, researchers at the NIH discovered the oral ascorbate doses used in the Mayo Clinic studies would have produced peak plasma concentrations 25 times less than in the earlier studies. The oral administration alone did not allow patients to build up enough vitamin C in their blood to experience beneficial effects.
This insight rekindled interest and, over the past decade, there have been several clinical trials and case reports testing a high dose of vitamin C as an ancillary cancer treatment. Studies consistently show benefits to cancer patients, including reduced pain. Normal tissues are better protected against the toxicity caused by chemotherapy. However, researchers say large-scale, randomized controlled trials are still needed.
Jampha is investigating a possible new product for our line called Nano Soma. It is a patented plant-based spray produced in Switzerland that increases vitamin C plasma levels beyond what you can achieve with oral supplements alone.
CBD Supports Immune Function and Kills Cancer Cells
Vitamin C and CBD function differently in the body, but both are potent antioxidants with cancer-fighting properties.
Vitamin C is a water-soluble, required nutrient, easily absorbed by the body's tissues. As an extract, CBD is oil-based. CBD functions by interacting with the human endocannabinoid system to help balance and modulate the body's systems.
In preclinical trials, CBD kills or inhibits a variety of cancer and tumor cells. Researchers are still investigating the mechanisms and best dosages.
As natural and non-toxic plant molecules, both vitamin C and CBD can be used at recommended doses with little to no side-effects. Even better, Vitamin C and CBD can help reduce the side-effects of cancer treatment.
Not a Cure, But Helpful Benefits
Neither vitamin C nor CBD is a cure for cancer, and CBD should be added to existing treatment only under your doctor's supervision. However, these simple, natural plant molecules play pivotal roles in supporting, maintaining, and regaining health on a cellular level.
If you have any questions about our organic, full-spectrum, non-psychoactive CBD oils and topicals, please reach out let us know.