Supplements and herbs are often used in an integrative cancer care program. Studies suggest that cancer patients during and after cancer treatments, as well as in remission, experience health benefits from nutritional support. At the same time, evaluating nutritional support options with supplements and herbs can seem really confusing. People affected by cancer need reliable cancer information about supplements and herbs for several reasons.
- Research demonstrates the need for supplementation. Studies indicate that people with cancer require additional nutritional support that cannot be provided by diet alone. Laboratory tests can help identify some nutritional deficiencies for individuals. This type of customized approach gives the body what it needs and at levels to address the deficiency.
- Research indicates that certain supplements and herbs appear to offer a range of health benefits to people with cancer, including anti cancer activity, improved quality of life during and after conventional cancer treatments, and even survival. Our cancer information was developed with a review of study results and include some scientific references.
- Many claims exist for supplements and herbs regarding specific health benefits for conditions such as cancer. Unfortunately, many unreliable and false cancer specific health claims are prominent on the Internet and elsewhere. Supplements and herbs in general constitute a multibillion dollar industry in the United States alone. Some companies and providers lack integrity through promoting false cancer specific health claims.
- Even for supplements and herbs with demonstrated efficacy, tremendous variability exists in the quality of products between manufacturers.
How do you identify trustworthy sources? We try to help you sort through the weeds and into better clarity. Please know that our information does not cover the full scope of supplements and herbs used by and researched in people with cancer. Since we are constantly expanding our resources, we will add more cancer information about supplements and herbs in the future. We encourage you to explore the cancer information here about supplements and herbs.
Antioxidants and Cancer Reviewed by Lise Alschuler, ND
Coenzyme Q10 and Cancer
Essential Fatty Acids and Cancer
Glutathione and Cancer
Melatonin and Cancer
Probiotics and Cancer
Turmeric and Cancer
Vitamin D and Cancer
You can learn more in Herbal Medicine and Cancer. Also, information about a plant substance used in cancer patients can be found in Mistletoe and Cancer.
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