Synthetic antioxidants for smokers

The report of the study in Finland of Vitamin E and beta carotene on the incidence of cancer in male smokers is important because it drives home the message that vitamins may increase cancer (Heinonen OP et al, The effect of vitamin E and beta carotene on the incidence of lung cancer and other cancers in male smokers, New England J of Med 330:1029-1035, 1994). Synthetic vitamins, that is. Synthetic vitamins are not food. They are synthetic chemicals. Only vitamins from dietary sources or edible plants can be considered nutrients for the body.

The first study in question was the 1994 Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study (ATBC) involving Finnish men who were heavy smokers and alcohol drinkers. The volunteers were either given 20 milligrams of synthetic beta carotene, vitamin E, a combination of the two, or a placebo. The expected outcome suggested that there was an 18 percent increase in lung cancer rates in the beta carotene-only group. Cigarette smoke contains about 4000 toxic chemicals, of which 40 are known carcinogens. The metabolic breakdown of synthetic chemicals and alcohol yields toxic metabolites that yield the superoxide radical and hydrogen peroxide. Similarly, the breakdown of synthetic beta carotene and synthetic vitamin E also results in the same biochemical problem in the liver and that simply adds to creating excess free radicals and oxidative stress from hydroxyl radicals. Hydroxyl radicals can cause damage to membranes and DNA molecules and transform normal cells into cancer cells. In other words, synthetics accelerate free radical biochemistry.

The second trial was the 1996 Carotenoid and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET), which was a lung cancer prevention study involving a combination of 30 mg of synthetic beta carotene and 25,000 iu of retinol (synthetic formed vitamin A) versus placebo. The volunteers were either smokers or asbestos workers. This study was stopped early due to the fact that preliminary findings suggested that there was a 28 percent increase in cancer rates in the beta carotene/vitamin A group, compared to placebo. Asbestos in the human body can create biochemical problems. The findings in this study are consistent with the expectation of higher rates of cancers as would be with all other studies that test synthetics. The correct conclusion is that synthetic vitamins contribute to free radical biochemistry in the human biological system and in people who introduce other substances into the body that also generate free radicals, the risk of generating hydroxyl radicals increases while in some people it becomes excess, leading to the development of cancers. Much of the outcome depends on the intake of antioxidants from dietary sources.

The most critical fact that deserves special scrutiny in the Finnish studies is that the beta carotene and vitamins used in these studies are synthetic and not from dietary sources. It is interesting to note that dietary intake of various antioxidants such as carbonyl from broccoli or olive oil other carotenoids (such as lycopene and cryptoxanthin) is far more strongly associated with lower cancer risk while intake of synthetic antioxidants tend to raise that risk, especially in smokers and those who consume alcohol or those who are already have cancers in them.

Recycling vs. metabolic breakdown

People who have cancers and those who smoke and consume alcohol, in general, have lower levels of natural vitamin C. That by itself is a compromising factor for the immune function of white blood cells and T4 cells. These lower levels of natural vitamin C are insufficient to fully recycle other antioxidants directly or through alpha-lipoic acid. Recycling the fat-soluble antioxidants through alpha-lipoic acid becomes critical in cancer patients because of the greater amounts of fat-soluble antioxidants required to biochemically repair the cell membranes (by donating electrons and reducing their positive potential) in order to restore their functional integrity. And natural vitamin C cannot recycle synthetic vitamins. The synthetic vitamins are targeted for metabolic breakdown once they have donated their electron.

Natural molecules, such as natural oils, fat soluble antioxidants and natural vitamins have been part of the mammalian diet for 65 million years and primate diets for 15 million years of hominid evolution. We read in our primary schools how effective vitamin C was in curing scurvy in sailors. Research in free radical science has already contributed so much knowledge to mainstream science. Yet we have researchers who dare state that natural antioxidants "don't work" and are harmful while synthetic molecules work and are safer?

History of science is important

History of the use of oils is a part of that history as well as part of the history of marketing. A few decades ago, a particular association began lobbying and commenced a media campaign against natural tropical oils saying that these oils are highly saturated. Their campaign was designed to get people to switch to vegetable oils that they did not say were in fact, hydrogenated oils. In the body, these long chain fatty acids become converted to circulating lipoproteins and hence contribute to the artery-clogging factor. Their campaign succeeded, in spite of the fact that tropical oils are not long chain fatty acids but are medium chain fatty acids which are readily broken down in the liver to produce energy, do not become circulating fat molecules and do not contribute to artery-clogging. Other positive information on medium chain fatty acids was never brought to light, including their anti-inflammatory properties and that they are used by the body to produce antimicrobial and antiviral molecules and have cardio-protective function, as well as that they may be used to synthesize other molecules that have anti-inflammatory or anti-bacterial properties.

The success of that campaign against tropical oils contributed to rising rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancers and created an expanded market for a wider range of drugs.

It can be speculated that, as a general rule, the synthetic oil starts as a prescripitory medication in order to gain a foothold in the market and that later it may be 'moved' into the supplement category to broaden its market. However, the war on natural fish oil is being fought differently. Meta-studies appear to be used as a tool to discredit the natural oil which is already part of the diet as well as other scientific works in reputable journals for purposes of possibly altering consumer buying behavior in favor of the synthetic oil.

People are more educated than before and too many people know how science is manipulated. These people will not put "prescripitory health" above natural health. Health is a result of nutrients from food sources and it cannot be an outcome of prescriptions that contain synthetics or analogues. Consumers should know the difference between the two. This points to the need to improve science literacy in Congress and Parliaments and the need to scrutinize the media that attempt to promote synthetic stuff as superior and better than natural biomolecules, while at the same time discrediting other scientific studies that prove or note the beneficial function of natural biomolecules in the human body. It also points to the need for a sound health education in primary and secondary schools and as a subsidiary subject in colleges and universities.