Colon most cancers therapy usually features a mixture of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation, and surgical procedure. Whereas these therapies work to struggle most cancers cells, they’ll additionally work together with sure stuff you eat, together with dietary supplements.
Even dietary supplements that appear innocent, like natural and over-the-counter merchandise, can enhance the unwanted side effects of most cancers therapies. Others can weaken therapy, making it much less efficient at preventing most cancers.
One more reason to be cautious is that dietary supplements in america aren’t regulated as strictly as prescription medicines. Labels could also be inaccurate, sure elements will not be listed, or the quantities could also be completely different from what’s marketed. Plus, when you’re therapeutic from surgical procedure, sure dietary supplements can intrude with restoration, says Kyle Eldredge, DO, a board-certified and fellowship-trained normal and colorectal surgeon based mostly in Florida.
Due to these elements, it’s necessary to speak along with your most cancers care workforce earlier than including any new dietary supplements to your routine. With that in thoughts, contemplate avoiding the next dietary supplements throughout colon most cancers therapy.
1. St. John’s Wort
St. John’s wort is an natural complement generally used to assist with melancholy and menopause signs. Some folks take it for its supposed potential anticancer properties.
However “St. John’s wort can scale back the effectiveness of colon most cancers therapies like irinotecan (Camptosar), which depend on the CYP-450 enzyme system to metabolize (be damaged down and processed),” says Lora Silver, RDN, a registered dietitian and licensed specialist in oncology at Smilow Most cancers Hospital. The CYP-450 system is a bunch of liver enzymes that course of many medicines. St. John’s wort could make these enzymes extra lively than regular, inflicting chemotherapy medicines to be damaged down too shortly.
This sooner breakdown means chemotherapy doesn’t keep within the physique lengthy sufficient to struggle most cancers successfully, says Taylor Janulewicz, RDN, the founder and dietitian at My Most cancers Dietitian. Together with irinotecan, different most cancers therapies like imatinib (Gleevec) and docetaxel (Taxotere) can be affected by St. John’s wort.
2. Ginkgo Biloba
When you could flip to ginkgo biloba to maintain your reminiscence sharp or relieve nervousness, this complement can change how your physique processes sure chemotherapy medicines. These embody platinum-based therapies like cisplatin (Platinol) and carboplatin (Paraplatin), says Silver. Like St. John’s wort, ginkgo impacts the CYP-450 enzyme system, probably making these most cancers therapies much less efficient.
Many individuals receiving chemotherapy or radiation are prescribed prochlorperazine (Compazine) for nausea, a typical aspect impact of most cancers therapies. “Ginkgo biloba can work together with Compazine, growing the danger of seizures when the 2 are mixed,” says Janulewicz.
Bleeding can be a difficulty when taking ginkgo biloba, says Jeanna Wealthy, RDN, a licensed specialist in oncology vitamin at OSF Healthcare Most cancers Institute. Ginkgo can skinny the blood, which is problematic for folks with colon most cancers, because the illness itself may cause bleeding within the digestive tract. As well as, many most cancers therapies decrease platelet counts (the cells that assist your blood clot), so minor bleeding can develop into troublesome to regulate. And since surgical procedure is commonly a part of colon most cancers care, the added bleeding danger can complicate each the process and restoration.
3. Turmeric (Curcumin)
Its anti-inflammatory advantages make turmeric a preferred complement. However like ginkgo and St. John’s wort, turmeric — and its lively compound curcumin — can intrude with how chemotherapy is metabolized and might also skinny the blood, says Wealthy.
However turmeric’s affect on most cancers therapy isn’t totally clear. In a small research of 60 breast most cancers sufferers taking paclitaxel (Taxol), including 2 grams (g) of turmeric every day brought about minor adjustments in how the chemotherapy was processed, however these adjustments weren’t thought-about medically important. That mentioned, this research checked out only one treatment, so the results might range with different most cancers therapies or from individual to individual. Extra analysis is required to higher perceive how turmeric could have an effect on how the physique processes most cancers medicine.
4. Folic Acid
Folic acid is an artificial type of vitamin B9 that helps your physique make new cells and treats or prevents anemia. In case you’re taking capecitabine (Xeloda), a typical chemotherapy for colon most cancers, it’s necessary to watch out with folic acid dietary supplements, says Janulewicz. “Excessive doses of folic acid could make unwanted side effects from capecitabine a lot worse, and even common multivitamins with folic acid have been linked to elevated therapy toxicities,” she says.
A research of individuals with colorectal most cancers discovered that those that took folic acid dietary supplements throughout capecitabine therapy had an 81 % elevated danger of significant unwanted side effects. However the identical research confirmed that pure folate from meals sources, akin to leafy greens, beans, and fortified cereals, didn’t enhance the toxicity danger with capecitabine.
5. Antioxidants Like Nutritional vitamins A, C, and E
Antioxidant dietary supplements, like nutritional vitamins A, C, and E, may seem to be a great way to assist your well being throughout most cancers therapy. Below regular circumstances, antioxidants assist scale back oxidative stress, a course of that may injury wholesome cells.
However chemotherapy and radiation really depend on injury attributable to oxidative stress to destroy most cancers cells, explains Wealthy. Taking excessive doses of antioxidants throughout most cancers therapy can counteract this course of, basically defending the very most cancers cells that therapy is making an attempt to eradicate, she says.
Dr. Eldredge recommends avoiding any dietary supplements listed as antioxidants throughout most cancers therapy. Along with nutritional vitamins A, C, and E, widespread antioxidants folks complement embody selenium, echinacea, coenzyme Q10, zinc, and ginseng.
An excessive amount of of any of those nutritional vitamins will be dangerous even for wholesome people. Giant doses of vitamin C — above 500 to 1,000 milligrams (mg) per day — could scale back oxidative stress however can even trigger diarrhea and an upset abdomen. Vitamin E could enhance bleeding danger, and excessive quantities of vitamin A or beta-carotene have been linked to elevated most cancers danger in people who smoke.
6. Garlic
Whereas widespread for coronary heart well being and immune assist, garlic dietary supplements can skinny the blood, growing the danger of bleeding, and trigger digestive upset, says Wealthy. This may create problems throughout most cancers remedy when you’re already coping with low platelets from therapy or when you’re making ready for or recovering from surgical procedure.
Garlic additionally has antioxidant properties, which can intrude with how chemotherapy and radiation work. And like a number of different dietary supplements talked about, garlic can scale back the effectiveness of colon most cancers therapies that depend on the CYP-450 enzyme system to metabolize.
7. Inexperienced Tea Extract
Inexperienced tea extract (the concentrated complement type of inexperienced tea) accommodates excessive ranges of compounds known as polyphenols. Polyphenols are additionally present in different dietary supplements like curcumin and grape-seed extract. Eldredge explains that dietary supplements wealthy in polyphenols may create resistance to chemotherapy. Extra analysis is required to totally perceive how polyphenols may create chemoresistance.
Plus, inexperienced tea extract has sturdy antioxidant properties, which, as with different antioxidants, can scale back the flexibility of chemotherapy and radiation to kill most cancers cells, says Wealthy.
The Takeaway
- In case you’re receiving colon most cancers therapy, keep away from dietary supplements like St. John’s wort, ginkgo biloba, turmeric, and garlic, which may intrude with the effectiveness of chemotherapy medicines.
- Watch out with antioxidant dietary supplements akin to nutritional vitamins A, C, and E, and inexperienced tea extract, as excessive doses could shield most cancers cells and scale back the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation.
- Folic acid dietary supplements have been linked to extreme unwanted side effects when you’re taking capecitabine (Xeloda), although consuming folate-rich meals like leafy greens doesn’t pose the identical danger.
- All the time speak along with your most cancers care workforce earlier than including or stopping any complement whereas receiving colon most cancers therapy.
