目次
Familiar Vitamins Involved in Cancer Suppression
Vitamin A and Cancer Treatment
- Retinol: This is Vitamin A. It is found abundantly in animal-based foods, especially liver.
- Beta-Carotene: A precursor to Vitamin A. It is converted to Vitamin A in the body and is found in abundance in vegetables, especially carrots and dark green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin A helps prevent cell membrane damage and is useful in cancer treatment. While excessive intake can pose a risk of toxicity, taking it in the form of beta-carotene eliminates this concern.
Cats cannot convert beta-carotene to Vitamin A, so they need to intake retinol directly.
Vitamin C and Cancer Treatment
Vitamin C has antioxidant properties. It protects cells by taking on oxidation itself, making it crucial for cancer suppression. It also helps regenerate Vitamin E.
Oxidative reactions in the body are not universally negative; they are vital for destroying external bacteria and other functions essential for life. However, excessive oxidation can increase the chances of cancer development and promote cancer growth.
Unlike humans, dogs and cats can synthesize Vitamin C within their bodies. However, it is advisable to supplement Vitamin C externally during wasting diseases like cancer. There are no known harms from excessive intake.
High-Dose Vitamin C Administration via IV is gaining attention as a cancer treatment with very few side effects.
Vitamin D and Cancer Treatment
Vitamin D is known as a vitamin that strengthens bones, but large-scale studies have shown that it also has cancer-suppressing effects.
Humans can synthesize vitamin D from cholesterol in their bodies by exposure to sunlight. However, dogs and cats cannot produce vitamin D in their bodies. They must obtain it from external sources.
Cancer Treatment and Vitamin E
Vitamin E has antioxidant properties that prevent the oxidation of cell membranes. It also has immune-boosting effects, making it an important vitamin for cancer suppression.
While toxicity from excessive intake is rare, unnecessary suppression of oxidation can be disadvantageous for the body.
What Exactly Are Vitamins?
Vitamins are essential nutrients for living organisms and, unlike carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, they are required in smaller amounts but are extremely important for maintaining life. Most vitamins cannot be synthesized in the body and must be obtained from food. Like vitamins, minerals are required in small amounts, but the key difference is that minerals are inorganic compounds, while vitamins are organic compounds.
Strictly speaking, there are 13 functionally classified vitamins. If we include vitamin-like substances, the count exceeds 30 (e.g., folic acid, amygdalin).
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is a vitamin for humans, but interestingly, dogs and cats can synthesize it in their bodies. Hence, from the perspective of dogs and cats, ascorbic acid is not considered a vitamin.
How Do We Obtain Vitamins?
Basically, vitamins are obtained through diet. Vitamin C is abundant in vegetables and fruits, B vitamins in meat and fish, and Vitamin D in fish. It is ideal to have a balanced diet without focusing too much on one type of food. This is because some vitamins’ effects are enhanced in the presence of other vitamins. Conversely, other vitamins cannot compensate for a deficiency in one.
Many commercially available pet foods include added vitamins, but it is recommended to obtain vitamins naturally from foods. Heated pet foods lose a significant amount of the vitamins originally present in the ingredients, so it is better to add natural foods to your pet’s diet.
In cases of diseases like cancer, which consume a large amount of vitamins, it is suggested to actively intake several times the minimum required amount. Since cancer often reduces appetite, it is also important to use supplements to ensure the necessary vitamin intake.
What Are Some Simple Things You Can Do?
Even if the main diet is dry food, you can increase the intake of vitamins with just a bit of ingenuity.
For example, try adding one ingredient that hasn’t been heat-treated. Sprinkle powdered green juice (non-heat-treated type). Crush brewer’s yeast (like Ebios tablets) and mix it into the food.
I believe there are many other ways you can be creative.
Adding natural food to regular meals requires more time and effort than just giving food alone. If finding the time is difficult, you can at least sprinkle the food with green tripe (ruminant stomach) or non-heat-treated green juice, which can help your pet ingest enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and lactic acid bacteria.
Enhance Immunity with Cordy to Coexist with Cancer
At the Cordy Laboratory, we study the effects of Cordy on immunity and its preventive benefits for dogs and cats suffering from cancer. Additionally, we are researching the effects of the vitamins and minerals found in green tripe (ruminant stomach) and non-heat-treated green juice on living organisms.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
監修獣医師：林美彩 所属クリニック：chicoどうぶつ診療所
代替療法と西洋医学、両方の動物病院での勤務経験と多数のコルディの臨床経験をもつ。 モノリス在籍時には、一般的な動物医療（西洋医学）だけでは対応が困難な症例に対して多くの相談を受け、免疫の大切さを痛烈に実感する。
ペットたちの健康維持・改善のためには薬に頼った対処療法だけではなく、「普段の生活環境や食事を見直し、自宅でさまざまなケアを取り入れることで免疫力を維持し、病気にならない体づくりを目指していくことが大切である」という考えを提唱し普及活動に従事している。
所属：
- Cancer Diet Therapy for Dogs and Cats: High Protein, Low Carbohydrate Basics
- New Food Ideas to Beat Cancer (Dogs and Cats Edition)
- Proactively Take Vitamins to Combat Cancer in Dogs and Cats
- About Kidney Disease and Low Protein Diets for Cats
- BCAA Supplementation for Dogs and Cats with Fatigue, Liver, or Kidney Issues
