IP6 - a non-toxic Treatment for Cancer

I became interested in the nutrient “inositol hexaphosphate”, known as IP6, after finding out that it reduced toxic levels of iron in the blood and organs. Initially, my research on IP6 concerned me as many health websites identify IP6 as an anti-nutrient  since it removes iron, copper, selenium, zinc and other metals from the body. If I had not just read the about the dangers of iron and learned that older adults frequently have toxic levels of iron, I would not have considered taking IP6 as a supplement.

To learn more, I got the book IP6 + Inositol: Nature's Medicine For The Millennium!: Discover How A Cocktail of Simple Molecules Can Prevent And Fight Cancer And Other Diseases by Dr. AbulKalam Shamsuddin.

IP6 is a natural substance found in the bran of grains, cereals, seeds and nuts. Since bran is now removed from most grains, Americans are getting very little IP6 compared to their grandparents. Long term studies have shown lower rates of cancer in individuals who consume lots of foods with high levels of IP6. More recent studies of IP6 consumption have also shown significantly lower cancer rates in countries that consume IP6 rich foods. Unfortunately, IP6 tends to bond with proteins in the grain which reduces how much the body can absorb from foods and makes it difficult to get the amount of IP6 into the bloodstream that was used in studies that cured cancer in mice.  The book recommends IP6 supplements be taken on an empty stomach to get the best benefit and avoid the IP6 bonding with food.

IP6 provides key nutrients to the mitochondria and cell membrane. Since the mitochondria control cellular reproduction rate, cellular death, intercellular communication, and cell differentiation of new cells, it is critical for them to receive nutrients to function properly.  I learned from Tripping Over the Truth that cancers are caused by damage to mitochondria, not damage to the cell nucleus DNA which was believed for decades.  The nutrition from IP6 curtails the mitochondria from initiating increased blood flow to support cancer cells rapid growth, slows cell reproduction rates, and increases cell differentiation. Cancer cells are rapidly reproducing cells that are immortal (no apoptosis) caused by damaged mitochondria.  In late stage cancer, cancer cells replicate so fast that the cells are not differentiated enough to be recognized as a specific type of cell like a breast or liver cell. Undifferentiated cancer cells (known as cancer stem cells) can be transported in the blood stream to other organs in the body where they are not recognized as being foreign by the immune system and can continue to replicate and create a metastasized cancer site.

The book described the many other benefits of IP6 that researchers are discovering:

• reduces excess iron in cells;
• reduces xanthine oxidase, an enzyme that makes uric acid. Uric acid causes gout so reducing xanthine oxidase could offer relief to gout suffers;
• helps people with Type II Diabetes because getting inositol into the cell makes cells more responsive to insulin;
• appears to reduce blood sugar levels in the blood and help repair damage blood vessels from high glucose levels in diabetics;
• helps reduce kidney stones by binding to and removing excess calcium.
• improves the immune system, increases bone density, reduces anxiety attacks, reduces obsessive compulsive behavior, and increases energy by recharging the potassium in  ATP cycle.

IP6 looks like it may be an effective nontoxic treatment for cancer as well as a nutrient to prevent cancer. (The author did mention that he has a patent on IP6.) The book convinced me that there were enough benefits of taking IP6 to risk any side effects of lowering my metal levels. I have been taking it as a supplement for about two weeks and I have noticed that it has improved my energy level and seems to be making my skin look better (something not predicted by this book but mentioned in the Dumping Iron book).

In addition to IP6, the book covers many other topics about cancer. For example, there was a review of what is wrong with the methods used to diagnosis and treat bowel cancer. The current method of looking for blood in fecal matter results in a large percentage of false positives which requires expensive, painful, and dangerous procedures to confirm if the diagnosis is accurate or not. Even worse, this entire system of diagnosis only detects 20% of colon cancers, so 80% of colon cancer cases go undetected. The author proposes using a less invasive mucus test that is 78 to 90% effective for finding all colon cancers. Similar cases are made for breast cancer and lung cancer diagnoses using more accurate and less costly diagnostic tests that are currently available.

Although this book was not an easy read and written for people with a bioscience background, I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about how to improve their health through better nutrition. A lot of the information and topics were understandable to an average reader like me. Highly recommended. Five stars.