Q: Dr. Munoz, on many occasions we have heard that chemotherapy patients should not take antioxidants. If somebody is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer is there any problem with them being on JUS since it is a very powerful antioxidant?
A: When people ask me this question I usually refer them to a greatly referenced book by Patrick Quillin, PhD called “Beating Cancer with Nutrition”. The bottom line is that antioxidant supplementation during chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer has been shown to make the chemotherapy and radiation therapy MORE EFFECTIVE in cancer elimination (most authorities however consider this topic controversial since some other studies on individual antioxidants, i.e. vitamin E, may have been shown to make chemotherapy less effective). Antioxidant supplementation during chemotherapy and radiation therapy has also been shown in some studies to improve survival and to decrease the toxic side effects secondary to chemotherapy.
Dr. David Munoz is an Emergency Physician in Torrance, California and is apart of the HAVVN Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Munoz graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1996.