IP6 Dietary Supplements - The moral dilemma (Refers to IP6 and IP6 Plus)

June 25th, 2008 � No Comments

IP6? IP6 Plus? What is it, What does it do? What evidence is there?

If you want to skip all my IP6 background etc. and go straight to the conclusion - scroll down right to the end of this article. IP6 is a dietary supplement that is growing in popularity both for cancer patients and for the improvement of organ and immune system functions.

I was doing some background reading on this because I had a bit of a moral dilemma: my advertising schedule for this blog was about to carry a promotion for an antioxidant called IP6 Plus.

Although there seems to be research to support the benefits of IP6, my blog ink had barely dried on my lambasting of the anti-and-pro Aspartame camps, because they each only quoted research that supported their own end. So you see my predicament?

So, what to do?
I decided to perform some Net digging, present to you what I found, without prejudice, and let you decide for yourself. Here are the results:

IP6 - What is it it? (in the words of scientists, as you can tell)
Inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) is a naturally occurring polyphosphorylated carbohydrate, abundantly present in many plant sources and in certain high-fiber diets, such as cereals and legumes. In addition to being found in plants, IP6 is contained in almost all mammalian cells, although in much smaller amounts, where it is important in regulating vital cellular functions such as signal transduction, cell proliferation, and differentiation. For a long time IP6 has been recognized as a natural antioxidant. Recently IP6 has received much attention for its role in cancer prevention and control of experimental tumour growth, progression, and metastasis. In addition, IP6 possesses other significant benefits for human health, such as the ability to enhance immune system, prevent pathological calcification and kidney stone formation, lower elevated serum cholesterol, and reduce pathological platelet activity. (source: Nutrition and Cancer, Volume 55, Issue 2 July 2006 , pages 109 - 125. Abstract is here).

IP6 - What the marketing blurb says:
A revolutionary dietary supplement that address many of the causes of the aging process and have been scientifically proven to support natural cell defence producing outstanding results in improving the health of patients with cancer and diabetes, lowering the risk of kidney stones and heart disease, and helping to ease many other health concerns.

IP6 - What the science says
One piece of research conducted by the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore concludes that IP6 is proven in the lab to have great potential, and that it should progress to full clinical trials on humans. The abstract says: Preliminary studies in humans show that IP6 and inositol, the precursor molecule of IP6, appear to enhance the anticancer effect of conventional chemotherapy, control cancer metastases, and improve quality of life. Because it is abundantly present in regular diet, efficiently absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, and safe, IP6 + inositol holds great promise in our strategies for cancer prevention and therapy. There is clearly enough evidence to justify the initiation of full-scale clinical trials in humans (another abstract can be found here).

This was back in 2003. Then in November 2007, the same Maryland researchers said at the American Association for Cancer Research Centennial Conference on Translational Cancer Medicine that:

- IP6 has broad-spectrum anti-tumour capabilities.
- Studies confirm that IP6 protects against some DNA-damaging effects of radiation (so you could potentially take it to protect yourself against nuclear waste, I suppose).
This would potentially mean that:IP6 may work well for some forms of cancer, and provide a double-whammy if the patient is also undergoing radiation therapy, because of its protection against radiation.
(more details about the conclusions in the conference are here. The researcher is also flogging his book on the matter here).

A study at the School of Pharmacy and University of Colorado Cancer Centre concluded that IP6 suppresses hormone-refractory Prostate Cancer Growth, accompanied by inhibition of tumour cell proliferation and angiogenesis and increased apoptosis. (source).

A study at the University of Vermont College of Medicine concluded that “Treatment of pancreatic cancer with the common dietary polyphosphorylated carbohydrate IP6 significantly decreased cellular growth and increased apoptosis. Our findings suggest that IP6 has the potential to become an effective adjunct for pancreatic cancer treatment.” (source)

IP6 and HIV A study at the Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Japan, concluded that “it is known that polysulfates have some anti-HIV-1 activity. We investigated the anti-HIV-1 activity of myo-inositol hexaphosphoric acid (IP6) and myo-inositol hexasulfate(IS6), low molecular weight carbohydrates. IP6 and IS6 inhibited the replication of HIV-1 in a T cell line as well as that of a freshly isolated strain in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Neither substance inhibited HIV-1-induced giant cell formation, but addition of IS6 when infecting cells with HIV-1 inhibited the replication of HIV-1. Neither substance inhibited HIV-1 reverse transcriptase activity in vitro and no influence on late stage replication was noted. Although the mechanisms of IP6 and IS6 action remain unclear, it can be speculated that they act on HIV-1 early replicative stage. Although it is not possible to develop IP6 and IS6 themselves as anti-AIDS drugs, studies of these anti-HIV agents might be expected to provide seed for eventual production of superior drugs for AIDS treatment.” (source)
Important note: the above does not indicate that taking IP6 is beneficial for people with HIV. Only that it has some potential for research longer term.

There is also another piece of research from Japan that suggests that IP6 may have some beneficial effects in the prevention of fatty liver (source).

So what does all the above mean?
My reading of it is that IP6 research is promising, but we have to bear in mind that it was conducted in the lab, mostly on mice (and other times on rats).

However, unlike with controlled substances, IP6 is available without a prescription, so if you decided to give it a go, you very well could. The literature around it suggests that it is generally safe, and if I had cancer, I’d probably try it - what the heck.

If I find anything else about IP6 research over the next few days, I will add it to this article.

So you read ALL this and decided to order some IP6?
I deliberately didn’t put an ad for IP6 on this page, for obvious reasons. If you want to check prices and read more from the distributers - go here.

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