Common Names
- Deutrosulfazyme
For Patients & Caregivers
Tell your healthcare providers about any dietary supplements you’re taking, such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, and natural or home remedies. This will help them manage your care and keep you safe.
What is it?
Cellfood has not been shown to treat or cure cancer.
Cellfood is a line of dietary supplements sold over the internet and in health food stores. Promoters claim that it contains minerals, enzymes, amino acids, and dissolved oxygen, which hyperoxygenates the body.
Lab studies suggest that Cellfood has antioxidant effects, and causes some cancer cells to die, but these effects have not been shown in humans. In addition, supplements with antioxidant properties are not recommended during chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
What are the potential uses and benefits?
There is no scientific evidence to support use of Cellfood for the following uses:
- To prevent or treat cancer
- To enhance athletic performance
For Healthcare Professionals
Brand Name
Clinical Summary
Cellfood is a line of dietary supplements and topical preparation manufactured by NuScience Corporation. The original formula contained colloidal minerals, amino acids, enzymes and dissolved oxygen. It is marketed as a free radical scavenger to help detoxify the body and to enhance athletic performance. Cellfood is also promoted to cancer patients based on the theory that cancer and degenerative diseases are caused by oxygen deficiency at the cellular level.
In vitro studies suggest that Cellfood has antioxidant (2) (3) and antiproliferative effects (4) (5). Small studies indicate it may alleviate symptoms of fibromyalgia (6). When combined with chelation treatment, cellfood improved oxidative status and homocysteine metabolism in patients with neurodegenerative diseases (7) and aluminum intoxication (8).
Cellfood has not been studied in cancer patients. In addition, supplements with antioxidant properties are not recommended during chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Purported Uses and Benefits
- Athletic performance
- Cancer
Mechanism of Action
Cellfood demonstrated antioxidant effects in vitro (2) (3) and proapoptotic effects in human mesothelioma and colon cancer cells, which correlated with increased expression of tumor suppressor genes p53, p21, and p27; downregulation of c-myc and Bcl-2 oncogenes; and inhibition of antiapoptotic protein kinase, Akt (4). Cellfood also showed antiproliferative effects in leukemia cells by inducing apoptosis and by altering the metabolism of cancerous cells through regulating the hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha and glucose transporter 1 (5).
Herb-Drug Interactions
Theoretically, antioxidants can decrease the efficacy of certain chemotherapy drugs that rely on the generation of free radicals for their cytotoxic effects.