Plant based diet and cancer prevention/treatment

[kayell]

I recently read The China Study and Eat to Live and switched to a very high vegetable/fruit diet (in the interests of weight control and disease prevention). Since then, my father has been diagnosed with cancer and had as much of the tumor as possible (it was a bleeding type) removed. He will start radiation therapy next week, with the focus area at the top back of his sinuses, against his optic nerve, close to his pituatary gland (but not actually in the brain).

He has been reading the books above on my rec. for his diabetes and weight control. Both are very relevant also to cancer. He is committed to a completely plant based diet.

Does anyone here know what considerations to take into account for a cancer patient on this kind of diet, or good places for info? All the standard American Cancer Society type recs (during cancer treatment) seem to assume someone eating essentially an Atkins type high fat, high animal protein, low veg and fruit diet.

[Stevepol]

1. Dean Ornish and Lorraine Day are two people to check up on.

Ornish has a diet that has been shown to reduce blockage of arteries in the heart, reducing the problems caused by cholesterol, etc. He also claims that his diet helps in other diseases. Lorraine Day I've seen a couple times on ITV (Inspirational TV I think) hawking her book about natural methods to cure cancer. She recommends an all-vegetarian diet and claims that it can cure any cancer unless it's too far advanced. She had a huge tumor removed from her breast that had metastasized and was told she had to have radiation and chemo. But since she herself was a doctor in SF and knew that these methods can actually cause cancer and have enormous side-effects, she used a self-cure. Might look into it.

[tanyev]

2. Former junk bond trader Mike Milken

claims to have beaten cancer largely by making radical changes in his diet. He has a couple books listed on Amazon.com.

[slor]

3. I cannot help...

you with the info you requested. But I would like to say thank you for revealing those books to me in your post, I will be reading them soon. Thanks!

[FloridaPat]

4. The macrobiotic diet helps people with all sorts of problems.

I met people whose cancer disappeared when they went on the diet. I also met people who it didn't help.

This is not an easy diet to be on. I had access to a macrobiotic restaurant when I went on it. Lost about 100 pounds without trying. Wish I had that restaurant back.

[DARE to HOPE]

5. Dr. Joseph Mercola is a good place to start...

Go to www.mercola.com.

The research has been changing about fats. Turns out that corn and soy oil promote cancer, coconut oil prevents it.

Also, sugar promotes cancer growth, and his diabetes means that there is a lot of sugar floating in his bloodstream. The good news is there are herbs (see TropicalTraditions.com for diabetes controlling herbs as well as wonderful coconut oil) that keep diabetes in check, AND the BEST substitute for sugar that I have found is a natural substance called xylitol. Looks and cooks like sugar, but cleans your teeth and fights bacteria and viruses.

And YES, high levels of vegetables and fruits are healing (he should watch the glycemic index.) Add bits of SAFE fish and grassfed beef, free range eggs and chicken. Turns out that digestible protein is important in fighting cancer--look into whey and fermented soy or dairy as solutions.

Juicing can be a way to add in a lot of the produce (organic, of course.) But it can also play havoc with the sugar levels, so be careful. I put a lot of vegetables into soups, stews, pasta sauces--onion, garlic, ginger are the Chinese recipe for healing. Brown rice is a very cleansing grain--they make pasta and crackers from it. Also the heavy rye crackers are a good grain. Stay away from wheat and the high glycemic grains.

Omega-3 fatty acids as well as the medium chain saturated fatty acids of coconut oil are key to fighting cancer. With the coconut oil, you can add the can of sardines into pasta sauce or grassfed beef into chili with black beans--the smaller beans have more fiber, and fiber pulls the toxins out of the body. Change over to clean food, add vitamins, A,B,C et al, selenium, plus there are a lot of immune boosters out there from pycogenol to oregano oil.

Just read your post again, and you say he is going to have radiation up near the optic nerve and the pituitary gland? Radiation kills, you know. Yes, it kills the bad cells. But I have seen parishioners in my husband's parish go through this, and the radiation is often worse than the cancer. Could he get his doctor to postpone that for a month or two, and see what nutrition will do? You know, if you read what the doctors are saying, they admit that the days of "slash and burn" are coming to an end.

On the other hand, it is your father's life, and it is not so easy to change your diet. Be sure to look into greens like chlorella, spirulina, wheat and barley grass, to leach out the radiation.

God lead you both.

[HuckleB]

6. This is a must have resource, IMHO.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/hhp/index.jsp

Walter Willett's "Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy" is a great place to start. This stuff is invaluable, and it's based on the most sound evidence around. It takes everything into context, holistically. I've not seen nutrition advice this holistic, this sound anywhere else.

[Stepup2]

7. Here a two sites

The first site is maintained by a registered dietitian and a cancer survivor. Both sites have recipces and up-to-date research on the links between plant based diet and cancer surivorship. Good luck to your dad.


http://www.dianadyermsrd.com/

http://web.cancernutritioninfo.com/main.cfm?id=1

This is a link to Sloan Kettering's web site on herbs and botanicals used in healing.

http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11570.cfm

[Warpy]

8. Don't stop your chemo and radiation

in favor of a diet. However, diet can be an adjunct to these things.

Some folks are genetically predisposed to cancer. Diet won't trump genetics, but a high fibre diet may delay the onset of colorectal cancer and a high fibre, low fat diet may delay the onset of breast cancer.

The same goes for heart disease. If somebody in your family died young from heart disease, don't smoke! Forgo those trans fatty acids in convenience foods and commercially baked products. Boost your fibre and lower that fat, and you may delay the onset.

The American Cancer Society assumes (usually rightly) that their patients are on the standard American diet of large amounts of animal protein, hidden sugars, and loads of fat in snack foods. Eating a healthier diet can improve your chances of survival, and they're right about that. However, it can't be substituted for treatment.

[Stepup2]

9. Hi Warpy

It is good advice not to stop conventional treatments and it is also good advice to talk with your oncologist if using supplments of any kind; some interfere with chemo's effectiveness.

I wanted to say that in the case of breast cancer less than 5% of cases are actually "caused" by inhereited genes. Cancer does start when DNA is damaged, but this is not a one-to-one pathway.

I only mention this because they is so much misinformation about breast cancer and genetics out there and people I've met often think "well cancer is genetic so I am not going to do any thing to help protect my health"

Breast/prostate cancers are far more likely to get their start due to exposures to environmental toxins. imo

links below to a few sites on the relationship between environment and cancer

http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/SearchablePages/2005Newsletters/Newsletter085C.html

http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/oc/news/4brcent.htm


http://www.bcerc.org/

[OzarkDem]

11. Agree

Consult with your oncologist about your diet. They can give you good guidance in this area.

BTW, American Cancer Society's advice on diet and cancer isn't the greatest, nor does it reflect the latest scientific research. Their focus in recent years has shifted from a comprehensive approach to cancer control to prevention only (its more profitable). They tend to ignore most of the research these days that doesn't support their agenda when it comes to diet.

[yo-yo-ma]

10. if on chemo/radiation

your father will need a greater caloric intake than before. He will also, at times, be nauseous and not feel like eating.

For this reason, cancer patients usually have diets supplemented with high calorie (and high protein) liquids such as ensure.

My personal opinion is that this is not the time to experiment with new diets. He will need alot of energy and, although a vegan diet can supply it, it takes a while to get used to (different cooking etc.) and you already have large changes in your life. The worst thing would be if the vegan diet (an unproven cancer treatment) compromised his current medical care (a "proven" albeit somewhat barbaric treatments).

Vegan diet as "prevention", however, is a great idea (I am vegan).

I am sorry - good luck balancing the new changes.

[OzarkDem]

12. Veggie diet doesn't prevent all cancers

Its healthy and recommended, but we need to follow scientific evidence for cancer prevention. For many cancers, lifestyle factors are irrelevant for prevention.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050111164409.htm