Can you really fight cancer with a certain diet?

[Darren2013]

I'm a little skeptical. We have more control over the management of heart disease and diabetes through what we include or do not include in our diet. But when it comes to cancer we don't really have that much control on preventing it or reversing it through diet and exercise. It is a much more complex disease.

 

I mean when I was first diagnosed with lymphoma I asked my specialist what causes it and did it have something to do with my diet and he said no. Which means even if I was a strict vegetarian eating lots of greens I probably still would have gotten sick.

 

So do you think cancer can be reversed through a certain diet?

[Emilia]

So do you think cancer can be reversed through a certain diet?

 

No. I hear about these things but it's dangerous nonsense. Cancer is malignant cell growth in the body. You can't stop or reverse that by eating more vegetables.

[CarrieT]

Nope.

 

Look at Steve Jobs who essentially died unnecessarily. From a Gawker article:

 

According to a 2008 Fortune article, Jobs for nine months pursued "alternative methods to treat his pancreatic cancer, hoping to avoid [an] operation through a special diet." The Buddhist vegetarian took this approach from the time he was diagnosed in October 2003 until at least the end of July 2004, when he underwent surgery at Stanford University Medical Center.

 

The condition might have been nipped in the bud if Jobs had acted right away. Jobs's cancer manifest in neuroendocrine tumors, which are typically far less lethal than the "pancreatic adenocarcinoma" that make up 95 percent of pancreatic cancer cases. Amri said neuroendocrine tumors are so "mild" that...

[Els]

If you could, do you think anyone would genuinely still be suffering from cancer?

 

Some foods have been hypothesized to increase the risk of certain types of cancer (the chemical compounds found in grilled red meats, etc). But once you have it, no food is going to stop it.

 

It's just a marketing ploy using the lowest of low tactics - preying on people and their families when they're already grieving and scared and desperate for hope. No different from any other scammer.

[Darren2013]

If you could, do you think anyone would genuinely still be suffering from cancer?

 

Some foods have been hypothesized to increase the risk of certain types of cancer (the chemical compounds found in grilled red meats, etc). But once you have it, no food is going to stop it.

 

It's just a marketing ploy using the lowest of low tactics - preying on people and their families when they're already grieving and scared and desperate for hope. No different from any other scammer.

 

That's what I suspected.

[dichotomy]

Reverse, once you have it, no.

 

However during treatment, a good healthy diet, mild, with good nutrients such as proteins and vitamins, can (in my experience) aid in "feeling better" and coping with stress on body and mind - as does a little exercise, mediation and therapy. Stress reduction in any form on the body has been shown to aid recovery and limit side affects and side illness.

 

Now prevention is another thing - some different types of cancers and suspected causes or increased risks have been attributed to diet or lifestyle/environmental factors. Still other cancers have no know associations or risks from how you live.

[PogoStick]

I agree, you can reduce cancer risk through a health diet, but it cannot cure cancer once it's taken hold.

 

Also note, high amounts of antioxidants during treatment may give protection to the cancer cells from chemo and radiation therapy.

[carhill]

I've got a female friend getting brutalized by chemo right now and IMO a healthy diet, and exercise, is helpful to the body when going through such treatments. Fight cancer with diet alone? Color me skeptical. However, since cancer treatment is constantly evolving, I don't discount natural 'chemo' being a part of cancer treatments in our future. We're always discovering human uses for, and benefits from, parts of the natural world.

[amaysngrace]

Also note, high amounts of antioxidants during treatment may give protection to the cancer cells from chemo and radiation therapy.

 

This is exactly what I read.

 

Avoid these vitamins while undergoing treatment.

[Robert Z]

There is some evidence suggesting that ketogenic diets can actually cure cancer. But this is all very early in the game.

 

Apparently ketones are toxic to tumors. Additionally, cancers need glucose to grow and insulin to spread, both of which are limited in ketogenic diets. But ketosis can kill you too. So it's tricky stuff. And a lot of papers on this are just now coming out with mixed results.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Robert Z

[lollipopspot]

Research seems to show that a predominantly whole foods, plant based diet can lower your risk of cancer. It doesn't mean you won't get it, but it can decrease your chances.

 

In terms of fighting cancer, probably hold to the same advice, in order to give your immune system the best chance to fight.

[Els]

But ketosis can kill you too.

 

Yes, that is exactly the same as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Same principle - it's how all cancer-killing agents work.

 

What is really needed is not a 'natural' way of doing the exact same thing, but rather a way to target cancer cells specifically. There has been some research into that, but with limited results so far.

[Robert Z]

Yes, that is exactly the same as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Same principle - it's how all cancer-killing agents work.

 

What is really needed is not a 'natural' way of doing the exact same thing, but rather a way to target cancer cells specifically. There has been some research into that, but with limited results so far.

 

 

A bit of irony, ketosis may be the "natural" metabolic state for humans. It would seem to be so given the diet of early humans - pre agriculture.

[Candy_Pants]

My ex's mother claims to have cured her breast cancer by going vegan. She was on her death bed and ten years later is healthy as an ox...

 

She also began smoking marijuana which has shown promise in treating/reversing cancer.

[Anela]

I think it's possible. My cousin didn't survive, but that was after she'd initially gone the conventional route in 2010, and it almost killed her. The cancer returned the following year, but she wasn't always willing to take her supplements.

 

She said that the cottage cheese and flax oil mixture took away her pain, when she ate all of it.

[Robert Z]

She also began smoking marijuana which has shown promise in treating/reversing cancer.

 

 

Yes! Sanjay Gupta reported on this in his documentary on CNN. The same medical institute in Israel that identified the THC molecule is the primary source of this claim.

[Candy_Pants]

Yes! Sanjay Gupta reported on this in his documentary on CNN. The same medical institute in Israel that identified the THC molecule is the primary source of this claim.

 

Marijuana was just named the most medicinal plant in the world .

 

Why oh why is it illegal in so many places if its benefits are so incredible...?

[lollipopspot]

A bit of irony, ketosis may be the "natural" metabolic state for humans. It would seem to be so given the diet of early humans - pre agriculture.

 

Debatable

Human Ancestors Were Nearly All Vegetarians | Guest Blog, Scientific American Blog Network

[Robert Z]

Marijuana was just named the most medicinal plant in the world .

 

Why oh why is it illegal in so many places if its benefits are so incredible...?

 

 

Stupidity, deception and propaganda, exploitation, politics, and money. There is nothing new under the sun!

 

 

WHO [The World Health Organization] just called for the decriminalization of all drugs.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Robert Z