Why special diets are recommended to treat cancer

[Radu]

3 weeks ago i gave up sugar, as a first major step in a better future.

Unfortunately i haven't managed to lose weight [i blame it on other factors] but i have seen some changes :

- my kneecaps don't hurt anymore ... before i had major problems, and they were not as much weight related, since it has remained the same

- i sleep less [it is a good thing]

- better digestion

- more energy

- major improvement in immune system

- improvement in my paradontosis situation [long story, i have it in my genes and need to get an operation done]

 

What i did was to remove soda from my life, 2.5 L / day was what i was drinking [mostly Pepsi], which is about 300g of sugar [caramel sugar].

I also removed most bread, and gave up on fried stuff.

 

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In the case of cancer, my uncle developed pancreatic cancer, beat it through chemo, and went on a diet.

He lived well for another 15 yrs or so, but he worked himself to death so he ended up dying from that.

 

You could say that cancer has a major genetic background, but it also has a dietary background.

If it doesn't, then why do ppl who eat onions [or others from it's family] end up with less chances to develop it.

Why do ppl who live in Italy live longer and look better ?

Why are the Japanese generally fitter and slimmer ?

Edited October 25, 2014 by Radu

[OwMyEyeball]

You know why friends and family of a cancer patient recommend one of those special diets they read about online that claim to reverse cancer? Like alkaline or Gearson therapy or restricting sugar intake because they read that sugar feeds cancer.

 

Friends and family mean well but I think sometimes the reason they recommend those diets is because they are not ready to accept the likelihood that their loved one has an incurable condition. Understandable. I do not judge them for that. I mean if you or I had a best friend or close loved one or significant other who had cancer we may react the same way and be in denial for a time and we won't even be willing to think about the possibility that they are going to die in a matter of months from the cancer.

 

However when a patient is an advanced stage of cancer the top priority becomes keeping them as comfortable as possible. Part of that comfort involves giving them whatever they want to eat or drink or smoke. Even cancer doctors will tell a patient's loved ones to just give them whatever they want to eat or drink or smoke. Providing their favorite foods is an important part of the comfort care process.

 

Besides with advanced illness patients are losing weight without trying anyway and therefore it shouldn't matter what they are eating and the diet should be as permissive as possible.

 

Who wants to spend their last days on earth eating a raw green leafy diet in a last ditch attempt to detox the body of cancer cells? I wouldn't. It is much better to make sure patients enjoy whatever is left of their time. Priorities are different for them than healthy people who are presumed to live out a normal lifespan.

 

I saw an interview with Patrick Swayze. He was interviewed by Barbra Walters. He had pancreatic cancer. She asked him why he hasn't quit smoking. I liked his answer. He said that his cancer was too far advanced that he knew realistically stopping smoking at that stage is probably not going to make a bit of difference. So he told her that until it looks like he is going to live more than 5 minutes that he might as well enjoy his cigarettes. Quitting smoking he said is not a high priority at such an advanced stage.

 

I mean it is fine for friends and family to be in denial about what is happening to their loved one to a certain extent but there does come a point when that denial can be more harmful than helpful to a cancer patient who needs comfort more than anything else. It is okay if the patient does not feel like fighting anymore and they want to let go. We are all going to die anyway but we go to great lengths to delay the inevitable.

 

All cancers are incurable?

[Radu]

I'm really trying to see where he said that all cancers are incurable.

[Darren2013]

All cancers are incurable?

 

I never said all cancers are incurable. I said that sometimes in the cases where cancers cannot be cured close relatives and friends and significant others have a hard time accepting that their loved one cannot be cured. Denial is a normal part of human nature when it comes to grieving for an impending loss or a loss that has already occurred. This shouldn't surprise us. If people go into denial for a time when they lose a loved one to sudden death then how much more common is it for folks to go into denial when someone is slowly dying of a terminal cancer especially when they still look good on the outside. Patrick Swayze still looked good at the time he did that interview while he had advanced cancer. I am sure his wife probably went through a denial period at some point during this whole ordeal.

 

People don't want to talk about death and that's understandable. It is understandable that some patients will just get up and walk right out of a doctor's office after the doctor tells them they got stage 4 cancer with 6 months to live and they walk out pretending they did not hear that kind of information.

 

And some denial can be helpful to keep a person sane but there does come a point where it can be harmful if it interferes with doing what will keep dying patients comfortable.

[Darren2013]

I will go on record by saying that if I had a friend or loved one who has terminal cancer that is likely to take their life in less than a year it would be my pleasure to go to the grocery store and buy all their favorite foods and go to their house and stock up their freezer with ice cream, candy bars, cookies, cupcakes, frozen pizzas, steaks, barbecue ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers, etc anything they want.

 

Dr. Darren has prescribed a liberalized diet and there's more where that food came from. Here's my card. If you need anything else give me a call. If the natural cures people had their way they would revoke my medical license and fire me.