When I was diagnosed with cancer, I had no knowledge of preventative medicine or alternative medicine.  That fact didn’t change through both of my treatments.  Until I had a third scare—that is when I started learning more about the value of nutrition in fighting cancer and preventing cancer. 

I didn’t think it was possible to cure cancer without chemotherapy, but after meeting a woman that cured her stage IV breast cancer through nutrition, I began to believe.  It’s tricky because no two people will have the same experience when fighting cancer—what works with one patient doesn’t always with the next. 

What should a cancer patient do?  My answer to that question is to use everything Western medicine has to offer, but get a heavy dose of nutrition education.  If Western treatment fails, alternative therapy is what’s left over—and all cancer patients should be prepared.  I wasn’t, but I’m learning more everyday. 

One website that I am particularly interested in as of lately is http://www.crazysexycancer.com  Kris Carr was diagnosed with cancer in 2003, I believe.  There is a great video on Youtube that documents the beginning of her journey (I'll post video below if interested) WARNING--some bad language.  She also has a blog that's quite entertaining to read--she's the real deal.  She’s since written two books, which I haven’t read, but I am planning to pick up a copy of one or both today.  She has taken on a vegan approach to fight cancer, and it is working for her an others.  Are there natural cures found in nutrition?  I believe that there are—and probably only because I’ve met people that have cured their cancer this way. 

Prevention should be everyone’s first line of defense.  There are so many little things that you can do to buy a little insurance.  There are certainly some supplements that have gained a lot of attention in the medical community, including green tea, turmeric, flax seed, reservatrol, CoQ10, maitake mushrooms, and ginger—among others…  I list these because they are the ones I consistently read about in animal studies and even human trials.  There have been no emphatic results; Blank cures cancer.  But there is anecdotal evidence to support all as preventative in nature. 

Today, let’s talk about ginger.  Ginger has been shown to kill cancer cells—in the lab—in ovarian and colorectal cancer.  There is a lot of literature on the net about both, as well as anecdotal evidence from cancer survivors.  Why is ginger effective?   The component in ginger called gingerol seems to be most interesting to researchers and cancer patients--recent studies show that ginger root and components gingerols and zerumbone, have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic activity.  I’m not a scientist, so I’m not going to even try and discuss the particulars, but if you’re interested, you can find scientific abstracts online.   Bottom line, researchers are looking at ginger as a preventative therapy for cancers as well potentially for treatment.  Ginger is probably most known for its anti nausea properties.

Yummy Almonds! What is it about almonds that’s so great? Almonds contain nutrients that improve complexion, support cardiovascular system health, and work to prevent cancer.  It’s true, just one ounce of almonds contains over 1/3 of your suggested daily intake of the antioxidant vitamin E. They also contain magnesium, calcium, potassium, dietary fiber, as well as important flavonoids, including quercetin and kaempferol. 

Almonds have also been shown to help with weight control and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.  Just recently I made the switch from peanut butter to almond butter—Love it, and it’s great for my health, too.

I don’t know about you, but I love anything sweet.  I’m always looking for foods that I can add to my cancer fighting arsenal that taste good!  Cherries, so it seems, fit the bill.  According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, cherries are made up of many substances that help to fight cancer, among other diseases.  What makes cherries a great weapon?  Perillyl alcohol, which binds protein molecules to hamper the growth signals that trigger tumor development…  They also have anthocyanins, which acts as a powerful antioxidant. Additionally, perillyl alcohol may be beneficial in causing tumor regression. 

Don’t remove the skin—this is where many of cherry’s protective substances are contained.   Could it get any better?  Cherries are also a good source of beta carotene--a precursor to vitamin A. They are a source for vitamin C and E, potassium, and iron as well.  You can eat them fresh during their peak season, or frozen, canned, or juiced.

A recent study measured cherries' effects in 48 rats predisposed to insulin resistance and weight gain, of which half were obese and half were lean. What did they find?  Both skinny and fat rats gained less than those rats that weren’t fed cherries.  The lucky cherry-fed rast had lower levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and inflammation—giving them more heart-healthy benefit. 

Humans can benefit as well.  Regular consumption of darkly pigmented fruits such as cherries is associated with a host of benefits, including a healthier heart.  If you’d like more commentary cherries—start with  Cherry Health Benefits: A Bright Future

There might be more arsenic in your diet than you realize. Arsenic in your rice?  Yup.  If you hadn’t heard, small amounts of arsenic are commonly found in rice—particularly flooded rice which accumulates more arsenic than rice grown under aerobic conditions…  Where does the arsenic come from? The water—it is present in drinking water from around the world including in Australia, the US, India, and many other countries.  The problem is that arsenic is carcinogenic: It is linked to cancer and other diseases as well.  When there is arsenic in the groundwater, the water is taken up by the rice plants in the flooded paddies. 

A recent study published in Environmental Science & Technology compared the arsenic levels between flooded rice, most commonly occurring in Southern countries, with aerobic rice planting… What did they find?  Over 10 times  higher levels of arsenic in flooded paddies…  Kinda scary if you ask me.  I checked out the rice I had in my cupboard—a specialty rice that was not made in the US, but in Thailand.  I wonder how much arsenic I’ve been feeding to my daughter… 

Researchers have found that “rice from the United States largely contains organic arsenic, which is less easily absorbed into the body and excreted more rapidly than inorganic arsenic.”   Encouraging, but up till now I haven’t been reading the labels on the rice I buy.   (If you read your labels, look past where the rice was distributed from—if it is distributed from a US company, it still may be grown elsewhere…) Source: Arsenic in Rice: II. Arseni Speciation in USA Grain and Implications for Human heath.  Evironmental Science and Technology.  May 15, 2008.

Want another shocker?  Commercial rice milk also contains arsenic.  Yup, up to three times higher than EU and US water standards, say researchers in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Journal of Environmental Monitoring.

“Researchers from the University of Aberdeen, UK, bought different brands and varieties of rice milk, including organic, non-organic and flavored, from local supermarkets. They showed that of four brands of commercial rice milk tested, all exceeded the EU total arsenic standard of 10 µg l-1 - some by as much as three times. Eighty per cent of samples also failed to meet the US standard of 10 µg l-1 inorganic arsenic.” Source: http://www.rsc.org/AboutUs/News/PressReleases/2008/ArsenicMilk.asp 

If you’re drinking rice milk, you could be exposing yourself to chronic arsenic exposure—scary! 

Additonal Sources:
Environmental Science and Technology, DOI: 10.1021/es702212p
Environmental Science and Technology (DOI: 10.1021/es801238p)

Momma always said, “Eat your vegetables.”  But the vegetables that you choose to eat can have more or less cancer fighting potential, relatively speaking.  Which vegetables should we be eating more of?  Cruciferous and dark green veggies show the highest cancer fighting potential, along with veggies from the Allium genus, like garlic--according to a new study in “Food Chemistry.”  

In this study, researchers measured how extracts from 34 vegetables might fight 8 tumor cell lines—in the lab, not in humans… The results proved the importance of eating your cruciferous, dark greens and veggies from the Allium genus in all cancer cell lines tested: breast, stomach, pancreas, prostate, brain, lung, kidney, and skin. 

What are some of the most important vegetables to eat?  Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, and garlic.  What were some of the vegetables with less cancer fighting potential according to this study?  Carrots, tomatoes, lettuce and potatoes.  Hmmm…  But don’t stop eating your carrots and tomatoes just yet—they do have important protective nutritional value—the key here, and what the research suggests is that we need to eat a healthy balance of vegetables to get the most health benefits. 

What is the chemical that gives you a burning sensation when you eat jalapeños, habaneros, and other peppers? It’s called capsaicin, and this chemical compound can potentially kill cancer cells by directly targeting its energy source.

By eating a diet rich in capsaicin, you could be preventing cancer.  Capsaicin is believed to trigger apoptosis, natural cell death, without affecting the healthy cells surrounding the cancer cells.

Because capsaicin is naturally occurring in peppers, it is safe to eat—that is if you can take the heat!   

There is evidence that cancer has been around for thousands of years, but over the last several decades, the number of cancer cases and deaths continues to increase…  Over 1500 people die from cancer everyday. Why is this happening?  Isn’t the medical community making advances? 

The answer is yes. Certainly, there have been advances made, particularly in extending the time that one can survive with cancer, but chemotherapies are still sometimes a shot in the dark.  I learned that when I was being treated with chemotherapy that there was about a 50 percent likelihood that the chemo would actually kill the cancer cells left behind in my body.  That’s 50 percent likelihood that the chemo wouldn’t work.  And there are side effects to chemotherapy, like heart failure and leukemia.  No guarantees, and yet what is a cancer patient to do? 

Better yet, what can you do to protect yourself from getting cancer in the first place?  1 in 8 women with breast cancer—1 in 3 men with prostate issues… Hello?  It seems that drug companies are finding success in extending progression free survival rates, but they are not curing cancer.  What’s the answer?  Nutrition.  Nutrition is your insurance against this awful disease—cancer is an immune system problem, and there are essential nutrients that you need to protect yourself.  But how do you know where to start, and what are the best nutritional choices for you?  There is no easy answer, but you must do something. 

Make sure you are introducing a fair amount of super foods into your diet.  Super foods are getting more press, as they should.  These foods provide natural protection as they are filled with essential nutrients that help you build your immune system.  What are some of these super foods?  Blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, garlic, mushrooms, beans, broccoli, and spinach to name a few.

Super food for the day?  Cranberries.  You can pick up frozen cranberries from your local grocer and use them in blended drinks.  Dried cranberries or cranberry juice are also easy to find at your supermarket.  And you can even buy cranberries as a supplement. 

“Cranberries contain a number of substances with antioxidant activity, including anthocyanins, flavonols, and proanthocyanidins. These substances reduce oxidative stress, decrease cellular inflammation, and protect DNA, thereby reducing risk of cellular changes that could lead to cancer initiation and progression.” (Neto CC. Cranberry and blueberry: evidence for protective effects against cancer and vascular diseases. Mol Nut Food Res. 2007;51(6):653-64.”) Source: https://www.uscranberries.com/health/research.html

Turmeric, a popular Indian curry spice, contains curcumin which is known for its anti tumor properties.  It is also known for providing other health benefits, including an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.  It may also be effective in treating cancers like cervical  and colon cancer, and has most recently gained attention in preventing cancers like breast and pancreatic.  Its anticancer effects come from its ability to induce apoptosis, suicide of cancer cells, without effect on health cells.  Another possible effect to note is its possible ability, as an anti-inflammatory agent, to inhibit onset of Alzheimer's disease. 


What's the catch?  It is hard to absorb curcumin, and when curcumin is consumed alone, it results are negligible.  But if you consume curcumin with piperine,  absorption is increased.  But there is yet another problem: There is some speculation as to whether the piperine is safe to take if you are taking other medications. 

The research on curcumin looks promising, but the jury is still out!  As with any supplement, it is wise to discuss taking curcumin with your doctor first.