Fighting Cancer with Nutrition

We have known for more than a century that people who eat a diet consisting mostly of fruits and vegetables have a cancer rate much lower than those consuming few of these healthy foods. Only recently have we begun to understand the scientific basis of this protection, however. New techniques for measuring biochemical events on a molecular level have allowed us to map out the many ways the components of fruits and vegetables inhibit cancer formation.

Even more exciting is the discovery that many of the chemicals found in edible plants can turn precancerous into normal cells, meaning that food components may, in the future, indeed be used to reverse cancer itself. In addition, these same plant chemicals can reduce the complications associated with the conventional cancer treatments and enhance, sometimes dramatically, the effectiveness of these treatments.

NUTRITION IN CANCER PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

The ability of nutrition to prevent the occurrence of cancer is now beyond dispute. In a paper appearing in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Dr. K. A. Steinmetz and his coworkers found by reviewing 206 of the best human cancer surveys and 22 animal studies that of all the dietary factors considered in relation to reducing cancer development, at all of its stages, the most important was the intake of fruits and vegetables.

In fact, over all, the cancer rates were reduced 50 percent in the people who ate the most fruits and vegetables, with the greatest reduction being in cancers of the esophagus, oral cavity, larynx, pancreas, stomach, colon, rectum, bladder, cervix, ovary, endometrium, and breast. Even better protection was seen with some types of cancer.

The greatest fall in cancer rates in humans has been with cancer of the stomach, attributed almost solely to a higher intake of vitamin C — containing foods. To better appreciate the power of phytochemicals in foods in preventing cancer, let us look at a study done in Japan. It was found that people eating the most yellow-green vegetables had a stomach cancer incidence 65 percent lower than those eating significantly fewer of these vegetables. If that is not impressive enough, another study found that persons eating citrus fruits just twice a month or less had a sixteen-times higher risk of developing stomach cancer than those eating fruits at least once a week or more.

Today we hear a lot about cancer of the pancreas. It took the lives of President Jimmy Carter's sister and actor Michael Landon, as well as of 28,200 people in the year 2000 alone. Pancreatic cancer has a mortality rate of more than 90 percent. Yet, its occurrence appears to be strongly related to our diet. In one study, it was found that people who ate no vegetables had a fourfold higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer than those who ate five or more servings of vegetables. Reducing the pancreatic cancer risk depended mostly on eating vegetables and fruits high in beta-carotene and especially lycopene, the red pigment in tomatoes, pink grapefruit, and watermelon.

This same red pigment appears to play a leading role in preventing prostate cancer, with the risk being lowered 35 to 45 percent in those eating a lot of such fruits and vegetables. Vitamin E, especially when combined with selenium, also dramatically reduces the risk of this cancer.

While we are learning more about how these nutrients inhibit cancer, something even more exciting is occurring in the world of science. We are now finding that the very same nutrients can be used to inhibit the growth, invasion, and metastasis of cancers that already exist, and that when we combine these nutrients with conventional cancer treatments, such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy, the conventional therapies work significantly better. If that were not enough, an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients can protect patients from the harmful side effects of these conventional treatments.

Numerous anticancer components are found in foods. A partial list includes:

• Allicin

• Antiestrogens and antiprogestins

• Carotenoids, folate, niacinamide, and vitamins A, D, K, and B

• Coenzyme Q

• Ellagic acid

• Fiber

• Flavonoids (some 5,000 have now been identified)

• Glucosinolates

• Glutathione

• Glycolipids and glycoproteins

• Immune-enhancing polysaccharides

• Indole-3-carbinol

• Isothiocyanates

• Magnesium

• Phytates

• Protease inhibitors

• Saponins

• Selenium (principally in an organic form)

• Sterols and sterolins (plant steroids)

• Sulphoraphanes

• Zinc

Most patients dread the effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments as much as, and sometimes more than, their cancer. This is especially so for patients who already have had to go through several rounds of chemotherapy treatments. Today, it is not uncommon for cancer patients to undergo such treatments for as long as a year. Overwhelming fatigue, nausea and/or vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and severe bone marrow depression can make life seem hopeless and, for many, hardly worth living.

To be physically ill every day for months is very difficult. Yet my experience, confirmed now by many studies, has shown that patients do not have to suffer to receive benefit from the conventional treatments. The vast majority of the complications and side effects of the conventional treatments can be avoided by using simple nutritional methods.

While I do recommend many special supplements, the central and most important part of the treatment program is diet. As you shall see throughout this book, diet can mean the difference between success and failure. Many of the phytonutrients I will discuss are not available as separate nutrients, but are obtained by eating selected fruits and vegetables. By combining the two — special supplements and diet — you can supply your body with a very powerful brew of cancer-fighting nutrients.

I always tell my patients that if they try to depend on supplements alone and not change their diet, they will ultimately fail. It is estimated that as many as 70 percent of all cancers are related to the diet. To continue eating the same foods that led to your cancer in the first place is to travel down the road to disaster because, as you shall see, foods often contain extremely powerful cancer-causing and -promoting substances as well. The typical Western diet — high in red meats, bad fats, food additives, and carbohydrates — is a perfect cancer brew. Below we can see the effects that different dietary excesses can have on prostate...