Cancer and diet: what's the connection?

One in two people will be diagnosed with cancer. Two out of three will survive it. Understanding how to support your body and mind in the prevention, treatment and recovery from cancer is extremely important.

In this article I’m going to take a look at the following:

#1 Is cancer & diet related?

#2 Cancer fighting foods

#3 What is an anti cancer diet?

#4 What is the best diet when you’ve had cancer?

Cancer is one of the top 6 diseases that commonly ends life prematurely for many. Understanding the role of diet can go a long way in helping you try and minimize your chances of getting cancer as well as making sure you’ve got adequate nutritional support while undergoing cancer treatment and then beyond.

Is cancer & diet related?

There is a significant amount of research and information now indicating that diet has a significant
impact on cancer and its development.

Survival rates of those who’ve had cancer are on the rise and so there are many survivors. If you’re
one of them, it’s important that you consider how your lifestyle and dietary choices will impact
your health and longevity well into the future.

A major consideration is the microenvironment that contributes to every aspect of the development of cancer.
An article published in the Journal of Cancer in 2017, mentioned of this role of the microenvironment. Cancer develops surrounded by fluid that has different immune, endocrine, and inflammatory factors.

What you eat, when you eat and the quality of the food you consume will have a direct impact on this micro-environment.

If you want to protect against tumorigenesis (fancy word for tumor growth) and invasion of cancer cells then you might want to consider optimizing your diet in support of this.

Dietary factors account for at least 35% of all cancers!!!

Okay that sounds like a lot right? 35% of cancers linked to what you consume or don’t consume?

I would dare to say it’s actually higher than 35% but the physicians committee for responsible medicine claim many dietary and lifestyle choices lead to an increase in risk.

With certain types of cancers having an increased link to diet and nutrition, some of the key cancers linked to diet, colorectal, gall bladder, prostate, breast, endometrial and, pancreatic.

It’s helpful to think of food as a form of information, what you eat directly communicates and influences your cellular function; affecting every cell and system in your body. For many, it’s often a missing piece in their long term treatment and management of their condition.

We know that cancer is linked with inflammation in the body…Let’s take the digestive system for a moment. If you’re struggling with dysbiosis (an imbalance in your gut bacteria) this causes a localized inflammation but we know it also increases inflammation and inflammatory cytokines in distant parts of the body as well. Managing and decreasing inflammation is a key focus in reducing incidence of cancer.

An interesting paper published in 2014 presents that gut microbiome changes seem to play an important factor in determining whether the immune system contributes or protects against the initiation of cancer. Further strengthening the naturopathic philosophy that you need to heal and support the gut in most chronic diseases including cancer. If the microbiomes are imbalanced you’re leaving yourself at risk.

What are some of the things that disrupt your gut bacterial balance?

Surgery

Oral anti-biotics

Oral Steroids

Opioids- pain medications

Protein pump inhibitors- often prescribed for stomach acid

Radiotherapy of abdomen and pelvis

Oral and IV chemotherapy

Parasitic infections

Addressing your gut is important you can do this with functional foods as well as
individualized treatment plans specific for your current state.

Addressing weight is essential

So there have been numerous studies supporting that fact that obesity is a significant factor in cancer. It may account for 14% of all cancer deaths in men and 20% in women, check out this study. You will increase your chances for leading a healthy and happy life by losing the weight.

Cancer cells have a high number of insulin receptors on their surface, and insulin itself is considered a growth factor. We know that cancer cells grow and divide feeding off glucose. Managing and limiting blood glucose and insulin sensitivity is a key component of a healthy cancer prevention plan.

If this is a factor you need to address there are lots of things we can do to help you lose the weight slowly and safely.

Alcohol and cancer

Alcohol is a known human carcinogen. There is evidence indicating that the more alcohol a person drinks and the more they drink regularly over time, the higher their risk of developing an alcohol associated cancer… so what cancers are associated you ask?

Head and neck, esophageal, liver, breast and, colorectal.

You can head across to the National Cancer Institute to find out more about the links between alcohol consumption and cancer. Best to stick to one glass on very special occasions.

Naturopathic Approach For Cancer

Cancer is a scary word for many, and for the most part the focus is on having a ‘disease plan’ which is absolutely vital. It’s worth partnering this with a ‘health plan.’

What’s the difference?

In focusing on health you’re investing time and resources to help with things like:

Reducing oxidative stress

Enhancing detoxification

Modulating immune function

Controlling inflammation

Modulating hormones

and this list goes on.

The point I’m making here is that you can be a healthy person combating cancer and you can ensure you’re supporting your body via, diet, supplements, lifestyle modifications, and where indicated herbal medicines.

If you’re currently undergoing treatment it’s important that you develop a support network that are happy to communicate and work together to ensure you have the best outcomes possible.

Naturopathic medicine focuses on the individual not on the disease, your oncologists will give you the tools and direction to help combat the disease. A naturopath can support you through dietary planning, stress management and aiding in the prevention of disease.

Can a naturopath help with cancer?

Many oncologists and cancer treatment centres are seeing the value in an integrated approach, the combination of holistic medicine and conventional helps to ensure all aspects of health and wellbeing are covered.

A naturopath’s focus during your cancer treatment will be looking to use therapeutic nutrition and other modalities to support you with the following:

Reducing side effects

Enhancing benefits of chemotherapy

Reducing incidence of anemia

Prevention of malnutrition

Help to protect vital organs from toxic effects of treatment

Increase your enjoyment of food where possible

Maintaining your health post treatment

Using an evidence based individualised approach is important in order to help empower you both during and after your treatment.

Some key nutrients that are often in high demand during cancer treatment:

Protein

Calories

Fatty acids

Zinc

Selenium

B Vitamins

Magnesium

Electrolytes

Carbohydrate restriction and fasting in cancer

So we know that carbohydrate restriction and lower plasma insulin levels and insulin growth factor can help with cancer in several ways, it has been found to help:

Reduce carcinogenesis and tumorgenesis (growth of cancer cells)

Delays tumor growth

Increases tumor latency (time when it’s not active)

So as much as I love bread, pasta and pizza!! when we’re dealing with cancer both during treatment and post, this is one of the best tools we have. If cancer runs in your family as it does in mine, you might choose to reduce it as much as possible in your diet.

By intervening with a low carbohydrate diet and some time restricted eating, we limit the amount of glucose available to your cancer cells.

When you’re in a state of Ketosis, which often happens when you follow carb restriction, your bodies healthy cells can use Ketones but cancer cells struggle with this form of energy. They love that glucose to thrive and function.

By starving the cancer cells of glucose, it’s thought we stress them out and make them more susceptible to your conventional treatments like chemo. There are several studies that support this as a form of therapy during chemotherapy.

In fact most of the fasting research for cancer have been conducted around chemotherapy and it’s been found that even a simple fast of 14 hours prior to chemo can actually help make the treatment more effective.

One study on prolonged nightly fasting and breast cancer prognosis found that there was a 36% higher risk of breast cancer recurrence in those who DID NOT fast for greater than 13 hours at night. That is pretty significant data in the support of restricted eating times. To check out the full study click here.

I want to throw a little spanner in the work here….

There has been a lot of rah rah about a ketogenic diet being able to combat cancer and much of this study supporting this has been in brain cancer.

On a classic ketogenic diet your fat intake tends to be higher, and there are certain cancers that can use and even thrive on fat. Breast cancer being one of them.

This really highlights a basic point that you’ll hear me rave about time and again….

There is simply no one size fits all, the diet you follow needs to take into consideration:

Your stage in the cancer journey

Your genetics

Your individual diagnosis and prognosis

Your current state of health and ability/ support network

Please don’t be tempted to do this on your own. There is also a risk for clients who have limited muscle mass and are already frail and there is such a thing as over doing it with the calorie restriction often seen in fasting, not to mention some side effects of ketogenic diets that need to be monitored and mitigated where possible.

Under the guidance of an experienced practitioner you can monitor muscle mass and other factors to ensure you’re not putting yourself at risk of organ damage or nutrient deficiencies.

Cancer fighting foods

Okay, there are some foods that are particularly useful you want to try and include them in your diet:

Green tea

Mushrooms like Reishi and co.

Fiber in large amounts 20-35grams daily

Broccoli

Resveratrol- Berries and grapes the dark ones.

Brazil nuts for Selenium

Soybeans (non GMO)

Lot’s of Polyphenols from colorful fruits and veggies.

Anti Cancer Diet

This is essentially a whole food, organic, chemical and hormone-free plant based diet, with high fiber and low glycemic properties. A mouth full?

Potentially you can also throw in there some fasting or ketosis depending where you are, prevention? treatment? longevity?… and this is where things start getting a little complex. You see depending on your own personal and unique situation and where you are on your journey your approach to diet will need to vary.

So I hope I’ve managed to clearly establish that there is no such thing as one ideal anti-cancer diet. However diet plays a huge role in helping to prevent, and also improve quality of life and longevity. There is no doubt about this, there research has shown this time and time again.

However there is research supporting both a plant based diet as well as a Mediterranean diet as being protective against cancer.

Finding ways to ensure you’re feeding you're healthy cells and ensuring you’re effectively managing stress and mindset through mindfulness and hypnotherapy as well as the application of herbal medicine to help with side effects we actually have a lot available to us.

A low carbohydrate Mediterranean diet is an option for many clients which may be something to consider if you’re on the other side of your conventional treatments and looking for a long term management plan.

I want to take this final opportunity to leave you with this note…

You're made up of millions of cells, those cells exist in a cellular fluid that you provide for them, some things you have very little control over, like the air you breathe. However there are many many things that you do have control over.

What you feed your body in terms of food, thoughts and even movement, all of these impacting your chemistry and ultimately determining the health of your cells.

Many cancers are in the making for 6 plus years another fact few people are aware of.

If you feel you need some guidance and support please feel free to reach out by simply filling out the form below.

Move Well, Eat Well and Think Well.

Kxx