A New Hope for People Fighting Cancer

What's the best diet and nutrition for cancer?

A common question I‘m asked is what I would recommend for someone who is diagnosed with cancer. While there are many forms of cancer, and many theories as to how and why people get cancer, there are a few things I always recommend people consider for any type of cancer. Before I go through my suggestions, it's important to understand the ideas behind them. Let's first look at some interesting research and compare it to what's happened in America over the past few decades.

The Cause of Cancer According to Otto Warburg

In recent years the most common consensus for the cause of cancer is genetics, however, there has been a revival of the research and work of Otto Warburg from the 1940s. Many biologists are expanding on his work with amazing results.

Otto Warburg was a Nobel Prize winning biologist from Germany. You can read more about his work in this New York Times article among many other articles online. A very brief summary of his findings are that cancer thrives when two conditions are met: lack of cellular oxygen and fermentation in cells. He believed these conditions happen in the body due to chemicals in food and eating excess foods that can cause fermentation in cells. Foods that cause the most fermentation are bread and grain based foods. These foods convert to glucose and he discovered that glucose is what ferments in cells. On the flipside, he discovered that if cells have high levels of oxygen, cancer couldn’t grow and fermentation doesn't occur.

The Hidden Story of Cancer

The book The Hidden Story of Cancer details Warburgs work and expands upon it. The book explains that Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), specifically Omega 6 fatty acids, are responsible for transporting oxygen into the cell. EFAs are special fats often referred to as Omega 3 and Omega 6. These fats are very important and have several key roles in the body. One of those roles is transporting oxygen from your blood into your cells. If you are deficient in Omega fats, your cells may not be getting the oxygen they need. It's this low cellular oxygen that Otto Warburg's research shows increases cancer cell growth.

Let's go back in time for a minute

Several decades ago, fat was incorrectly determined to be bad for you and this started the "low fat diet revolution". In an effort to create low fat foods, healthy fats were processed and adulterated (chemically altered) to create a "low fat" alternative to natural fats. Omega 6 fats are the most common fats that are processed. These processed fats, often referred to as trans-fats, don’t have to be claimed on food labels as fat, since they are molecularly different than natural fat. Many foods can not be made without some type of fat (oil), so trans-fats were used to produce a “healthy low fat” alternative to regular foods. The processed fats are also referred to as hydrogenated oils. Watch out for that on your food labels. Starting in the 1970s and 1980s people started consuming large amounts of these trans-fats in foods as a replacement for real fat. Remember all the marketing to switch from butter to margarine? Since healthy omega 6 is the primary transporter of oxygen to your cells, and it is often removed or altered in our foods, it’s easy to see why a low fat diet would cause reduced cellular oxygen.

But Wait There's More

The “low fat diet revolution” that started in the 1970’s also led many people to eat foods higher in carbohydrates, since carbohydrates are naturally lower in fat and protein. Many carbohydrate foods are made from refined grains which have the fat removed in order for them to be shelf stable for a longer period of time. Wheat germ, the grain that flour is made from contains Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats, but they are removed during processing so the flour won't go bad. It is the fat (oil) that goes rancid in wheat and spoils the food. Consumption of bread, cereal, rice pasta, etc. increased drastically during this period of time. These high carb foods are also converted to glucose in your body. Remember, Warburg discovered glucose ferments in your cells when the oxygen levels drop, becoming the ideal food for cancer.

Connecting the Dots

Let’s put all of this together now, Warburg proved cancer cells thrive when oxygen is reduced in your cells and it feeds on fermentation. Beginning in the 1970’s dietary recommendations led people to begin consuming more carbohydrates which ultimately raises glucose levels in your body. At the same time people began eating processed fat that the body doesn’t know how to use. As a result, people stopped eating as much healthy fat the body uses to oxygenate cells. This is the perfect recipe for cancer, low oxygen leads to fermentation, especially when plenty of glucose is present. This is the ideal environment for cancer growth that Warburg discovered. It’s very easy to see why cancer rates boomed during this time and are still increasing today. We are only now starting to see mainstream medicine accept that natural fat is healthy, and distinguishing between bad fats and healthy natural fats. Unfortunately, it’s still more prevalent to see doctors recommending lean meats and reduced fat diets. Sadly we are still largely in low-fat mode in the US.

5 Suggestions for Fighting Cancer

Back to the question that started all of this! What do I recommend for people diagnosed with cancer. I think Otto Warburg's research was very clear about how to make cancer grow and how to starve it out. Based on his research, these are the things I’d recommend:

1. Eliminate most carbohydrates, especially ones from refined grains, sugar, high fructose corn syrup and any other type of fructose. These are the foods that increase glucose the most in your body. Glucose fuels cancer, the best thing you can do is take away the cancer’s food.
2. Make sure you are getting plenty of Omega 6 and Omega 3 EFAs. You could try to get this from foods, raw seeds and nuts contain the highest quantities. It may be difficult to get enough eating seeds. Since much of our food is processed these days, food sources of unrefined Omega 3 and Omega 6 are limited. I recommend supplementing Omega 3 and Omega 6 from organic seed oils. Evening primrose oil, sunflower seed oil, pumpkin seed oil and flax oil are good oils. You need at least 3 grams per day (5g is better), with flax being no more than 1/3 of that amount. Flax is mostly Omega 3, you want to make sure you are getting plenty of Omega 6, which is why I say no more than 1/3 flax. These are the nutrients that transport cellular oxygen, cancer doesn’t survive well in high oxygen environments. You can read more about why plant based oils are superior to fish oil in the article Flaxseed Oil vs. Fish Oil
3. Get maximum nutrition. Your body needs all the nutrition it can to fight this disease. If you are going though chemotherapy, your body really needs nutrition to rebuild and repair. Eat plenty of protein which is used to repair cell structure, among many other things. Protein should be a clean as possible: grass-fed, free-range or organic. Eat plenty of nutrient rich vegetables that are low in carbs. Eliminate fruit all together, since the goal is to reduce glucose in the body and all fruits contain sugar.
4. You need a mineral supplement, everyone does, but especially when your body needs to repair itself more than usual. You can learn more about minerals in the article Everyone is Mineral Deficient. Minerals are extremely important, they are used in so many ways. They are coenzymes with vitamins, which means if you are deficient in minerals your body can’t utilize the vitamins it is getting from the food you eat. If you want your body to be able to use the maximum nutrition you are getting from your food, you need minerals to allow that to happen. Minerals need to be chelated (boded to a protein) in order for your body to use them, the protein is what attracts the mineral into the cell. Make sure to use a supplement that has chelated minerals. You can read more about chelation and minerals in the article Everyone is Mineral Deficient.
5. A nurse named Rene Caisse discovered a blend of herbs used by Ojibwa Indians in Canada. This blend of herbs was eventually named Essiac, which is Rene’s last name backwards. You can google Essiac and get loads of information on it, but the short story is that she used this herbal tea to treat cancer under the supervision of 8 doctors who where impressed with her results. In addition, the herbs in Essiac are known to be really good at cleansing body tissues, which is always a great thing when dealing with cancer.  I’ll point out that many from mainstream medicine and the government regulatory bodies don’t believe it offers any help for cancer treatment or prevention, so you will find information on both sides should you decide to research further.

Starving Cancer May be the Answer

So that’s it, the idea is to starve the cancer and change the cellular conditions to favor healthy oxygenated cells. Accomplish this by eating plenty of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids and by eating nutrient rich foods for maximum nutrition to support the body. Do some more research, click the links in the article to get more information. Getting as much information as possible is always a good idea.

You can read about a success story of using this type of diet for treating cancer in the article “Quitting carbs saved my life.”

Important Notes and Disclaimers

I am not presenting this information as a cure for cancer. The suggestions in this article are what I would do if I were faced with cancer, you and your doctor can determine what is right for you.

It is important to note, I am not a doctor and am not giving you medical advice. This article is for informational purposes only, providing you with information I have found to be interesting and valuable. Always consult your doctor before making any decision regarding your health or the health of your friends or family. This would be especially true when making decisions regarding cancer treatment.

The site you are on, Healthy for Life, sells omega and mineral products containing ingredients mentioned in this article. This article isn’t intended as an advertisement or solicitation for product sales, rather it’s presented as helpful information. The mission of Healthy for Life is to help people achieve the best health possible, we do this in part by offering information that we find to be beneficial. Often times the solution to problems can be nutritional. Healthy for Life was created to fill the gap between nutrition available in food and what the body needs, therefore, our recommendations often involve nutrition.

I hope you found this article helpful, please let me know if you have other topics or questions you'd like to learn more about, I'm always looking for new topics to cover that will be helpful to our audience. Signup for our newsletter at the bottom of this page for updates and notification when new blog posts are available.

To Your Health,
Brian