Can You Eat Corn Chips on Atkins Diet

Yes, food can contribute to cancer. In fact, processed foods – those high in sugar and low in fiber and nutrients – have been linked to higher cancer risk.

But there are healthy options (that taste good, too). We'll dive into some of the science behind different diets, including plant-based. But the basics are simple: A diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains trumps processed foods.

However, keep in mind that most research only points to associations between diet and cancer, and not necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship.

Foods high in antioxidantsProtects cells from damage caused by free radicals (unstable molecules made by the process of oxidation during normal metabolism). Free radicals may play a part in cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other diseases of aging. Antioxidants include beta-carotene, lycopene, Vitamins A, C, and E, and other natural and manufactured substances. – dark chocolate, pecans, blueberries, strawberries, kale, and red cabbage, for example – offer other benefits, like improved cardiovascular health.

Because you have cancer does not mean you have to give up taste! A tweak here, a change there – you can do it. Ultimately, finding what works for you is the best cancer diet.

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You are what you eat. It was true before Christ and remains anno Domini. And today, it could be the difference between preventing cancer and life-threatening diagnosis. Cancer diets are wide-ranging and, like any diet, success depends on you. We will showcase a list of foods for cancer patients to eat as well as cancer diet recipes. We also will spotlight which foods not to eat on a cancer diet.

Ultimately, a cancer diet plan should be a decision reached between you and a qualified health care professional. This guide is a broad overview of food and cancer.

But first, some history …

'Cancer is not an inevitable consequence of life.'

Dr. Ernst Ludwig Wynder

Introduction

The connection of nutrition with cancer was suggested as early as the mid-1800s. However, despite the idea that nutrition could be a significant cause of cancer, the notion was resisted or denied. A major reason stemmed from the belief that cancer was considered a 'local' disease, initiated by specific causes and treated by specific treatments, such as surgical removal.

This 'local' theory of disease remains deeply embedded in the cancer research community of today. Four major professional societies and institutions in the United States and Britain were founded during the early 20th century mostly by influential personalities, many of who were surgeons. The surgeons' mindset endowed these societies with programs and practices favoring the 'local' theory hypothesis which, of course, benefitted the surgeons. [1]

Modern science has now concluded diet is likely the most important risk factor for cancer. In 1975, the American Health Foundation, in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute, sponsored the Key Biscayne Conference on nutrition in the causation of cancer.

At this conference, for the first time, researchers from around the world convened to discuss epidemiological, preclinical, and molecular studies associating nutrition and diet to the cause and prevention of cancer.

'Cancer is not an inevitable consequence of life,' said Ernst Ludwig Wynder, M.D., Naylor Dana Institute for Disease Prevention, Division of Epidemiology and a 1954 Nobel Peace Prize winner. 'This conclusion, which holds equally true for other diseases prevalent in developed societies, such as atherosclerosis [hardening and narrowing of the arteries], is clearly borne out by epidemiological evidence.

'The major differences in the incidence of cancers among different countries, between the sexes, among population groups within each country, and between migrant and native populations, as well as time trends, point to environmental factors as explaining such variances.' [2]

Then, in 1977, the United State Senate Committee issued recommended dietary goals, mostly based on diet and heart disease. This prompted the U.S. Senate to make a special appropriation to determine if the same relationship existed for cancer as it does for heart disease, which resulted in the 1982 NAS Diet, Nutrition and Cancer report.

The National Research Council conducted a comprehensive evaluation of this evidence. That assessment, as well as recent epidemiological and laboratory investigations, suggest that a high-fat diet is associated with increased susceptibility to cancer of different sites, particularly the breast and colon, and to a lesser extent, the prostate. [3]

Subsequently, many more public policy reports repeated that about one-third of all cancers were caused by diet although others believed that this estimate could be as high as 90 percent.

In 1980, Sir Richard Doll and his colleague Richard Peto at Oxford University submitted a landmark review of factors known at the time to affect cancer risk. Doll and Peto pointed out that epidemiological evidence regarding diet and cancer was largely indirect and noted the absence of reliable evidence regarding specific components of diet.

After a lengthy review of various aspects of diet, including over-nutrition, they guesstimated that 35 percent of cancer could be attributed to diet, but their uncertainty was emphasized by an accompanying wide possible range of 10 percent to 70 percent.

Like the attributions for tobacco, Doll and Peto made their estimates by cancer site, indicating that perhaps 90 percent of stomach and colorectal cancers, 50 percent of endometrium, gallbladder, pancreas, and breast cancers, 20 percent of lung, upper aerodigestive, bladder, and cervix cancers, and 10 percent of other cancers may be diet-related. [4]

'Still, to this day, the public does not swallow the Big Pharma propaganda.'

Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby

A great cultural pleasure of life

Eating a balanced diet is vital for good health and wellbeing. Food provides our bodies with the energy, protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals to live, grow and function properly.

We need a wide variety of different foods to provide the right amounts of nutrients for good health. Enjoyment of a healthy diet can also be one of the great cultural pleasures of life.

However, unhealthy eating habits have contributed to the obesity epidemic in the United States: about one-third of U.S. adults (33.8 percent) are obese and approximately 17 percent (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese. [5]

Even for people at a healthy weight, a poor diet is associated with major health risks that can cause illness and even death. These include certain types of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis. By making smart food choices, you can help protect yourself from these health problems.

After earning his MB ChB — Bachelor of Medicine in the United Kingdom, which is the equivalent medical degree in the United States — Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby had an epiphany regarding conventional medicine and natural health care:

'I thought I was wasting my time – 'peeing in the wind,' as we say jokingly in England. I was dealing with diets and nutrition – people were getting well, and we had great stories.

'I made a conscious decision to talk to John Public – and the public listened. Still, to this day, the public does not swallow the Big Pharma propaganda.'

So, what is eating 'healthy,' since everyone has an opinion on what 'healthy' means?

A balanced diet provides your body with the vital nutrients it needs to build and maintain healthy cells, tissues, and organs, which are crucial for proper growth and development.

• Mumby: 8 Steps to Preventing & Overcoming Cancer

Eating a balanced diet can:

• help protect you from certain diseases;
• regulate your blood cholesterol levels;
• and provide antioxidants.

Processed and refined foods typically are loaded with saturated fats, sugar, and calories, which can undermine weight control.

Your immune system is a group of interconnected cells, tissues, and organs that help protect your body from invasion from microorganisms such as bacteria, parasites, and fungi. An article published in The British Journal of Nutrition in November 1988 noted that consuming adequate nutrients is an important contributing factor in strengthening and maintaining your immune system, while not eating sufficient nutrients could impair and suppress immune system functions.

Understanding what a cancer diet is

Cancer is caused by microbes inside the cancer cells. These microbes love sugar and dairy products.

With regards to cancer treatment, every food that we eat or drink can be categorized into categories:

• Foods that feed and strengthen the cancer cells and/or the microbes in the cancer cells and body. Examples would be refined sugar, refined flour, soda pop, dairy products, etc.
• Foods that cause cancer (e.g. trans fatty acids [margarine, French fries and virtually every other processed food you buy], aspartame [Diet Coke, NutraSweet, Equal, etc.], MSG, polyunsaturated oils [e.g. corn oil], etc.)
• Foods that directly interfere with alternative treatments for cancer (e.g. chlorine, fluoride, alcohol, coffee, etc.)
• Foods that occupy and distract the immune system from focusing on killing the cancer cells (e.g. beef, turkey, etc.)
• Foods that contain nutrients that kill the cancer cells, stop the spread of cancer, or in some other way help treat cancer (e.g. purple grapes with seeds and skin, red raspberries with seeds, strawberries with seeds, broccoli, cauliflower, several herbs, carrots, pineapples, almonds, etc.)

In addition, there are things like cooking vegetables. The cooking destroys the enzymes in the vegetables and makes them far less digestible and far less effective in treating cancer. Pasteurizing any food or drink also does this.

Ideally during cancer treatment, if foods are allowed on a particular diet, 100 percent of everything you eat should be in the category of 'Foods that contain nutrients that kill the cancer cells, stop the spread of cancer, or in some other way help treat cancer.' Whenever you eat food that is not in that category, you are interfering with your cancer treatment. This is why so many cancer diets are very high in raw vegetables and raw fruits.

Some foods, however, are in more than one category. Grapes feed glucose to cancer cells, plus they contain nutrients that kill cancer cells. So should you take grapes? Generally, no. However, the Brandt Grape Cure, a diet of nothing but grapes, is an excellent cancer treatment. The problem is that combining grapes with other treatments tends to do more harm (by feeding the cancer cells) than good (by killing cancer cells) because other substances in the treatment seem to be neutralizing the value of the grapes.

Juicing raw vegetables and raw fruits is good in some cases (but not all cases, especially when the seeds are important) because the vegetables and fruits are more easily digested (translation: more nutrients get to the cancer cells). However, when you juice you throw away a lot of nutrients.

Also, understand not all vegetables and fruits are equal at treating cancer. Some vegetables do not contribute significantly to treating cancer and some fruits do not contribute significantly to treating cancer (at least not that we know of at the current time). On the other hand, some vegetables are very potent cancer killers, as are some fruits.

A critical definition

In the alternative health field, 'fasting' has a very different definition than that used by many people. In alternative medicine, the 'fast' or 'fasting' generally means that a person can drink water and a limited amount of other drinks and foods.

For example, Breuss cancer treatment is a 42-day fast. However, his fast allows water to be drunk and a special tea he designed for the fast.

A fast is critical to many alternative cancer treatments, but again understand that the term fast allows certain foods or drinks to be taken during the fast.

As another example, the Brandt Grape Cure is considered to be fast even though the person can consume fairly large quantities of grapes during the treatment. It is called a juice fast.

The term 'fast' could be associated with 'restricted to' or 'limited to' because that is what it means.

Comprehensive nutritional view of health

A 1958 food additives amendment of the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act – the Delaney Clause – stipulated that chemicals capable of causing cancer should not be permitted in food. This legislation was unusually demanding and narrowly focused – and seriously questioned. Nonetheless, the sentiment that chemical carcinogens are a major cause of cancer lives on, whether these chemicals are in the food or in occupational and general settings. [7]

The 13-member committee report of the NAS Diet, Nutrition and Cancer report suggested two main goals, based on published evidence from about 1940 to 1980:

• reduce dietary fat to 30 percent of total diet calories
• consume more vegetables, fruits, and grains (as whole foods, not as supplements)

From about 1915 to 1940, several vitamins were discovered as being important in preventing 'nutritional deficiency' diseases. Then, from about 1985 to 2005, a great number of clinical trials were conducted on the theory that vitamin supplements prevent chronic degenerative diseases, like cancer.

Today, nutrient supplements have grown to $27.6 billion annual sales in the U.S. in 2015, and a projected $31.7 billion for 2021. [8]

Chemical carcinogens, vitamin supplements, and dietary cholesterol and saturated fat stem from the 'local' theory of disease of the 19th century. These examples divert attention away from a more comprehensive nutritional view of health.

Cancer Tutor presents a comprehensive view of foods and cancer. You are encouraged to seek the advice of a health care professional to discuss your individual nutritional needs.

What causes cancer?

You would not believe how many emails we get from cancer patients who have gone through these three steps:

• The patient had chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery to treat their cancer;
• The patient was told they were 'cancer-free';
• Months later cancer 'came back,' which is called 'regression.'

Among other things, this article will explain what went wrong and how to prevent cancer from coming back. When talking about what causes cancer we need to talk about it at two different levels.

The first level is talking about cancer at the systemic level, meaning what conditions in the body allowed cancer to grow out of control and how do we deal with this issue.

The second level of talking about cancer is talking about what causes cancer at the cellular level. In other words, why does a healthy cell become cancerous?

• What causes cancer?

Understanding your cancer

Picking a single cancer treatment, any single treatment, is the most common mistake made by cancer patients who are new to alternative medicine. Many alternative cancer treatments can be combined.

Dr. Patrick Quillin contends cancer patients should focus on the parts of the body that are working properly, not on cancer. [9]

He suggests a 21-day path to health, noting nutrients from food and supplements change the way your body works, making it less receptive to cancer cells and more supportive of healthy cells.

Dr. Quillin points out it is important to understand how cancer starts and progresses in the human body — including through malnutrition. Primary causes of cancer include:

• poor nutrition — an excess, deficiency, or imbalance of any nutrients;
• stress — the mind generates chemicals that can lower protective mechanisms against cancer;
• sedentary lifestyle — exercise helps to oxygenate and regulate the entire body;
• toxic burden — hence detoxification becomes crucial.

Malnutrition in cancer patients

Dr. Patrick Quillin points out most of the scientific literature shows that weight loss drastically increases the mortality rate for most types of cancer, while also lowering the response to chemotherapy. Chemo and radiation therapy are sufficient biological stressors alone to induce malnutrition. [10]

In fact, 40 percent or more of cancer patients actually die from malnutrition, not from cancer. [11]

'Americans choose their food based upon taste, cost, convenience, and psychological gratification — thus ignoring the main reason that we eat, which is to provide our body cells with the raw materials to grow, repair, and fuel our bodies,' Quillin says in Beating Cancer with Nutrition. 'The most commonly eaten foods in America are white bread, coffee, and hot dogs. Based on our food abundance, Americans could be the best-nourished nation on record. But we are far from it.'

• For more information on those who cannot eat, read our article on cancer patients who cannot eat whole foods.

Immune function

How potent is the immune system? The late Dr. Bob Beck, a physicist with a doctoral degree in science, set out to get the answer. What Dr. Beck learned is that as you get rid of the pathogens the immune system immediately begins to be supercharged.

The immune system creates two key molecules: interleukin and interferon. These molecules are called neuropeptides or nerve proteins. There are more than 2,000 neuropeptides in the body, but the cancer-fighting effects of most of them are unknown. However, these neuropeptides are absolutely deadly to cancer cells.

In 1990, two medical doctors, Dr. Steven Kaali and Dr. William Lyman, discovered that a small electric current could disable viruses from being able to infect cells and multiply, thus rendering them harmless. Other studies have shown the effectiveness of small amounts of electricity against bacteria and fungi.

Dr. Beck, who had 30 years of electromedicine research behind him, found out about the discovery and found a non-invasive way to use their discovery. His first electromedicine machine replicated the process of the Kaali / Lyman discovery. It is often referred to as blood electrification, blood purifying or micro pulsing.

Basically, they use microcurrents of electricity to create a very small 3.92 Hertz or one-half of the Earth Schumann frequency of 7.83 Hz alternating electric current (i.e.: the cycle of polarity change happens 3.92 times a second).

The microcurrents of electricity prevent viruses from infecting human cells (this is what Kaali and Lyman discovered) which prevents the virus from hijacking the cell's' reproductive capacity and multiplying. The body safely excretes the disabled (i.e. attenuated) viruses.

The Bob Beck Protocol consists of four parts. Two of the parts (the two electromedicine parts) disable bacteria, fungi, and viruses from reproducing (at which point the body safely excretes them). One of the four parts, ionic colloidal silver, also deactivates pathogens. The fourth part, ozonated water, helps flush the toxins from the body.

• Bob Beck Protocol

Dr. Véronique Desaulniers contends the importance of the immune system's role in cancer treatment and prevention can't be overstated.

'It's very, very important,' she says. 'If your immune system cannot handle the onslaught of the cancer cells, that's when the cancer cells win and take over. Your immune system is your first line of defense and everything from your natural killer cells, to your macrophages. I mean all these things are … those are the types of cells that target and actually destroy the cancer cells.

'Interestingly, cancer cells produce an enzyme called nagalase, that puts your immune system to sleep and literally wipes them out. … It's a vicious circle. How do you break that cycle? Well, things like Vitamin D and making sure that you're absorbing the protein, and that you're absorbing the right amounts and that your levels are good. Basic nutrients like Vitamin C, selenium, zinc, all these things make sure that your immune system is active.

'Beta glucans, medicinal mushrooms, all these things can affect your immune system in a positive way.'

An important point regarding animal protein: it does not have fiber, notes Dr. Sunil Pai.

'When we talk about colon cancer being the third most common cancer in the United States, and we look at countries like Africa that has like nil to none, [yet] here it's the third most common cause of death in the United States,' he says. 'Fiber is important because fiber does multiple things. Fiber helps feed the prebiotics which helps the probiotics in the gut where 80 percent of the immune system is.

'Fiber does two things. It helps move the food, so it improves the transit time. The more the patient is constipated, then the more the toxins the body is trying to get rid of. Remember, cytotoxins from like fast food or cigarettes or chemicals — even good food. If you eat organic, non-GMO food, you still have to produce waste. That's why you're having an excretion. The body's taking the stuff it doesn't need and getting rid of it.'

• To learn more about how food affects immune function read our article on building the immune system.

'The best way to determine if you're getting something effective is to have some type of criteria. I certainly recommend using organic as criteria.'

Jordan Rubin

Nutritional synergy

Jordan Rubin, a New York Times best-selling author of The Maker's Diet, was an organic farmer and founder of Garden of Life. He has spent nearly 20 years studying naturopathic medicine, nutrition, and permaculture science.

Rubin contends nutritional synergy is paramount in health care.

'I think that the best way to determine if you're getting something effective is to have some type of criteria. I certainly recommend using organic as criteria typically. If it's a supplement that has organic ingredients, if it's a frozen concentrate or the herb itself, organic products need to go through a more rigorous testing and third-party auditing process than non-organic. And so, that alone is going to help you understand that you're choosing something that is what it says it is. And it is going to have, likely, a higher level of active compounds. So that is a great way to start your filter.

'You can get fresh in many cases, and some of these are fruits obviously,' he says. 'You can use them in a salad. You can juice them. You can certainly consume them dried and simply pour hot water over them to make an herbal infusion and steep them. Or you can cold steep them, accenting your water, etc. In some cases, you can find herbal extracts, organic herbal extracts. Mushrooms, you can buy dried. So all of these are fine.

'The key is making sure that you are getting them into your body,' Rubin says. 'You can do them fresh. You could do them dried. You can do them in supplement form.'

Types of Diets

Vegan/Plant-based Diet

According to Dr. Michael Greger of NutritionFacts.org: 'Researchers have shown that a more plant-based diet may help prevent, treat, or reverse some of our leading causes of death, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Interventional studies of plant-based diets have shown, for example, 90 percent reductions in angina attacks within just a few weeks.'
Dr. Gregor continues, 'Studies have shown plant-based eating can improve not only body weight, blood sugar levels, and ability to control cholesterol, but also emotional states, including depression, anxiety, fatigue, sense of well-being, and daily functioning.' [12]

Food overview:
no animal products including:

• Dairy
• Meat
• eggs
• Focuses on plant-based foods

But, what nutrients are missing without animal products?

According to The Vegan Society, 'B12 is the only vitamin that is not recognized as being reliably supplied from a varied whole-food, plant-based diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, together with exposure to the sun.' [13] Supplementation is recommended.

What about:

Protein? Plant-based proteins provide sufficient levels of protein for humans. Plant sources include legumes, tofu, and nuts. For more information, see Protein.

Iron? Good plant sources of iron include legumes, tofu, nuts, seeds, kale, dried apricots and figs, raisins, quinoa, and fortified breakfast cereal. Tip: Taking vitamin c at the same time increases iron absorption. For more information, see Iron.

Calcium? Plant sources of calcium include kale, figs, almonds, chia seeds. For more information, see Calcium.

Omegas? Sources of omega 3 and 6 include nuts, seeds, and soy. For more information, see: Omega Fatty Acids

Remember: Just like any well-balanced diet, someone following a vegan/plant-based diet must include food sources for the above nutrients daily in order to avoid nutritional deficiencies.

• More information: Health effects of vegan diets.
• Information on other nutrients in a vegan/plant-based diet: Nutrients.

Plant-based/Vegan Guides and Resources:

• Center for Nutritional Studies
• Forks Over Knives Plant-based Primer
• The Vegan Society

Vegetarian

To get all of the nutrients needed to maintain a healthy body, it is not necessary to eat meat. Someone who chooses to not eat meat often enjoys better health due to the fact they will eat more plant-based foods as well as being more active in making healthy choices.

A vegetarian diet has been found to reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer, leading to a longer life expectancy. It may lead to weight loss. [14]Different types of vegetarians eat different things. [15]

Different types of vegetarians eat different things. [15]

• Lacto-ovo-vegetarians avoid the flesh of all animals — meat and fish
• Pescatarians eat fish but no meat
• Lacto-vegetarians consume dairy products but no eggs
• Ovo-vegetarians consume eggs but no dairy
• Pollotarian diets exclude meat, dairy, and fish, but allow poultry.
• Vegans avoid all animal-based foods, including honey

The benefits of avoiding meat products include:

• Lower body weight — a study of 38,000 people showed that vegetarians and vegans enjoy a lower body mass index (BMI) than meat-eaters. [16]
• Lower cancer risk — Research has shown that vegetarians have a lower overall risk for many types of cancers over meat-eaters. However, this study also found that vegetarians have a higher risk of colon cancer. [17]
• Lower cardiovascular risk — A vegetarian diet has been linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular risk factors. [18]
• Lower Type 2 Diabetes — Research has shown that Type 2 Diabetes risk is directly linked to higher meat consumption. [19]

According to Harvard Medical School, you can get many of the health benefits from becoming a vegetarian without going all the way. For example, a Mediterranean eating pattern — known to be associated with longer life and reduced risk of several chronic illnesses — features an emphasis on plant foods with sparing use of meat. Even if you don't want to become a complete vegetarian, you can steer your diet in that direction with a few simple substitutions, such as plant-based sources of protein — beans or tofu, for example — or fish instead of meat a couple of times a week. [20]

Whole Foods

Whole foods simply mean foods that are not processed. It is clear that the less a food is processed, the healthier it is to eat. As Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food says, 'Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.' [21]

Raw Foods

Raw foods are foods in their natural state that have not been cooked. This generally applies to vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Juicing is a sensible way to incorporate raw foods into your diet.

Juicing

There are two advantages to juicing vegetables and fruits. First, juicing makes the nutrients in a fruit or vegetable more digestible by the body, meaning more of the nutrients are extracted from the vegetables or fruits with less of the obstructing fibers. The second advantage is that you can consume a lot more vegetables (particularly vegetables and fruits with cancer-killing nutrients) in a shorter amount of time and with a lot less effort. Juicing is an excellent way to consume fruits and vegetables.

The bad thing about juicing is that the nutrients are not extracted sufficiently from the seeds or skins of some key vegetables and fruits. If you are eating a food where the seeds and/or skins contain key cancer-fighting nutrients (e.g. purple grapes), you should not use a juicer for the seeds or skin, but rather use a food processor or use a hand grinder, to grind the seeds and skins to make mush.

Your fruit and vegetable juice should primarily include the vegetables and fruits that have the best cancer-killing nutrients. If you randomly put fruits and vegetables in your juice, the benefits of the juice will be greatly decreased.

Raw fruits you should focus on are purple grapes (with skins and seeds), red raspberries, black raspberries, strawberries, and other non-citrus fruits, with their seeds, especially peaches and apricots (the seed is inside a hard shell). Actually, any fruit with dark blue or dark purple coloring is acceptable, such as blueberries. Raw pineapple is especially good if you can get it and afford it. Tomatoes also have cancer-fighting nutrients.

Here is a sample of the known cancer-killing nutrients in fruits:

• Raw pineapple (bromelain and peroxidase)
• Whole purple grapes with seeds and skins (more than a dozen, see: The Brandt Grape Cure )
• Apricot seeds (laetrile)
• Strawberries, red raspberries, black raspberries (laetrile and ellagic acid)
• Blueberries (ellagic acid, anthocyanins, OPC)

At least 80 percent or above of the fruit juice should come from fruits with known cancer-fighting abilities.

Obviously, this is a modification of the Brandt Grape Cure, in the sense that a wider variety of cancer-killing fruits is allowed.

Also allowed on the fruit juice fast are the super-fruit juices: mangosteen, noni, and wolfberry or goji. These are allowed during a fruit juice fast in unlimited quantities during the 12 hours the person is allowed to eat.

The raw vegetables you should focus on are carrots, cabbage, green asparagus, broccoli, red beets (i.e. beetroot), beet tops, cauliflower, and related vegetables. Peppers also have cancer-fighting substances. The spice turmeric can be added as well.

At a minimum, the vegetable juice should include:

• Carrot juice (1-2 quarts/liters)
• Beet juice (from at least two red beets, with their beet tops)
• A significant amount of cruciferous vegetables including broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower (this is for both cancer and the critical protection of the liver)

Note: Beetroot can cause the urine of a person to turn red. Thus, if you take beetroot and your urine turns red, it is not necessarily blood in the urine.

A small and decreasing amount of fruit juices that contain very little glucose can be added for taste (more will be said about this issue below). Not all vegetables can be eaten raw, but the ones above can be eaten raw or juiced. You can also eat any of these vegetables during your treatment to get bulk and fiber.

Here are just a few of the cancer cell killing nutrients (direct or indirect) in vegetables:

• Raw Carrots (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, Vitamin E, etc.)
• Raw Broccoli (sulforaphane/isothiocyanates)
• Raw cabbage (isothiocyanates)
• Green Asparagus (saponins)
• Beetroot/red beets (proanthocyanidins (PAC's or OPC's))
• Turmeric (a spice) (curcumin)

A vegetable juice using 1 quart of carrots is the minimum level of carrots that is acceptable. Vegetable juices with 2 quarts of carrots have also been used by many people.

The vegetable juice should contain at least 80 percent of vegetables with known cancer-fighting abilities, although there are other vegetables are not far behind the ones mentioned.

• More information: Dr. Lorraine Day, M.D. diet treatment

Paleo Diet

Just about everything you need to know about the Paleo Diet can be summarized in one sentence: If a caveman didn't eat it, neither should you.

Now, obviously that isn't everything you need to know, but it's definitely a good summary. When you are following the Paleo Diet, you can eat anything we could hunt or gather way back in the day – things like meats, fish, nuts, leafy greens, regional veggies, and seeds. Of course, this means that foods like cereal, candy, and pasta have to go.

Paleo Diet Food List

•   Lean meat, such as chicken, turkey, pork, lean beef, and buffalo (bison)
•   Fish
•   Seafood
•   Fresh fruit
•   Non-starchy vegetables, such as lettuce, asparagus, green beans, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and spinach
•   Nuts, like almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans, and pistachios (no peanuts)
•   Seeds, like pumpkin and sunflower
•   Eggs
•   Plant-based oils, such as olive, walnut, grapeseed, and coconut oil

What Can't You Eat on the Paleo Diet?

• Grains, such as oats, wheat, barley, and rice — which means no cereal, bread, pasta, bagels, crackers, or granola bars
• Starchy vegetables, such as potatoes and corn, as well as potato and corn chips, tortillas, and popcorn
• Legumes or beans — so no peanuts or peanut butter; no soy foods, such as soy milk, tofu, or edamame; no hummus or beans of any kind
• Dairy products — so no milk, yogurt, cheese, or ice cream
• High-fat meats, such as salami, bologna, pepperoni, hot dogs, ground meat, rib roast, and ribs
• Sugars, such as in soda, honey, jam or jelly, syrup, candy, cakes, cookies, and sports drinks
• Processed foods or trans fats, such as doughnuts, french fries, fruit snacks, or macaroni and cheese
• Salty foods, such as crackers, chips, pretzels, soy sauce, added-salt foods, or sports drinks [22]

Paleo Diet Benefits

• You are more likely to eat a clean diet without additives, preservatives, or chemicals.
• There are anti-inflammatory benefits from the plant nutrients in fruits, vegetables, oils, nuts, and seeds.
• If you are eating more red meat, you will get more iron.
• You may see improved satiety — a feeling of fullness between meals, due to the higher intake of protein and fats.
• Many people lose weight primarily due to limited food choices. [23]

The 'Cons' of the Paleo Diet

• It can get expensive.
• You don't eat any grains or dairy which are good for health and energy.
• This diet can be difficult for vegetarians, especially since it excludes beans.
• Most athletes need between 3 to 6 grams of carbs per pound of their body weight, per day. This would be very hard to do with just fruits and vegetables. [24]

• Learn more about Paleo:  The science behind Paleo

Dr. Sunil Pai is an expert in integrative medicine. He was one of the first board-certified doctors in Holistic Integrative Medicine in the United States. Pai also is a Deacon of the House of Sanjevani Integrative Medicine Health & Lifestyle Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

As a renowned integrative medicine physician, Dr. Pai has spent his career exploring thousands of patients' diets, lifestyles, environments, and mental states to uncover the triggers that are causing inflammation in their life and exposing them to diseases that are so easily preventable.

Changing your health and eating habits to restore and maintain your health can be challenging. But compared to surgery or extensive drug regimens with debilitating side effects, the effort is decidedly worth it.

Dr. Pai presents a 10-step guide within An Inflammation Nation to help you prevent and treat disease through diet and lifestyle changes, as well as through the use of natural anti-inflammatories. With extensive information on the production of food, pharmaceuticals, and dietary supplements, this remarkable resource pulls back the veil on what's really in the foods and products you consume daily — and how they're affecting your health.

'If you stop eating donuts you'll lose weight. That's not a magical thing. People are like, 'Wow, I felt so good.' And it's like, 'Well, yeah because you cut off some of the junk foods.' '

Dr. Sunil Pai

Insights on the Paleo Diet

Cancer Tutor spoke with Dr. Sunil Pai regarding his opinion of the Paleo Diet.

What is the Paleo Diet?

The [Paleo Diet] is the re-emergence of the Atkins Diet, which was really famous probably 25 years ago. So the concept was 'eat all the meat you want,' right? And cut down, zero carbs; everybody had a short-term gain. It faded away but then it kind of reinserts itself. Every couple of years it comes back — Paleo, Neanderthal Man Diet, Caveman Diet, Primal Diet, or whatever.

Highly Refined Carbs

The biggest problem, in America, is the standard American diet; people are eating too highly refined carbohydrates. That means the highly refined wheat products, like pull-aparts, a footlong Subway sandwich, all-you-can-eat breadsticks, that kind of stuff.

What happens is the highly refined carbohydrates that convert very quickly to glucose and sugar. It causes weight gain and inflammation. But what happens is that when they said, 'Hey, don't eat any of those things. Restrict a little bit of your caloric intake and then eat an animal protein,' then people lost weight. And so rightfully — if they're not eating any carbohydrates, people would have this immediate weight loss because they're no longer eating donuts and Subway sandwiches. I can tell everybody: If you stop eating donuts you'll lose weight. That's not a magical thing. People are like, 'Wow, I felt so good.' And it's like, 'Well, yeah because you cut off some of the junk foods.'

Protein comes from animal proteins also comes from plant proteins. But what animal proteins are missing is phytonutrients. There are very little to no antioxidants. And there's no fiber.

Eating less highly refined carbohydrates lowers the sugar intake of the body, generically speaking. [This] would decrease cancer cell growth because cancer is a metabolic disease. Cancer has 10 times more insulin receptors than normal cells. Cancer loves sugar. We know this because we do PET scans every day.

What happens is they want to look at 'starving the cancer cell from one of its primary sources of fuel,' which is glucose or sugar. And too much glucose from the excess of the diet, highly refined carbohydrates, can cause an increase of [cancer] growth.

Simple and Complex Carbs

But the problem is what they were replacing with the removal of the carbohydrates. Remember there is something called simple and a complex carbohydrate. But again since most people can only remember one thing, they just blamed all carbs. They didn't understand that there's a complex carbohydrate — whole grains, for example.

So most people don't eat whole grains in America. But now there are health people who do, but the average person is eating a rainbow bread or some kind of pull-apart, or spongy, fluffy pastry kind of foods. Whereas the rest of the world, you go to Europe and all the breads are hard, you have to break it, you have to crack it, you have to cut it with a knife. There are seeds and nuts in it. And it's not as fluffy and all this stuff.

But when you look at the complex carbohydrates, most will eat simple carbohydrates. So by removing that, they got a quick gain. Yeah, you weren't eating the donuts, for example. And the bread. And the pizza. And all these extra stuff that had extra carbohydrates.

Inflammation

But what they ended up becoming, after three months, we started increasing inflammation throughout the body. And then we saw a difference with the cancer cells, started to grow even more. Not only did cancer get worse, but then the patient's diabetes, hypertension, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease, any other kind of inflammatory whether they had rheumatoid or anything else, would get worse. Because animal protein is pro-inflammatory.

Animal proteins are what they call high omega 6s, which are pro-inflammatory. Plant-based proteins — you also get omega 3s from flax, chia, and hemp, all the other things like that. But there's a ratio. When [protein] comes from plants, plants have more 3s than 6s.

So the simple thing in learning about protein is that there's a difference between anti-inflammatory protein and pro-inflammatory proteins.

• More information: Pros and Cons of the Paleo Diet

'Those cancer patients who have the highest blood sugar readings after eating have the lowest survival rates.'

Dr. David Jockers

Ketogenic

This nutrition plan has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce inflammation. This leads to a reduced risk of chronic disease as well as improved muscle development and fat metabolism.

Dr. David Jockers notes that a ketogenic diet is 'a very low carbohydrate, moderate protein, and high fat based nutrition plan. A ketogenic diet trains the individual's metabolism to run off of fatty acids or ketone bodies. This is called fat adapted, when the body has adapted to run off of fatty acids/ketones at rest.

'This nutrition plan has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce inflammation. This leads to a reduced risk of chronic disease as well as improved muscle development and fat metabolism.'

The goal of a ketogenic diet is simple: convert the body's primary fuel supply from sugar to fat. Fat is converted into ketones which are very efficient for energy production while also limiting metabolic waste that contributes to inflammation.

'The body naturally favors sugar over fat as an energy source,' Dr. Jockers says. 'At the same time, most Americans have a crazy high reliance on carbs and sugars as the primary source of calories in their diets.

'Cancer cells contain ten times the amount of insulin receptors as normal cells.  This allows them to gobble up glucose and other nutrients from the bloodstream at an accelerated rate.  As long as an individual continues to provide this form of fuel cancer will continue to grow.  Those cancer patients who have the highest blood sugar readings after eating have the lowest survival rates.'

This is why a ketogenic diet is needed to essentially re-teach the body to use fat for energy. Most people spend the majority of their lives in a sugar-burning state and their cells lose the metabolic flexibility necessary to burn fat.

This is why it usually takes about 2-3 weeks for someone to become fully keto-adapted after beginning a ketogenic diet. Even though the body will begin to produce ketones within a few days, it takes longer for the cells to begin converting them into energy.

To get into this state, you must follow a high-fat, low-carb, moderate-protein nutrition plan. By making this simple dietary change, blood sugar drops to a level where the body must learn to utilize fat to survive.

At this point, the body begins to convert fatty acids into ketones which are then used by the cells in the brain and body to produce energy. This state is sometimes referred to as being keto-adapted.

While macronutrient needs can change based on individual needs and activity levels, the general breakdown looks like this:

• Low Carbohydrate: 5-10 percent of calories from net carbs (total carbs – fiber)
• Moderate Protein: 20-30 percent of calories from protein
• High Fat: 60-80 percent of calories from fat

Because ketones result in more energy and lowered inflammation, you can expect to enjoy a heightened sense of wellbeing, a sharper mind, and a natural increase in fat loss.

• Dr. David Jockers: The Diet that Destroys Cancer

There are three different keto diets:

Standard Ketogenic Diet

This is where you are trying to adapt your body to be in ketosis permanently. Here your carbs are limited to about 20-50 grams per day with moderate protein (0.8-1.2 grams/kg of body weight). The remainder of calories come from healthy fats.

Cyclical Ketogenic Diet

This where you periodically consume higher amounts of carbs in order to temporarily come out of ketosis. How often you cycle out really depends on your preference. I often recommend starting out with one day every week while some people like to do once a month.

Targeted Ketogenic Diet

This is for high-intensity athletes. On this diet, you go low-carb for all meals other than right before the high-intensity activities. About 30 mins-1 hour prior to the activity you take in 25-50 grams of net carbs.

One important aspect of following a ketogenic diet that is often overlooked is making sure you get enough sodium and minerals. When you are running on carbohydrates your body will retain sodium due to elevated insulin levels. Once you are running on ketones, however, your body excretes sodium at a much higher level until you are fully keto-adapted.

This means while eating ketogenic it is important to use salt generously on your foods. I recommend either a pink Himalayan or Celtic sea salt as these contain naturally occurring minerals in addition to sodium.

So, salt your foods well but also eat plenty of mineral-rich foods like celery, cucumbers, and seaweeds. As an additional source of minerals, you can also sip on organic broth throughout the day.

Ketogenic Diet Guides and Resources

• Dr. Jockers' Foods for keto diet

Alkaline Diet

Anytime you use a protocol that is designed to kill microbes it is critical to avoid eating foods and drinks which feed or excite the microbes.

An acidic diet of foods and drinks will make this protocol less effective because microbes will breed much faster and be more aggressive in the presence of an acidic diet. In other words, the microbes may be able to breed faster than you can kill them. This includes the microbes which are inside the cancer cells.

An alkaline diet includes, among other things:

• ZERO sugar,
• ZERO white flour,
• ZERO soda pops (even diet soda pops are forbidden),
• ZERO meat,
• ZERO dairy products

After eliminating all the foods that feed or excite microbes, what is left over is basically whole foods, whole fruits, vegetable drinks, and other healthy foods and drinks.

• More information: High pH Therapy

Alkaline Diet Guides and Resources

• Alkaline Diet for Cancer Patients

Why is meat forbidden?

First of all, understand that during cancer treatment, a person should not eat anything that is not building the immune system or killing cancer cells. Meat does not contribute to curing cancer, so meat is normally forbidden in cancer diets. There are plenty of foods that help cure cancer, so there is no need to eat meat.

For some kinds of cancer, meat eaters (especially red meat) have a higher probability of getting those kinds of cancer, such as colon cancer and prostate cancer. The reason for this is not entirely clear but may have something to do with too much animal fats or a lack of fiber.

Meat also uses up the two critical enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin, which are critical to allowing the immune system to kill cancer cells, though more potent enzymes have now been found. Vegetable proteins do not use up those enzymes.

• 'Pancreatin enzymes can be destroyed by contact with acids. Many popular cosmetics that contain acids are a special concern for skin cancer. Also, a diet comprised mostly of refined foods and meats may result in an acidic body chemistry that depletes these enzymes. Cancer cells metabolize foods very inefficiently and generate acidic wastes. This extra acidity can further compound an already bad environment for pancreatin enzymes. The excess acidity also enables the cancer to spread by using acid dissolved normal cells as its food source. I think this strongly acidic environment, especially local to the cancer, is the primary reason that cancer does not normally heal on its own.'
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Another reason to avoid meat is the accumulation of fecal matter in the colon. The colon should be relatively clear during cancer treatment so that the body can absorb as many nutrients as possible. All foods which ferment in the bowel should be avoided. Absolutely no meat or fish!

Then there are the hormones in meat:

• 'Diethylstilbestrol (Des) has been shown by the FDA to cause cancer of the uterus, breast, and other reproductive organs. This is an artificial sex hormone widely used in food production. Dangerous residues of stilbestrol are in 85% of all the meat sold in the United States. This is the main reason why 15 countries around the world now refuse to import American meat; 21 nations have a total ban on the use of stilbestrol in food production or processing.'
  http://www.pathlights.com/nr_encyclopedia/17canc02.htm

And there is more:

• 'Nitrosamines cause cancer of the liver, stomach, brain, bladder, kidneys and several other organs. Dr. William Lijinski, of the University of Nebraska, says they are 'perfect carcinogens.' When chemical preservatives and color enhancers are ingested, they cause the body to produce nitrosamines. Another source is nitrates and nitrites, which are heavily added to meat during processing. Runoff of nitrates and nitrites from fields sprayed with chemical fertilizers get into aquifers and wells and when the water is drunk, can lead to cancer… Avoid amines (which are in cheese, meat, and unrefrigerated foods).
  http://www.pathlights.com/nr_encyclopedia/17canc02.htm

Another problem with meat is toxins: 'avoid meat (if the digestive system is weak, digestion of meat could produce toxins in blood).'
http://www.boobboutique.com/aboutbreastcancer/alternatives/Issels.htm

• 'Avoid meat in all forms. It is dead matter, low in minerals, and produces uric acid in excess which is a waste product. The incidence of cancer is in direct proportion to the amount of animal proteins, particularly meat, in the diet. However, it is true that devitalized, processed, and sugared food can also cause cancer—even in vegetarians. But far more often, when cancer strikes, those eating the junk foods are also eating meat. Nations and groups which consume less meat have less cancer. Hospital records show that Seventh-day Adventists, who eat little or no meat, suffer far less from cancer than the average meat-eating American. Dr. Willard J. Visek, research scientist at Cornell University, stated that the high protein diet of Americans is linked to the high incidence of cancer in the U.S. Another cancer physician, who also worked with hundreds of cancer patients, said that anyone who does not eat meat, eats only good food, and does all he can to protect his liver, may never get cancer. Cancer is less a disease than a condition existing in the whole body. Cancer would be almost unheard of if no devitalized food or meats were eaten. Cancer cannot exist where there is a pure bloodstream.'
  http://www.pathlights.com/nr_encyclopedia/17canc02.htm

Here is another quote on acidity and cancer:

• 'The second solution is to introduce the appropriate calciums into the body since the body uses calcium as the chief alkalinizer of all body fluids including the intracellular fluids. Remember that cancers and tumors can only exist in a predominantly ACID environment caused by a diet rich in dairy foods, meats, grain products, sweets and strong condiments such as black pepper. This is always accompanied by an acute lack of living fruits and vegetables (uncooked and non-preserved).'
  http://seasilver.threadnet.com/Preventorium/thesis.htm

There are many ramifications to what cows and what other animals eat because it eventually affects the quality of the meat we eat.

• 'Lactobacillus acidophilus is a 'friendly' organism which helps the body fight disease and restore health. Modern research has discovered that acidophilus kills the harmful bacteria strain of E. coli in the intestinal tract. Acidophilus breaks milk sugar down into lactic acid. Bacteria which produce putrefaction and gas in the intestines cannot live in lactic acid. Acidophilus also has the unique ability to help the body synthesize, or manufacture all of the 'B' vitamins in the system. This makes it especially valuable since there is literally a host of agents which destroy B vitamins. A few are antibiotics, birth control pills, eating sugar and refined foods and drinking coffee. A diet high in red meat will destroy the beneficial bacteria, due to the concentration of antibiotics and steroids given to the animals before they are slaughtered.'
  http://www.all-natural.com/herbnutr.html

Like sugar, meat feeds cancer cells:

• 'Cancer is fundamentally involved with mal-utilization of protein. Oncologists generally agree that the actual cause of death in cancer patients is cachexia, a condition of severe weight loss and wasting associated with protein malabsorption. In fact, cancer cells are able to grow by making the amino acids of protein available for their growth at the expense of the body as a whole. Meat, especially red meat, being the most readily assimilable protein, becomes a banquet for cancer cells. Emphasizing the use of plant sources of vegetable protein such as legumes and beans that contain cancer-fig