Fighting cancer with diet and lifestyle

Proper diet is absolutely vital when fighting cancer or any other chronic degen­era­tive disease. Numerous scientific studies over the years have shown that those who eat a low-methionine (plant-based) diet have a lower inci­dence of can­cer. Learn more by watching these short videos: 

To further understand the importance of eating a plant-based diet when fighting cancer, order the book How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger and read the introduction and the chapters on cancer. To further understand the importance of a plant-based diet, please watch Rich Roll’s Masterclass on Plant-Based Nutrition: Click here.

To help ease the transition to a plant-based diet, I recommend the following cookbooks:

I also recommend one of the following menu-planning services:

If you don’t have the time or the energy to make your own plant-based meals, these companies will deliver them to your home:

Unless you need to gain weight, reduce portion sizes. As much as possible, eat only foods that are labeled “USDA Organic” and “Non-GMO Project Veri­fied.” Use only organic date sugar or molasses for sweetening. Incorporate foods like the ones shown below that are rich in cancer-fighting phytochemicals. To learn how to lower the glycemic load of starchy foods, please read my blog about resistance starches: Click here.

  • Apples
  • Arugula
  • Blackberries
  • Blueberries
  • Broccoli
  • Brussel sprouts
  • Cabbage
  • Capers
  • Carrots
  • Cauliflower
  • Chard
  • Cranberries
  • Garlic
  • Grapes
  • Green tea
  • Kale
  • Lentils
  • Mushrooms
  • Onions
  • Parsley
  • Pinto beans
  • Pomegranate
  • Radishes
  • Raspberries
  • Rosemary
  • Strawberries
  • Tomatoes (deskinned and deseeded)
  • Watercress

Dr. Michael Greger’s Daily Dozen:

For further help with meal planning, Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen (click here) is a checklist of twelve food categories designed to encourage people to include a wide variety of nutrient-rich, plant-based foods in their daily diet. It is not a strict meal plan, but rather a flexible framework to guide healthy eating choices. Here’s what it includes:

  • 12 categories: leafy greens, other vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts and seeds, legumes, whole grains, spices, beverages, flaxseed/chia seeds, turmeric, and exercise.
  • Serving sizes: Each category specifies a recommended number of servings per day.
  • Flexibility: You can customize the checklist to fit your preferences and dietary needs.
  • Science-based: Dr. Greger developed the Daily Dozen based on his detailed analysis of scientific research on nutrition and health.

Meal scheduling:

When fighting cancer, almost as important as what you eat is when you eat. Eat during daylight hours only as eating after sundown has been found to increase cancer risk. Adopt a 16:8 diet where you restrict eating to an 8-hour window of time. For example, eat breakfast at 9:00 am, lunch at 1:00 pm, and dinner at 5:00 pm. Then fast for 16 hours. And make breakfast or lunch the biggest meal of the day and dinner the smallest.

Cooking methods:

Just as important as what you eat and when you eat, is how you cook your food. Dry-heat methods are typically used such as baking, frying (including air-frying), roasting, grilling (barbecuing), searing, broiling, and toasting. Toxic compounds called advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are formed when food—especially food high in fat and animal protein—is subjected to dry heat above 300ºF. Under such conditions, carbohydrates are thermally broken down into monosaccharides, proteins into peptides, and fat into fatty acids. These monosaccharides, peptides, and fatty acids then chemically bind with each other in what is known as the Maillard reaction, and this reaction creates AGEs.

Chronic consumption of high amounts of AGEs can lead to vascular endothelial dysfunction, systemic inflammation, and oxidative damage to cellular lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. This in turn accelerates the aging process and increases the risk of cancer, heart attack, stroke, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, cataracts, kidney disease, infertility, erectile dysfunction, degenerative disc disease, arthritis, impaired wound healing, muscle loss, and osteoporosis.

The most effective way to reduce your intake of AGEs is to avoid processed foods and choose cooking methods that inhibit the Maillard reaction. These cooking methods use lower temperatures and higher moisture and include boiling, poaching, steaming, sauteing over gentle heat using fat-free broth, slow-cooking (Crock Pot), stewing, pressure-cooking (Instant Pot), and baking below 300ºF using a steam oven (click here). To reduce AGEs in the body, participate in regular exercise. And to diminish the harmful effects of AGEs, incorporate cinnamon, cumin, ginger, rosemary, thyme, turmeric, capers, cruciferous vegetables, green tea, onions, and pomegranate into your diet.

Supplements:

  • Multivitamin: Conventional cancer treatment can induce nutritional deficien­cies. Therefore, it is important to take a high-quality, low-dose, and iron-free (cancer loves iron), multivita­min & multimineral supplement. Recommended brand: MegaFood One Daily Iron Free. Recommended dosage: One tablet daily.
  • Omega-3 fatty acids: Recommended brand: Freshfield Vegan Omega-3. Recommended dosage: Two capsules twice daily.
  • Probiotics: Recommended brand: Florastor. Recommended dosage: One capsule twice daily.

Exercise:

The anti-cancer effects of exercise (especially strength training) are rather profound. The recommended exercise routine is the 30-Minute Express Workout (click here) 3 days per week at your local Planet Fitness gym (click here). If you do not live near Planet Fitness, you can do strength training at home using exercise bands (click here). If you are una­ble to engage in strength training, a mod­ified walking pro­gram is recommended (click here).

Stress reduction:

Chronic stress promotes cancer. To help alleviate stress, spend 30 minutes a day doing something you like, such as having sex more often, soaking in a hot tub, visiting a friend, playing with your dog (if you don’t have a dog, adopt one; unconditional love is priceless), spending time outdoors, listening to soothing music, watching a funny movie, learning to meditate, getting a massage, counting to ten before losing your temper, and avoiding difficult people whenever possible.

Hydration:

Adequate hydration slows the aging process and increases resilience to age-dependent chronic diseases. It is especially important to stay well-hydrated during cancer treatment. Doing so helps flush toxins out of the body and reduce common side effects of treatment. A good rule of thumb is to drink half of your body weight in ounces of water. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, divide that number by 2. That equals 75 and that is the number of fluid ounces of water to drink per day.

For maximum health benefits, it is important that the water you drink and cook with, be filtered of toxins and molecularly “structured.” The recommended water filter that can do both is the AquaLiv Water System. Structured water is also known as EZ (exclusion-zone) water, H3O2, the fourth phase of water, and gel water. Struc­tured water is more absorbable, optimizing hydration and flushing out toxins. It has been championed by Dr. Gerald Pollack, PhD, renowned scientist and distin­guished professor of bioengineer­ing at the University of Washington (click here). To purify the water your bathe with, we recommend the Aqua Earth 15 Stage Shower Filter.

Sleep:

Chronic sleep deprivation is associated with a higher risk of cancer development. Lack of sleep can lead to immune suppression and the production of cancer-stimulating inflammatory cytokines. The individual contributions of inadequate sleep, circadian rhythm disruption, and impairments of melatonin production and immune function to the initiation and promotion of cancer are being examined closely by scientists. Getting deep and undisturbed sleep in total darkness may be far more important than we thought. Click here to learn how to fix the most common sleep issues.

Proper breathing:

Chronic hypoxia (persistent lack of optimal tissue oxygenation) is a major driving force for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression, and numerous other health conditions. Most people have habitual “over-breathing” or “hyperventilation” patterns at rest, such as chest breathing instead of diaphragmatic breathing, mouth breathing instead of nose breathing, and rapid and/or deep breathing instead of slow and shallow breathing. These abnormal breathing patterns lead to hypocapnia or decreased carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the alveoli (lungs) and arterial blood. This lack of CO2 is harmful because it constricts blood vessels which leads to decreased perfusion of vital organs, and, due to something called the Bohr Effect, impairs oxygen release from hemoglobin which leads to hypoxia. Fortunately, this can be reversed over time with proper breathing retraining exercises using a simple home device called the Relaxator™ (click here).

It seems counterintuitive, but the more air one breathes, the lower the levels of CO2 and the less oxygen that reaches the tissues and is released to the cells. Having normal levels of CO2 in the alveoli (exhaled air) and arterial blood (40 mmHg or 5.3% at sea level) is crucial for good health. Numerous chronic diseases are associated with hypocapnia from over-breathing and the resultant tissue hypoxia. For example, in a 2001 Ukrainian study, 120 women with metastatic breast cancer were found to have an average of only 22 mmHg or 2.9% of CO2 in their exhaled air. In the same study, it was found that breathing retraining exercises reduced mortality in women by nearly six-fold! It’s as if tumors are cries of the body for more oxygen. Breathing slower and less may be one of the greatest health-promoting strategies ever. To promote optimal breathing patterns, higher CO2 levels, and better tissue oxygenation, I spend 15 minutes twice daily using the Relaxator™ while checking emails.

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