Nutrition Help for People with Cancer

DIET REGIME I: For active cancer Patients who have not received any conventional cancer treatments, or have in the past been treated only with surgery and/or radiotherapy
Foods to eat	Foods to avoid	Therapeutic items*	Supplements (daily dose)*
Eat liberally: Fresh vegetables, especially dark green leafy varieties, broccoli and brussels sprouts. (Good for breast cancer; they break down excess oestrogen). Fresh salad vegetables, especially beets (beetroot) raw radishes, onions and chives; Fresh fruit, especially blue, purple and dark red berries; Extra virgin olive oil (use plenty if you need to put on weight); Legumes (pulses) especially if sprouted; Brown rice (soaked overnight before cooking); Millet, rye, porridge oats, buckwheat and other whole grains and their flour; Bread made from sprouted grains (ask in health food stores); Tofu; Organic soy milk; Rice milk; Nuts; Sunflower, pumpkin, sesame seeds, garlic. A pinch of powdered kelp, onion and garlic powder to season food. Iodine in kelp helps combat breast cancer (why?). Eat a wide variety of the above foods. After two months you may consume sparingly: (why?) Honey, plain organic yoghurt, unsalted organic cottage cheese, lightly-cooked wild (not farmed) fish.	1. Refined (nutritionally-depleted) foods: e.g. sugar, white flour, most oils and fats, margarine. 2. Foods which are hard to digest: Meat, egg, fried food (except for stir-frying), hard cheese. 3. Foods which disrupt your hormonal or electrolyte balance or which dehydrate you or divert energy from your liver's detoxification resources: salt and salty foods, sugar (again), tea, coffee, alcohol, artificial food additives. Avoid convenience foods in general as these often have hidden ingredients. If in doubt about any foods or ingredients, stick to the permitted foods alone. Macrobiotic experts suggest avoiding regular consumption of potatoes because of their excess of "Yin" energy. Most cancers are diseases of excess "Yin". Yin and Yang are energy concepts used in oriental medicine. If you or your dietician believe that this regime is making you lose too much weight, then you should follow your dietician's advice. Pharmaceutical-grade fish oil supplements may help reduce cachexia-related weight loss.	For the first four weeks: Castor oil (why?) 1 tbsp at bed-time (not near mealtimes or if you have diarrhoea). Also raw garlic cut into small cubes, 1 teaspoonful at bed-time swallowed with water. (Will not cause odour if you do not chew it.) Permanently: psyllium husks (preferably whole, not powdered) 1 tbsp mixed in 400 ml/¾ pint water twice/day. Add spices or luke-warm herbal teas: turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cayenne, asafetida (ferula), ginger, dandelion coffee, peppermint tea. Also drink the teas to aid digestion and use the spices in cookery, they are anti-microbial and anti-parasitic. Research suggests turmeric may help to starve tumours of their blood supply. Suggested minimum dose: 2 teaspoons 2-3 times/day. To aid absorption, take the turmeric with pineapple juice. Strong chamomile tea is also a natural relaxant, sleep aid and anti-stress remedy. Organic cold-pressed flax seed oil: whisk 1 tablespoon/day into a glass of juice or add to salad.	Basic multinutrient formula. Plus Vitamin C 2500 mg, four times a day between meals, preferably as magnesium ascorbate. If your bowels do not tolerate this dose, reduce it to comfortable levels. Vitamin C megadose treatment is controversial, but has been tested in clinical trials and many cancer patients attribute their recovery to it. Bromelain, an enzyme from pineapple stems, can break down fibrin and can also degrade the protective capsule around tumours. Take 200 mg of a high-potency preparation 3 times a day between meals. Herbal formulae usually include anti-microbial and anti-parasitic herbs, circulatory stimulants and herbs to enhance the clearance of wastes and residues by stimulating bile production, liver drainage and bowel motions. The Hoxsey and Essiac formulas include red clover, burdock root, queen's delight, oregon grape root, sheep's sorrel, slippery elm, liquorice, cascara amarga, buckthorn, poke root, prickly ash bark, wild indigo, turkey rhubarb. Observe cautions on product labels.
Juice therapy Gerson recommended consuming freshly-made organic fruit and vegetable juices 12 times a day (using a juice extractor). His formula was 6 apple and carrot; 6 apple and greens (cabbage, broccoli, watercress, parsley etc.). His Dutch equivalent, Dr Moerman, recommended the juice of 3 lemons a day. It is now known that apples contain high levels of arabinose, a toxin which is also produced by the Candida albicans fungus. Arabinose can cross-link amino acids and block the action of vitamin B6. Linda Lazarides suggests using the following daily juice combinations. 1. Beet (beetroot) and celery. 2. Broccoli, carrot and lemon (including some of the pith and peel). 3. Radish, lemon (or onion) and greens. (Raw onion is good for burns and for soothing the intestines). 4. Cucumber and blackberry or other dark berries or cherries. Drink all juices raw and as fresh as possible, but wait 20 minutes before drinking fresh beetroot, onion, radish or watercress juice to settle the taste.     Read more about arabinose.     Read more about juicing.			Glutathione is essential for good liver function but people with chronic illness often have low levels. Glutathione in food and supplements is broken down by digestion. But supplements of lipoic acid (100 mg/day) and the herbal extract silymarin, plus cysteine-rich foods (e.g. oats, fish, sunflower seeds) can help your body to make its own glutathione.
Healing Foods Cookbook		More recipes, plus general information

DIET REGIME II For patients currently receiving chemotherapy		DIET REGIME III For patients who have completed chemotherapy treatments
Side effects of chemotherapy include erosion of your intestinal lining, leading to inflammation, diarrhoea and poor nourishment. Foods may taste peculiar and you may experience nausea or vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, tummy pain, feeling full all the time, or problems with your mouth and teeth. Caution with both food and supplements is needed. Never overload your digestion. Eat small, frequent meals or fresh vegetable soup with extra virgin olive oil and chew slowly. Avoid any foods or supplements which cause irritation or are hard to digest. Avoid fried or greasy foods. Avoid caffeine-containing liquids such as tea, coffee and colas as these are dehydrating. Drink at least two litres of fluid a day. Juices (see Regime I) are ideal, and provide extra vitamins which are especially valuable while on chemotherapy. To soothe your intestinal lining, mix the juices with the herb slippery elm. Avoid grapefruit juice - it slows down drug metabolism. Eating brown rice can help to reduce diarrhea. Eat avocado and yoghurt frequently. They are excellent sources of calories, protein, essential fatty acids and potassium, and can be made into a smoothie with banana, sesame paste and fruit juice. Just keep drinking this smoothie if you lose your appetite. Try stimulating your appetite by eating something very sour, like a gherkin or lemon wedge, or by taking "digestive bitters" (ask in your drug store or health shop). If you suffer from constipation take psyllium husks as described in Regime I. Turmeric is good for those on chemotherapy and helps to protect the liver. Chamomile tea aids calmness and digestion. Shiitake and maitake mushrooms: these are recommended alongside chemotherapy by Japanese doctors and are considered very beneficial. Now available in some supermarkets in the West and in powdered form by mail order. Good supplements are multivitamin/mineral drops, plus cod liver oil and vitamins C and E, which enhance the results of chemotherapy. Vitamin C should be taken as a powder dissolved in water, which reduces any potential irritation. Do not take more vitamin C than your bowels can comfortably tolerate. Do not take high doses of selenium, glutathione, lipoic acid or any form of cysteine while on chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Too much of these may interfere with the treatments.		After chemotherapy, your body needs a lot of help with repair. The drugs can remain in your tissues for a long time. Since they are capable of causing new cancers to form, it is a good idea to clear the residues out of your body as quickly as possible. The food-related advice in Regime II continues to apply while your digestive system is still sensitive, but as this improves, you can embrace the broader recommendations given in columns I and II of Regime I. Try to follow the juice therapy in Regime I. It provides nutrients that help to heal your intestines. The greatest change now is in your supplements. The first item is a course of Acidophilus/bifidus to replace any beneficial intestinal bacteria which have been destroyed by the chemotherapy. (This will prevent dysbiosis from taking hold and stressing your liver with bacterial and fungal toxins.) Next come treatments to heal your intestines and step up your liver function. Increase your intake of turmeric as much as you can - at least two teaspoons a day; plus Lecithin granules, 1-2 tbsp/day; N-acetyl cysteine 1,500 mg/day; Vitamin C as much as your bowels will tolerate; Magnesium 400 mg/day; Methionine 1000 mg/day; Lipoic acid 100 mg/day; Silymarin, Butyric acid: doses as per product labels. Also take a basic multinutrient formula. If you live in Europe or New Zealand, where soil selenium levels are low, add selenium 100 mcg/day. Drink comfrey tea with slippery elm several times a day to help regenerate your intestinal lining. DIET REGIME IV For patients currently receiving radiotherapy Do not take high doses of selenium, glutathione, lipoic acid or any form of cysteine while on chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Too much of these may interfere with the treatments. If your digestive system is affected by the radiation, follow the dietary advice in Regime III. Otherwise most of Regime I should be OK for you. Liquidizing fruit juices with a little organic orange or lemon peel provides flavonoids that can help to prevent skin reddening during radiotherapy. Eating dark red, blue and purple fruits and drinking their juices also helps this.

DIET REGIME V: Prevention Also for patients who have been cancer-free for some time and would like to optimize their health with a view to preventing a recurrence
Foods to eat	Foods to ration	Therapeutic items & supplements*
Eat liberally: Fresh vegetables, especially dark green leafy varieties, broccoli and brussels sprouts. Fresh salad vegetables, especially beets (beetroot) raw radishes, onions and chives; Fresh fruit, especially blue, purple and dark red berries; Extra virgin olive oil; Legumes (pulses) especially if sprouted; Brown rice (soaked overnight before cooking); Millet, rye, porridge oats, buckwheat and other whole grains and their flour; Bread made from sprouted grains (ask in health food stores); Tofu; Organic soy milk; Rice milk; Nuts; Sunflower, pumpkin & sesame seeds, garlic. Eat a wide variety of the above foods. Consume the following more sparingly: Honey, organic dairy products, lightly-cooked wild (not farmed) fish and organic white meat. In addition to prevent breast cancer: eat broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, radishes, soy milk, tofu, fish. Season food with a pinch of powdered kelp. To prevent colon cancer: use psyllium husks; treat and prevent intestinal dysbiosis. To prevent prostate cancer: eat deep red tomatoes and tomato sauce.	1. Refined (nutritionally-depleted) foods: e.g. sugar, white flour, most oils and fats, margarine. 2. Foods which are hard to digest: Meat, cooked egg, fried food (except for stir-frying), hard cheese. 3. Foods which disrupt your hormonal or electrolyte balance or which dehydrate you or divert energy from your liver's detoxification resources: salt and salty foods, sugar (again), tea, coffee, alcohol, artificial food additives. Ration convenience foods in general as these often have hidden ingredients.	Cancerous changes are often triggered by free radical damage to cells. Excess free radicals are generated by chemicals known as carcinogens. These include compounds in diesel smoke and their relatives produced when meat products are burned or char-grilled. Many free radicals are also produced by over-heating of cooking oils, as when food is deep-fried or fried at a high heat or until brown or crisp. Also carcinogenic is acetaldehyde, created by the metabolism of alcohol. Formaldehyde gas is given off by carpets and soft furnishings which have been treated with fire retardants and other chemicals. Many pollutants are carcinogenic. Free radicals are also produced by the body's own immune system during inflammation. The best protection against carcinogens is to follow the nutrition advice given in the first two columns of this Regime. Also take a look at the "Juice Therapy" section of Regime I. These juices contain many anti-carcinogenic ingredients: flavonoids, carotenes and antioxidant vitamins and minerals. Some of these nutrients can also be taken in supplement form, for instance broccoli extract and lycopene. Powerful flavonoid supplements include ginkgo biloba, bilberry extract and pycnogenol. For best effects add vitamin C. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) supplements are specifically protective against breast cancer. By raising glutathione levels, lipoic acid supplements can help to prevent many different types of cancers. It can also neutralize many different types of free radicals. Selenium is also a good all-rounder, and it is now considered essential to supplement it if you live in Europe, New Zealand or other countries where soil levels are low. Acidophilus/bifidus supplements taken with psyllium husks can combat the bowel conditions that are linked not only with colon cancer and other bowel diseases but also breast cancer.
*All doses are for adults. Children's doses are in proportion to their body weight. So a child who is half the weight of a small adult should be given half the adult dose, and so on.
Additional advice: Do not rush into this program. Wait until you are properly organized and mentally prepared. You will then be more likely to cope with it on the required long-term basis and see its benefits. If you find your enthusiasm beginning to wane, use the Nutritionhelp Forum. When eating, do not overload your stomach; this puts a strain on your digestion. Food which you have not completely digested ends up feeding toxin-producing bacteria in your intestines. Don't dilute your digestive juices: drink liquids before meals, not during or soon after.
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