Alternative Cancer Treatment and Support
There is a great deal of legitimate research and published studies on non-traditional or alternative cancer treatment and support. A doctor or any physician’s lack of knowledge in this area will never begin to make the research or the incredible results of some of these treatments untrue.
In many cases presented it is shown that non-traditional therapies actually yield better results. In fact the research found by John Boik states that in the United States roughly 40-to 60-percent of cancer patients use some form of complimentary medicine including the use of herbs, vitamins and antioxidants without the guidance of their oncologist or scientific studies.
Because the use of complimentary medicine in the area of cancer support is growing so rapidly, we are more able to establish the powerful results of alternative therapies in supporting the treatment of cancer.
Differing Opinions on Alternative Treatment
There are many differing opinions on the battle against cancer. One opinion that is shared is that cancer is not able to grow and develop as long as there is a sufficiently strong and aware immune system. We all have precancerous cells in our bodies and our immune system is made to trigger the dying-off process of these cells each day. Many cancer victims feel that they have been very healthy and have lived very healthy lives and always wonder how this happened to them. This process never happens overnight—it begins with years of family and job stress, lifestyle choices, bad food choices: lack of nutritional value, food additives, consumption of sugar, and wrong fats and oils, misuse of alcohol and drugs, overexposure to environmental toxins (cleaning solvents, pesticides, air fresheners, metals), bad water, lack of proper and vital nutrients, and so on (according to cancer organizations as much as 80% of all cancers are related to diet and lifestyle). This degeneration process of the body takes place over time and by the time you have been diagnosed there has been an entire process of metabolic breakdown throughout the body that needs immediate attention. Fighting cancer is very difficult and takes a great deal of commitment. In deciding to save your life, you owe it to yourself to take advantage of any products, food sources, and treatments which may extend your life, reduce pain and suffering, and allow your body to have an opportunity to heal itself. It is estimated that when most cancers are diagnosed they have already been developing for 5 to 10 years. The time that it took your body this to develop these abnormal cell growths is an indication of the time and commitment it will take to begin to repair the damage done.
We must add in that physicians are taught nothing about diet and nutrition and its role in healthcare. Asking a doctor about nutritional supplementation and diet in supporting cancer would be like asking a pilot how drive a race car. Always be certain that when you have questions, you ask questions of the professionals who are trained in their particular field of knowledge. Physicians uneducated in an area of alternative medicine often are fearful and recommend the termination of support that may very well be part of the choices that save your life.
Recommended Reading
“The Paleo Diet”
Loren Cordain, Ph.D.
“Selling Sickness”
Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels
“Food Politics”
Marion Nestle
“The Cancer Industry”
Ralph Moss
“Confessions of a Medical Heretic”
Robert Mendohlson
Be Diligent. Be Aggressive.
Remember, feeling good is not necessarily a gauge for being healthy or for wellness in general. It is vitally important that you be very diligent and aggressive regarding nutrition, lifestyle, and supplementation program in order to re-establish the body’s immune system and all other systems affected so it can once again have the ability to fight cancer cells. If you are only interested in doing a few of these things, I would not recommend wasting time and money—it takes every aspect of health and well-being in order to be aggressive enough in this battle. If a house if falling apart at the foundation, putting a few windows and doors on will not prevent it from falling to the ground.
Dietary choices are hugely important here. We know that dietary choices play a role in the suppression or initiation of the immune system. No matter what form of cancer you may be dealing with, the following additions and eliminations to diet should be followed in order to remove the stress or the depression of immune function from the body.
- Eat a Paleolithic-based diet (The Paleo Diet, Loren Cordain, Ph.D.). Eliminate all foods that depress immune function such as sweeteners or sugars, wheat flour, potatoes, and foods that you have been tested for an allergy or sensitivity to, or foods that you know your body does not agree with. Remove all processed or chemically modified food sources such as canned or pre-packaged foods with additives for shelf-life (i.e., nitrates in meat products).
- Removing most grains at this time is a good idea—small amounts of almond or rice flour and Ezekiel bread (which is made from sprouted grain) are good options. Also the addition of Kamut, Amaranth, Quinoa as a side dish at a meal is a great addition, just not as the main part of a meal.
- Unfortunately pasteurized milk has had all of its health benefits destroyed by heat and therefore has many qualities that people have severe sensitivities to. I highly recommend that as a healthier choice you drink Goat’s Milk, Almond Milk, Hazelnut Milk, or Rice Milk as a replacement. We find that 85% of all people tested for Cow Dairy have an extreme sensitivity to it. Make sure to be tested when deciding on a replacement to make sure those are not a sensitivity for you.
- No caffeine or alcohol. If you are presently drinking coffee, remember to slowly remove it from your diet—the withdrawl can be extremely hard on the body and cause you to feel terrible.
- Eating adequate amounts of healthy foods that are non-starchy, such as vegetables, animal protein from animals that were raised organically and free range/grass fed—hormone and antibiotic free (these animal proteins can be found at Wild Oats and Whole Foods Market for purchase—New Zealand beef is best known). Pesticide free vegetables and fruit can also be purchased at these local health food stores under the “organic/pesticide free” labels. Cooked vegetables often are digested more easily by people with cancer than raw vegetables, however having raw juiced vegetables 2 times per week would be fine. Raw fresh fruit should be eaten no more than 1-to 2- times a day.
- Avoid shellfish and stay away from seafood high in mercury such as tuna, swordfish, and orange roughy (see table of seafood under Nutrition). Mercury is a deadly neurological poison. Also lunch meats, hot dogs, and beacon are full of chemicals called nitrates. These are very harmful to the body–healthy replacements to these products can be found at Wild Oats and Whole Foods. They have many “nitrate free” beacon, hot dogs and lunch meat. Remember, because they are nitrate free they will also not “keep” as long so they must be consumed faster or kept frozen until used.
- No fried foods—french fries, onion rings, tempura, chips (unless they are baked and contain no added oils). Eliminate any food which contains any hydrogenated oils of any kind. If you are stir frying or baking and must add in oils, please use coconut or olive oil. Avoid Mayonnaise due to the hydrogenated oils therein.
- Removal of all environmental toxins which depress the immune system such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chlorine, fluoride, mercury, lead, cleaning solvents, and so on. You can purchase safe cleaning solvents at your local health food stores—Vitamin Cottage, Wild Oats, Whole Foods Market—which work just as well if not better with no harmful side-effects.
- Do not microwave any of your foods, even to defrost. A study done in Europe showed that microwaving changes the actual structure of foods (RNA) making them unidentifiable by and depressive to the immune system.
- Make sure and drink at least 3 quarts or more of a good clean bottled water a day. El dorado, Fiji, Volvic, and Calistoga are a few recommendations. Please DO NOT drink distilled water—it has an open bond which has the potential of carrying out of your body the supplemental products you may be putting in.
We are here to educate you on the changes necessary to improve your health, and through individualized testing and supplementation begin to recover and repair metabolic pathway destruction and re-establish normal cell growth and proper immune response. With these supplementation protocols our goal is to begin to change the biological terrain of your body so that it is no longer able to house the abnormal cancer cells, while building the body’s immune system so that if successful, there will be potential to re-establish normal cell growth and prevent reoccurring abnormal cell growth.