"In 1982, the National Research Council released a technical report 'Diet, Nutrition and Cancer', showing that diet was probably the greatest single factor in the epidemic of cancer" - Dr Neil Barnard
"The easiest, least expensive way to reduce your risk for cancer is just by eating a healthy diet" - Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon, PhD, researcher at the National Cancer Institute.
"The cure for cancer will not be found under the microscope, it's on the dinner plate" - Paul Stitt
"With all I've learned over these years of research, if I were asked to design a diet today that promoted the development of cancer to the maximum, I couldn't improve on our present diet!" - Dr Richard Beliveau (*Meat, dairy, high levels of refined sugar and saturated fat, low levels of omega-3 and insufficient intake of fruit and vegetables)
"The single most important thing you can do that offers you the best chance of avoiding or beating cancer is to eat a healthier diet - starting NOW.
According to The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) eating at least 5 portions of vegetables and fruit each day could, in itself, reduce cancer rates by 20%.
The WCRF asserts that half of all breast cancer cases, 3 out of 4 stomach cancer cases and 3 out of 4 cases of colon cancer could be prevented by dietary measures alone" - Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby
Farmer Francis Cockram is not the sort of person you would call a crank. Six foot three, his face weathered by years on the land...When Mr. Cockram was told he had liver cancer and only six months to live, he felt he had nothing to lose in giving alternative medicine a chance. That was in May 1992. More than two years later, he is very much alive and working on the farm.
NHS doctors are mystified. A recent scan showed that the 68 year-old farmer's liver is now clear of cancer.
Mr. Cockram's homeopath in Tiverton told him he could fight the disease by going on a strict diet - eating plenty of fruit, raw vegetables and cereals and drinking nothing but bottled water.
(Western Morning News 14th November 1992)
"The most thrilling thing I can recall was to see cancer cells taken from a human body and thriving on cooked food, but unable to survive on the same food when it was uncooked" - Dr. Ann Wigmore
'A high consumption of red and processed meat was linked to a substantial increase in the risk of cancer in the lower colon and rectum' - From a Harvard University study into red meat consumption and cancer
Full English Cancer: The traditional English breakfast has long suffered a reputation for being 'a heart attack on a plate' with its high fat and calorie content.
Now those who still regularly enjoy tucking into a fry-up have something else to worry about - a 63% higher risk of bowel cancer.
Yesterday researchers warned that sausages, bacon and other processed meat increase the risk of the disease, as well as being fatty and high in cholestrol.
The evidence is strong enough that we should avoid eating such food as much as possible, said the World Cancer Research Fund.
The extra calories can also lead to obesity, which is linked to many types of cancer and heart disease.
According to the charity, there is convincing scientific evidence that excess body fat is linked to six types of cancer, including bowel cancer and breast cancer.
Experts believe that - after not smoking - maintaining a healthy weight is the most important factor in helping avoid suffering from the disease. The WRCF warned that eating 150g of processed meat a day - equivalent to about two sausages and three rashers of bacon - increases bowel cancer risk by 63%.
Professor Martin Wiseman, medical and scientific adviser for the WRCF, said," For some people, having a fry-up with bacon and sausages might seem like a good way to start the day. But if you are doing this regularly, then you are significantly increasing your risk of bowel cancer, which is one of the most common cancers in the UK."
"Only a third of people are aware of the link between processed meat and cancer."
"This means two-thirds are not in a position to make an informed choice about how much of it they eat."
He warned that it is a simple matter of the more processed meat a person eats, the higher the risk.
Professor Wiseman said," This is not a question of all or nothing. For example, if you eat 150g of it a day, then you will be incresing your bowel cancer risk by about two-thirds. But if you only eat 50g a day - roughly the equivalent of a sausage - then you will be increasing your risk by about a fifth. As well as the processed meat increasing the risk of bowel cancer, fry-ups also tend to be high in calories."
"We recommend people limit consumption of high calorie, or energy-dense, foods because eating them makes you more likely to gain weight."
"This is important because there is convincing evidence that excess body fat increases the risk of six types of cancer."
Professor Wiseman said scientists estimate that about a third of cancers could be prevented by eating healthily, taking regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight. In terms of overall risk, the chances of developing bowel cancer are one in 18 for men and 1 in 20 for women in the UK. - Daily Mail 26th August 2008
Meat consumption in relation to cancer risk has been reported in over a hundred epidemiological studies from many countries with diverse diets - J. Genkinger (Dept. of Oncology, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.) and A. Koushill (Departement de Medecine Sociale et Preventive, Universitie de Montreal)
Diets that are high in animal protein and saturated fat have been shown to increase the risk of both heart disease and cancer. Red meat in particular has been linked with higher incidence of heart disease, prostate cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer - Madonna Gauding
"It is a concern if two thirds of people are not aware of the link because the evidence is strong. That is why expert's advice is that the best amount of processed meat to eat is none at all. But if people don't know about the link between bowel cancer and processed meat they are not in a position to make informed choices." - Marilyn Gentry, chief executive of the World Cancer Research Fund.
There is now consistent and substantial evidence that the higher the milk consumption of a country the greater their breast and prostate cancer risk. The highest risk of cancer death is found in Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Sweden, countries with the biggest consumers of milk - Patrick Holford
Most people don't realise the scale of the problem. You can literally predict a country's incidence of mortality rate from prostate cancer just from knowing the average dairy intake -Patrick Holford
Men with the highest dairy intakes had approximately double the risk of total prostate cancer and up to fourfold increase in risk of metastatic or fatal prostate cancer relative to low consumers - National Cancer Institute
Cancer develops only if cancer cells grow. Their growth is under the influence of hormones and growth factors. Professor Jane Plant and Colin Campbell are convinced that the single major cancer growth promoter is dairy products. Milk is naturally high on oestrogen, as well as insulin-like growth factor (IGF). This is hardly surprising since milk's job is to make cells grow. Milk consumption is the second most predictive risk factor, with age being the first - Patrick Holford
Last night it emerged that Dirk Benedict (one of the stars of the cult television programme 'The A-Team') refused all medical help and surgery when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which threatened to cut short his acting career.
Instead, he told alarmed family members and friends, "I'm going away for a while - to cure myself."
He shut himself away from the world for six months in a rented cottage in New Hampshire, where he lived on a macrobiotic diet and spent virtually every day meditating.
Against almost impossible odds, Benedict, now 61, returned to Hollywood six months later - completely cured.
A friend said , "There wasn't a trace of the cancer in his body. Somehow, he came home in better health than anyone has seen him." - Sunday Express 7th January 2007
"The data from the China Project suggest that what we have come to consider as 'normal' illnesses of aging are really not normal. In fact, these findings indicate that the vast majority, perhaps 80-90% of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other forms of degenerative illness can be prevented, at least until very old age, simply by adopting a plant-based diet." - Dr. T. Colin Campbell Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry, Cornell University.
Studies have shown that a diet rich in soya beans and fermented soya i.e. tofu, miso, tempeh - source of isoflavones and phytoestrogens, significantly reduce a woman's risk of breast and endometrial cancer, and prostate cancer in men - NTFC
Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Not only do they provide a myriad of antioxidants, enzymes and trace minerals, but as most fruits and all vegetables are highly alkaline, they help to maintain a healthy acid:alkaline balance.
Consuming too much acid forming food creates an acid state within the body.
An acid state, potentially, provides a fertile breeding ground for all manner of debilitating and degenerative diseases, from arthritis to cancer - NTFC
[ Be aware of pesticide residue on non-organic produce. Eat organic wherever and whenever possible.]
Brave Ray Hughes has beaten cancer - on a diet of grapes and cranberry juice.
Doctors told Ray, 57, he would be lucky to survive a year after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Few with the disease survive because there are no early symptoms.
But a biopsy has shown Ray, of Dudley, West Midlands, now has no cancerous cells in his body.
The father of one said, "My doctor calls me a walking miracle and I'm looking to the future with new hope."
"During the time I ate a lot of red grapes and cranberry juice and I think that helped me." - Sun. 10th September 2008
Grape extract kills cancer cells: An extract from grape seeds can destroy cancer cells, US research suggests.
In lab experiments, scientists found that the extract stimulated leukaemia cells to commit suicide.
Within 24 hours, 76% of leukaemia cells exposed to the extract were killed off, while healthy cells were unharmed, Clinical Cancer Research reports.
The study raises the possibility of new cancer treatments, but scientists said it was too early to recommend that people eat grapes to ward off cancer.
Grape seeds contain a number of antioxidants, including resveratrol, which is known to have anti-cancer properties, as well as a positive effect on the heart.
Previous research has shown grapeseed extract has an effect on skin, breast, bowel, lung stomach and prostate cancer cells in the laboratory.
It can also reduce the size of breast tumours in rats and skin tumours in mice.
However, the University of Kentucky study is the first to test its impact on a blood cancer.
Lead researcher Professor Xianglin Shi said: "These results could have implications for the incorporation of agents such as grapeseed extract into prevention or treatment of haematological (blood) malignancies and possibly other cancers."
"What everyone seeks is an agent that has an effect on cancer cells but leaves normal cells alone, and this shows that grapeseed extract fits into this category."
The researchers exposed leukaemia cells to grape extract in a range of different doses.
One of the higher doses produced a marked effect, causing large numbers of the cells to commit suicide in a process known as apoptosis.
This is a natural method of getting rid of damaged and potentially dangerous cells.
When the mechanism behind apoptosis breaks down, cancerous cells can survive and multiply.
The researchers found grapeseed extract activates a protein called JNK which helps to regulate apoptosis.
When they exposed the leukaemia cells to an agent that inhibits JNK, the grapeseed extract effect was cancelled out.
Silencing the gene that makes JNK also blocked the extract's ability to kill cancer cells - BBC News 31st December 2008
Multiple studies have found that flavonoid compounds including anthocyanins, flavonols and proanthocyanidins, found naturally in cranberries, may be able to fight leukaemia, breast, lung, colon and potentially many other types of cancer - David Grotto RD, LDN ('101 Foods That Could Save Your Live')
'Pomegranate juice can slow prostate cancer': Drinking a daily eight ounce (0.24 litre) glass of pomegranate juice can significantly slow the progress of prostate cancer, a study suggests.
Researchers say the effect may be so large that it may help older men outlive the disease.
Pomegranates contain a cocktail of chemicals which minimise cell damage, and potentially kill off cancer cells.
The study, by the University of California in Los Angeles, appears in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
Previous research had indicated that pomegranate juice could have a beneficial effect on prostate cancer in tests on mice.
But the latest study has shown that humans can potentially benefit too.
The UCLA team focused on 50 men who had undergone surgery or radiation treatment for prostate cancer - but had shown signs that the disease was rapidly returning.
The presence of prostate cancer cells is monitored by measuring levels of a chemical they produce called prostate-specific antigen (PSA).
The researchers measured how long it took for PSA levels to double in individual patients - a short doubling time indicates that the cancer is progressing quickly.
The average doubling time is about 15 months, but in patients who drank pomegranate juice this increased to an average of 54 months.
Some men on the study continue to show suppressed PSA levels after more than three years, even though they are receiving no treatment apart from drinking pomegranate juice. - BBC News 1st July 2006
"Our study adds to growing evidence that pomegranates contain very powerful agents against cancer " - Professor Hasan Mukhtar, University of Wisconsin
Rhubarb 'may help fight cancer': Eating baked rhubarb could help fight cancer, new research has shown.
Researchers at Sheffield Hallam University found baking British garden rhubarb for 20 minutes boosted its anti-cancer chemicals.
The findings showed the polyphenols could kill or prevent the growth of cancer cells and could be used to develop new, less toxic treatments.
It is the first study of the benefits of British rhubarb, specifically a variety grown in South Yorkshire - BBC Ceefax 12th Feb. 2010
Nearly 30 studies have shown that garlic has some cancer-preventive effect. The evidence is particuarly strong for a link between garlic and prevention of prostate and stomach cancers - David Grotto, RD, LDN ('101 Foods That Could Save Your Life')
Garlic is number one on the National Cancer Institute's list of cancer preventative foods - Professor Jane Plant
Curry spice 'kills cancer cells': An extract found in the bright yellow curry spice turmeric can kill off cancer cells, scientists have shown.
The chemical - curcumin - has long been thought to have healing powers and is already being tested as a treatment for arthritis and even dementia.
Now tests by a team at the Cork Cancer Research Centre show it can destroy gullet cancer cells in the lab - BBC News 28th October 2009
Turmeric contains curcumin, a potent antioxidant believed to help prevent cancer. In test tubes, 80% of malignant prostate cells self-destructed when exposed to curcumin - Susan Smith Jones, Ph.D ( 'Health Bliss')
Turmeric has been shown to protect against every stage of cancer development: initiation, promotion and progression. It also disarms a wide range of carcinogens - Patrick Holford
(NB: Adding black pepper to the turmeric greatly increases its anti-cancer potency)
A mushroom popular in Chinese cooking can help shrink tumours and beat cancer, a study has found.
Scientists have revealed the maitake mushroom can shrink tumours by as much as 75%.
The breakthrough could have major implications for two of Britain's biggest cancer killers and lead to new treatments.
Experts found the giant edible mushroom - which can grow to eight inches across - can help combat bladder and prostate cancer.
These two cancers claim the lives of 15,000 victims every year in the UK.
Last night, Dr. Sensuke Konno, who carried out the research, hailed the discovery as "very significant" and said it would improve the quality of life of cancer sufferers - Daily Express, December 2009
Miso Anti-Cancer Agent: Miso is an aged paste made from soybeans. Its flavour is distinctly rich and salty.
For a long time in Japan, miso has been considered to be a very healthy food and rightly so as recent analysis has proved. Besides its nutritional benefits, there are some other benefits of miso that are especially useful.
Back in the 1940's, a Dr Akizuki, who personally drank miso soup daily to strengthen the frail body he was born with, got his whole family and hospital staff to drink miso soup regularly. For two years after the atomic bomb hit Nagasaki, Dr. Akizuki and his staff worked very closely with radiation fallout victims of Nagasaki with high radiation levels. When neither he nor his staff got radiation sickness as would be expected, Dr. Akizuki speculated that perhaps this was due to miso soup.
A study by Japanese scientists, inspired by Dr. Akizuki's writings, found that miso contains zybicolin (dipicolinic acid), which grabs onto heavy metals (radioactive strontium being one) and discharges them from the body.
Miso helps to neutralize the effects of air pollution, and recent research has shown miso to be a potent anti-cancer agent.
An analysis of 72 studies found that 57 studies reported significant links between tomato intake or blood lycopene levels and reduced risk of cancer, especially of the lung, stomach, mouth, colon, rectum and prostate gland - Dr Sarah Brewer
In one six-year study men who ate two or more servings of tomato products a week, reduced their risk of prostate cancer by up to 50%. A family history of prostate cancer did not seem to reduce the protective effect of lycopene - Dr Sarah Brewer
A cancer patient credits his morning glass of broccoli juice with halting the disease. Ray Wiseman's claim has prompted more research into the vegetable's healing powers.
Doctors told Mr. Wiseman they did not expect him to survive, when they diagnosed him 5 years ago. But today scans show that his cancer has stopped spreading - vastly improving his chances of a recovery.
The grandfather, 79, puts his health down to the tumbler of broccoli juice that his wife prepares for him each day.
Mr. Wiseman, who lives in Braunstone, Leicestershire, said ," I take the juice every day. I know its done me good. I suppose it would be the same for everybody."
His wife, Joan, 72, started giving him the juice after a friend told her about the healing power of green vegetables. For each half tumbler dose she combines a head of broccoli with some apples and carrots to improve the taste.
She said," We believe my husband's incredible luck is down to broccoli. I hope our experience can help other sufferers."
Recent medical studies have highlighted the possible cancer-beating powers of broccoli. British scientists at the Institute of Food Research found that men who ate one daily portion had altered gene activity in their prostates, suggesting that the chemicals in the vegetable might be able to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
According to a report published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2006, natural chemicals found in certain vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, can enhance DNA repair in cells, which could help stop them becoming cancerous...
Broccoli is rich in vitamin C and has properties that boost the human immune systems that fight viruses, bacteria and cancer - Daily Mail 21st July 2008.
NB: If juicing, use only raw broccoli. If cooking the broccoli, the best method is to steam it as studies have found that boiling broccoli can reduce its anti-cancer compounds. In both cases use only organic broccoli.
A cancerous tumour can only survive if it has its own blood supply - this is known as angiogenesis. Drugs or natural agents that inhibit this process are therefore called 'anti-angiogenic'. Natural agents that have been found to do this include curcumin, resveratrol and proanthocyanidin (grapeseed extract), green tea and quercetin - Patrick Holford
Bicarbonate of soda has undergone a revival in interest in recent times. One of its main areas of popularity is as a natural cancer treatment. The baking soda and 100% pure maple syrup formula is especially worthy of note (See http://www.health-science-spirit.com/maple.html)
Ideally the alkaline:acid ratio should be 70:30 The typical Western diet however is too acidic. All degenerative diseases, from cancer to arthritis, thrive in an acid environment. This is the core reason for the high levels of degenerative disease in Western countries and as other countries adopt the Western diet and lifestyle, it's having a similar effect on the health of their inhabitants as well.
Cancer cells are fuelled by sugar, especially glucose. The baking soda and maple syrup remedy works on the 'trojan horse' principle. The cancer cells ingest the maple syrup, releasing the baking soda - which is highly alkaline. This then completely alters the pH of the cancer cells from highly acid to highly alkaline and the cancer cells 'suffocate'.
The value of this remedy is that the ingredients are readily available and are cheap to acquire which makes it ideal for those on low income or people in the Third World, who otherwise couldn't afford cancer treatment.
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