Feeding or fighting cancer
By Dr. David Gutman, Cleveland Nutrition
Weeds. They grow quickly and uncontrollably. They spread invasively. They take over your lawn and are difficult to eradicate.
That’s why cancer reminds me of weeds.
Whether cancers or weeds will grow or shrink depends simply on one thing: the balance between growth forces and death forces. For example, spraying weeds with Miracle-Gro is obviously a bad idea, as this “growth force” will stimulate the growth and subsequent spread of your weeds. On the other hand, using a toxic “death force” chemical like Roundup will effectively kill them off.
What happens if you use both at the same time? Well, this creates a kind of ‘tug-of-war’ between the forces, and whichever force is dominant will ultimately determine the net effect.
The same thing happens with cancer. Cancer has a natural tendency to grow and spread, while our immune system’s job is to find and kill cancer cells. In this winner-takes-all scenario, is there any way that we can tip the scales in our favor? You bet.
The foods that we eat strongly influence cancer growth. For example, eating animal protein increases blood levels of a growth hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1. This hormone acts like Miracle-Gro for cancers, and also helps cancer spread. Dairy products can accelerate cancer growth by activating a growth gene called mTOR. There are many more examples.
On the other hand, plant foods contain hundreds of cancer-fighting compounds that starve cancer cells of their blood supply, repair damaged DNA, prevent the spread of cancer, activate immune cells to destroy cancer cells, and much more.
In order to win against cancer, you need to make your bloodstream as inhospitable to cancer as possible. So let me ask you, is your diet feeding or fighting your cancer? Call me for a free consultation and let’s beat this.
To reach Cleveland Nutrition, call 216-328-8086. There are two office locations: 25200 Chagrin Blvd, Suite 109, in Beachwood; and 2660 W. Market Street, Suite 250, in Fairlawn. To learn more, visit ClevelandNutrition.com.