InnerSelf.com

Diet & Nutrition
as Cancer Medicine

by W. John Diamond, M.D.
and W. Lee Cowden, M.D.
with Burton Goldberg

Diet and nutrition are at the core of cancer etiology and its successful treatment. The leading nutritional problem in the United States today is "overconsumptive undernutrition," or the eating of too many empty-calorie foods, says Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., a biochemist and nutrition expert. Studies have concluded that almost two-thirds of an average American's diet is made up of fats and refined sugars, and thus have low or no micronutrient density. Consequently, the remaining one-third of the average diet is counted on for 100% of the essential nutrients needed to maintain health. This contributes to nutrient deficiencies that can rob the body of its natural resistance to disease and promote premature aging while weakening overall physiological performance.

Nutritional Rating of Americans

A new Healthy Eating Index study of 4,000 Americans, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reveals that 88% of the population does not get good grades for proper nutrition. More than 80% eat too much saturated fat and too little fruits, vegetables, and fiber-rich grains. The worst eaters are aged 15 - 39. Overall, the American diet achieves only 63% of what the USDA considers good nutrition.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture found that a significant percentage of the population receives under 70% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamins A, C, and B-complex, and the essential minerals calcium, magnesium, and iron.1 A separate study found that most diets contain less than 80% of the RDA for calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, and manganese, and that the people most at nutritional risk are young children and women from adolescence to old age.

While a cumulative lack of essential nutrients can contribute to illness, including cancer, the correct fortification with these nutrients can start reversing chronic conditions. However, it is important to appreciate that nutrients work together and act according to various biochemical relationships.

Vitamins and minerals help regulate the conversion of food to energy in the body, explains Dr. Bland. As such, they can be separated into two general categories: energy nutrients, which are principally involved in the conversion of food to energy; and protector nutrients, which help defend against damaging toxins derived from drugs, alcohol, radiation, environmental pollutants, or the body's own enzyme processes. "The B-complex vitamins and magnesium are examples of energy nutrients because they activate specific metabolic facilitators called enzymes, which control digestion and the absorption and use of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates."

In the process of converting food to energy, free radicals are produced that can damage the body and set the stage for degenerative diseases, including cancer, arthritis, heart disease, and premature aging. Protector nutrients such as vitamin E, beta carotene, vitamin C, and the minerals zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium, play a critical role in preventing or delaying these degenerative processes.

Vitamins and minerals "drive" the biochemical and electrical circuitry of the body. The body's functioning is therefore profoundly affected by how nutrients either work together or against each other. Nutrients taken simultaneously can inhibit each other. Iron, for example, is best absorbed when taken separately from pancreatic enzymes and should also not be taken with vitamin E. There are also nutrients that enhance the effects of other nutrients. For example, vitamin C taken with iron facilitates the maximum absorption of the iron. Similarly, clinical studies have shown a relationship between low intakes of beta carotene, vitamin E, and vitamin C and higher incidences of cancer.2

In addition to disease control, specific nutrients can help people cope with specific lifestyle, environmental, and emotional/psychological factors. For example, when recovering from cancer surgery, a person may need higher levels of zinc;3 individuals who are exposed to smog or other pollutants require higher levels of the protector nutrients such as selenium, vitamin E, and vitamin C;4 and anyone under heavy emotional or physical stress, typical of the cancer experience, will need higher intakes of all the B vitamins.5

Benefits of a Whole-Foods, Mainly Vegetarian Diet

In light of this knowledge of nutrition and its specificity, there are two primary ways to gain the needed nutrients: through a carefully constructed diet or through an equally specific nutrient supplementation program.

A whole-foods diet promotes health by decreasing fat and sugar intake and by increasing the consumption of fiber and nutrients, particularly the numerous antioxidants and other phytochemicals (phyto means plant) that have been identified as beneficial anticancer nutrients. Fiber is found in plant foods, such as brown rice, broccoli, oatmeal, or almonds, but not in animal products like meat, cheese, milk, eggs, and butter. Fiber is the transport system of the digestive tract, "sweeping" food wastes out of the body before they have a chance to form potentially cancer-causing chemicals. These toxic chemicals can cause colon cancer or pass through the gastrointestinal membrane into the bloodstream and damage other cells.

A vegetable-based, whole-foods diet is typically much lower in fat. On a percentage-of-calories basis, most vegetables contain less than 10% fat and most grains contain 16%-20% fat; by comparison, whole milk and cheese contain 74% fat; a rib roast is 75% fat; eggs are 64% fat; a skinned, baked chicken breast still has 38% fat. A low-fat, whole foods diet also means fewer calories: studies have shown that a diet containing fewer calories is associated with reduced DNA damage, thus lowering cancer risks and increasing longevity.6

Plant foods are richer sources of micronutrients than their animal counterparts. Compare wheat germ to round steak: ounce for ounce, wheat germ contains twice the vitamin B2, vitamin K, potassium, iron, and copper; three times the vitamin B6, molybdenum, and selenium; 15 times as much magnesium; and over 20 times the vitamin B1, folate, and inositol. The steak contains only three micronutrients in greater amounts: vitamin B 12, chromium, and zinc.

Eating more nutrient-dense plant foods tends to decrease one's desire to consume processed sugars; lower sugar consumption decreases overall calorie intake. At the same time, the extra nutrients increase protection against cancer. A cup of broccoli, for example, provides 70 mg of vitamin C, more than any other vegetable except green peppers; vitamin C blocks the formation of cancer initiators and may keep cancer cells from growing into deadly tumors. Broccoli contains more fiber and calcium on a per gram basis than most vegetables, which may account for its protective effects against colon cancer. It is also a rich source of folate, a B vitamin that seems to protect against cervical cancer, and of beta carotene, the plant pigment that helps fight lung cancer. In a study of the diets of 1,200 people over 66 years old, those who consumed the most green vegetables had a significantly lower cancer risk than those who ate the least; people who ate broccoli less than once a week had increased their risk of developing cancer by 20%.7

There are compelling reasons for adopting a more plant-based diet. First, important antioxidant nutrients, including vitamin C, beta carotene, vitamin E, and many cancer-fighting substances known as phytochemicals, are found in fruits, vegetables, and grains. These antioxidant nutrients are considered the best protection against cancer. As mentioned above, the high-fiber content of plant foods helps keep the digestive tract clean by absorbing and eliminating many potentially dangerous toxins.

This article is excerpted from the Alternative Medicine Guide's Cancer Diagnosis - What to do next, by W. John Diamond, M.D. and W. Lee Cowden, M.D. ? 2000. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, AlternativeMedicine.com. Visit their website at www.alternativemedicine.com.

For more info or to order this book.

Another article by these authors:
Emotions & Their Role in Cancer
and Causes of Cancer

About The Author

W. John Diamond, M.D., a board certified pathologist, has extensive training in alternative medicine, including in medical acupuncture, classical homeopathy, and neural therapy. He is currently the medical director of the Triad Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, associate and alternative medicine consultant to the Bakersfield Family Medicine Center and Heritage Physician Network in Bakersfield, California, medical director of Botanical Laboratories, and director of the Associated Complementary Medicine Research Group, both in Ferndale, Washington. W. Lee Cowden, M.D. is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and clinical nutrition. Dr. Cowden is accomplished in applied kinesiology, electrodermal screening, homeopathy, reflexology, acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, and color, sound, neural, magnetic, electromagnetic, and detoxification therapies. Dr. Cowden now conducts clinical research and teaches alternative medicine at the Conservative Medicine Institute in Richardson, Texas.

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