Killing Cancer...

excerpt from Amy Kabul (RD)

"This is a post that I did for the Paleo Brands blog awhile back. Cancer runs deep in my family and there are not many people that don't know someone battling the deadly disease. This one bears repeating - so here it is making its Fuel As Rx debut:

Cancer, it's a word no one wants to hear, yet according to the National Cancer Institute it's a diagnosis that 1 in every 2 of us will face. In 2009 it was estimated that 1,479,350 people were diagnosed with cancer and 562,340 died from the disease. These statistics make the search for a cure and mechanisms for prevention hot topics.

Here's a little FYI on cancer cells - they require glucose (sugar) to grow. In fact, they consume 4 to 5 times more glucose than normal cells! So, logic would say, restrict sugar (carbohydrate) to starve and kill cancer. This has proven to be effective as demonstrated by this study and numerous others. Following a restricted calorie, ketogenic diet literally 'starves' cancer cells. But instead of instructing cancer patients to follow a diet like this the American Cancer Society recommends a 'plant-based' (primarily vegetarian), whole grain rich, low fat diet instead. Scroll down this list of 20 examples of 'healthy' snacks for cancer patients... Hmm...

Now, this is not to say that the knowledge of how the 'starve' cancer isn't out there. In fact, according to some recent research (read here for the non-geek version), scientists have developed an anti-cancer agent (drug) that acts as an 'energy restriction mimetic'. The researchers state that "Energy restriction may be a powerful 'new' strategy for treating cancer because it targets a survival mechanism used by many types of cancer cells." The research shows that it's possible to develop drugs that act to simulate glucose and energy restriction.

Since we have this information, does it not make sense to use it to prevent and help stop the spread of cancer now? Can we afford to 'wait' for the drug to be developed and approved by the FDA? When it comes to cancer it could mean the difference between life and death... Is that piece of cake really 'to die for'???"

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(Being that every person carries cancer cells, why are you waiting to dump the sugar?) S