I would like to talk about a diet that can help cancer patients. This is because not only chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer patients, but also eating three meals a day is one of the treatments for cancer. The psychological therapeutic effect of diet on patients is great. The method is to starve the cancer cells. To plan a diet, you must first know what the cancer eats.
Cancer mainly feeds on glucose. Unlike normal cells, which generate enough energy by respiration using glucose and oxygen, cancer obtains energy by fermenting glucose into lactic acid in an oxygen-free environment. In medicine, this is called the ‘Warberg effect’. Warburg was awarded a Nobel Prize for his discovery of this energy metabolism in cancer. But cancer doesn’t get energy from glucose alone. You also get energy from fatty acids.
Recently, a research team at the National Cancer Center announced the results of an experimental study showing that cancer cells use glucose for anabolic action, i.e., DNA synthesis and protein synthesis, and catabolism, i.e., fatty acids for energy itself.
The link between fat and cancer is well known. In the case of breast and prostate cancer, the incidence and recurrence rates were higher in those with high cholesterol. People with high cholesterol are also more likely to develop liver cancer, lung cancer, and stomach cancer.
Therefore, in order for cancer patients to maintain a cancer-starving diet, it is necessary to minimize the intake of glucose and fat, which the cancer uses as an energy source. But you can’t live without eating glucose and fat at all. Normal cells also need glucose and fat to obtain energy.
Cancer patients should consume carbohydrates but make up their diet with foods with a low GI index to avoid excess glucose all at once. The GI index is a measure of the rate at which blood sugar levels increase after eating a food. Foods such as bread, rice cakes, and noodles have a very high GI index and are therefore cancer-loving foods. Among carbohydrates, ingredients with a low GI are ingredients such as whole rye, brown rice, and pasta. Sweet potatoes have a lower GI than potatoes.
It is best to choose meat with a low fat content and a low GI index among meats. This includes chicken, lamb, and duck meat. Among vegetables, carrots, corn, and pumpkin have a high GI, while eggplant, legumes, and mushrooms have a low GI.
Naturally, you should avoid fried foods and junk foods high in saturated fat. Trans fats are carcinogens in their own right and must be removed from the table. Instead, you should consume enough oils such as omega-3. Omega 3 has anti-inflammatory properties and prevents oxidation of fatty acids.
If there are cancer patients around, I hope that these ingredients will be carefully selected and recommended and advised so that my healthy cells can be fattened and only cancer cells can be starved.
Jae-cheol Lee, President of the Korean Society of Functional Medicine, President of BanH Clinic