Cancer is projected to strike 1 in 2 women and 1 in 3 men in their lifetime.  These statistics are nothing short of terrifying and when cancer strikes, conventional treatment (chemo, radiation and surgery) is not guaranteed to work and it is almost never enough.  If you are considering chemo, radiation and surgery, or are already undergoing treatment, please do so knowing that none of these treatments will “cure” your cancer.  These treatments DO NOT eliminate cancer completely from your body.  They work by reducing the quantity of cancer cells to a level that your body can then fight off (or to buy you a few more months or years of life).  The key here is your body and the mechanism by which it naturally clears out cancer cells from our body.  To truly “cure” cancer, you have to nourish your cells, to stop feeding the cancer and to strengthen your immune system and detox pathways so that your body can naturally keep the cancer cells under control.  And, this is especially important if you are undergoing chemo and radiation, because both come with the increased risk of cancer in the future.

First, lets understand why cancer happens in the first place.  Cancer cells form when normal cells in our body become damaged and begin to replicate uncontrollably.  Everyone has cancer cells in their bodies.  Genetic factors and environmental factors (poor diet, stress, inflammation, impaired detoxification, chemicals, toxins, carcinogens) make it more likely for cancer cells to form.  If the immune system is working properly, the cancer cells get destroyed and cleared out of our bodies naturally.  However, a combination of genetic and environment factors can lead to a suppressed immune system (stress, poor diet, lack of sleep, allergies, food intolerance, overgrowth of bad bacteria in our guts, short-term or chronic illness, impaired detoxification, chemicals, toxins, carcinogens).  If too many cancer cells are forming (because of genetic or environment factors) and our immune system is suppressed (because of genetic or environmental factors) the cancer cells grow out of control, eventually spreading to critical organs.  This is cancer as we know it.

So, the KEY to FIGHTING and PREVENTING CANCER is to get our bodies into balance.  The formula to follow is very straight forward:

Cancer = Environmental Factors that Cause Cancer & Suppress the Immune System – Strength of Immune System / Nourishment to Healthy Cells 

Decrease environmental factors that cause cancer cells, feed it and suppress the immune system and at the same time boost the immune system, detox and nourish your healthy cells so that your body can do its natural job of fighting cancer.  Simple as that!  This being said, there is no magic cure for cancer, it takes a lot of effort and many lifestyle changes.

There are many testimonials of people curing cancer successfully without any conventional intervention or after chemo, radiation and surgery have failed.  The advice outlined in this post is not meant to be a solution to get to a 100% natural cure.  This post is meant to be a road-map, a guide to doing more research and putting you on a path to healing your body by supporting your immune system, detoxing and providing the nourishment your body needs to fight off the overgrowth of cancer cells.  And, it is also a great guide for preventing cancer in the first place!

What you will find below is a lot to take in and summarizes years of research I have done on behalf of a number of people dealing with cancer.  I have focused on things that loved ones have tried with success and things that are easiest to implement.  If you need further references Cancer:  Step Outside the Box is a wonderful place to start.  This book is like an encyclopedia for natural cancer cures and prevention.  It really is a must read.  You do not need to agree with everything written in the book to appreciate the good advice.  Or, if easier, watch the Truth About Cancer documentaries…they are phenomenal!

To be repetitive…THERE IS NO MAGIC CURE for cancer!  Cancer needs to be attacked with a multifaceted approach.  Do as much as possible, 10+ or 20+ natural remedies.  Maybe all of them will work or only one, who cares, goal is results.  Some natural cancer treatments cancel each other out.  Be careful not to mix and match unless you have done your research. You need to make sure that what you are trying works synergistically (for example, some treatments work by starving the cancer while others by overfeeding it).

Guide to Treating & Preventing Cancer Naturally

1. Cut Down on Sugar (Dramatically)

Processed carbs / bread / pasta = sugar.  Fruit/Berries = sugar.  Cancer (and just about every other chronic illness – diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, inflammation, overgrowth of bad bacteria, etc, etc.) is caused by or made worse by eating too much sugar.  And, our immune system is suppressed by sugar.  Nothing is more important than cutting down on sugar!  NOTHING! While fruit and berries are sugar, eating both in moderation is good because both have nutritional value and cancer fighting properties. Choose fruit and berries that are lower in sugar (i.e. berries are best, bananas should be avoided).  Dried fruit should be avoided completely.  Fruit juice, on the other hand, is pure sugar and has very little if any nutritional value.  Soda and other soft drinks, sports drinks, etc. needs to be eliminated completely (diet or regular). Almost everything labeled as fat free, low in fat, diet and sugar free is not healthy for you, and typically high in sugar or fake sugar and should be eliminated. Just about all fake sugar is bad for you and should be avoided.  If you need a sweetener, go for honey (real/raw – do not heat it), maple syrup or real / raw cane sugar, date sugar or coconut sugar.  All should be used in moderation.  Less is more!

Remember that rice, bread, pasta, pizza and anything made from grains is a carb which is sugar.  Cut down dramatically or avoiding completely is best!  Also, vegetables that are high in starches should also be avoided (most beans, potatoes, etc – see GAPS section below).  If you cannot give up bread, you should ONLY be eating real Sourdough Bread.

2. The Best “Diets” to Follow: Paleo, GAPS, SCD (Specific Carbohydrate)

The overarching theme in all three diets is to minimize carbs, increase select vegetables and fruit and maximize healthy fats and proteins. The following link has a good list of foods to focus on eating more of and ones to avoid.  Depending on how progressed your cancer is, choose to either 100% exclude the foods on the do not eat list or limit them as much as possible:  GAPS Diet.  (Use the GAPS list as a guide only.  There will be conflicting information between that list and some recommendations in this post.)  If you are looking for a recipe and type in the words Paleo or GAPS in your search, you will get “more healthy” options than conventional sites can offer.  Important word of caution:  Many cancer curing diets advise to limit or completely eliminate meat.  If you are going to eat meat, limit it to “healing” and high nutrient foods only like bone broth and organ meats.  Eat only wild caught fish low in mercury, grass feed organic beef/lamb/goat and pasture raised organic chicken.  Eggs should be from pasture raised chickens and organic.  Dairy should be grass fed and organic.   Most meat and dairy cows in the US are raised on grains (GMO soy and corn).  These are unnatural foods for the animals as cows are supposed to be eating grass.  These animals are sick and obese and the meat and milk that comes from them is NOT healthy.

3. Cancer Fighting “Protocols”

This is a selection of the most effective and easiest to implement that I found in my research.  They work synergistically, so you can do all three at the same time…which is what I suggest!

a.  Budwig

Budwig diet works by energizing healthy cells to keep cancer from spreading.  The key to this diet is eating flax seed oil mixed with cottage cheese or yogurt many times a day.  It is simple, easy and apparently very powerful.  The flax seed oil energizes the cells and the cottage cheese / yogurt help the body absorb more of the benefits. Seriously ill cancer patients are advised to take 6-8 tablespoons of flax seed oil a day. For each tablespoon of flax seed oil you add 2 tablespoons of cottage cheese / yogurt, blend with a hand mixer or blender and eat within 10-20 minutes. That’s it! You can flavor this with whatever you want. You can add more cottage cheese/yogurt, add fruit/berries, some honey, etc.  The diet also excludes certain foods so do some additional research.  However, if all you do is the flax seed oil and cottage cheese / yogurt mix, that will already go a long way!  Use raw yogurt from grass fed raw milk if you have access to it!

b. Gerson Therapy 

This is an intense protocol where you have a VERY limited diet, drink an insane amount of freshly squeezed juice and do lots and lots of coffee enemas for detox.  In my opinion, this is a very difficult diet to follow, BUT you can take some important elements from it and incorporate them somewhat easily.  The key from this protocol are the coffee enemas.  You should be doing these at least a few times a week, and if the cancer is more aggressive, daily.  Also, add at lease 1-2 fresh juices to your diet daily. You can find recipes for the right mix of fruits & veggies on the Gerson Website.

A special not on the coffee enemas:  Your colon is the last stop in the body’s detox pathway.  If it is “clogged” the rest of the detoxing gets backed up.  You must must must clean out your colon.  Enemas not only remove old “poop” they detox the liver which then lets the liver do its job detoxing the rest of the body.  This one is critically important.  Do not skip it.  Get over the “yuk” factor!  First few times lie in the bathtub to avoid accidents.  Find a good YouTube video for instructions.  And, you will need the right equipment and organic coffee to start.

c. Bitter Apricot Seed Kernels

Apricot seed kernels are very high in B17, which kills cancer cells.  Work up to eating 15-20 a day, 20-30 if cancer is aggressive. You can put them through a food processor with sweet dried fruit like dates to make it more palatable…but per above, less dried fruit is better. Eat with pumpkin seeds (they are high in zinc and zinc is needed for good B17 absorption).

4. Cancer Fighting Foods (these support and/or boost your immune systems)

a. Garlic:  Eat as much as you can. Take raw garlic, chop into small pieces, let sit for 10 minutes, then swallow like you would a pill.  Always following a meal or it may irritate your stomach. Daily would be amazing.  If doing long term, take breaks.

b. Ginger:  Eat as much as you can.  Great in tea or fresh juice.  For tea, take fresh ginger, cut into small pieces, cover with hot water, add lemon and honey (honey when tea cools down a bit.  NEVER heat honey and never cook with honey).

c. Turmeric:  Turmeric’s cancer fighting ability is well documents.  Eat as much as you can.  Add it to your cooking.  It goes great with rice, vegetables, fish, chicken and beef dishes (almost everything).  Mix with honey and eat by the spoonful.  Make golden milk (ideally not using cow milk).  Buy in pill form if eating it is as described above is not palatable.

d. Ceylon Cinnamon:  It must be Ceylon cinnamon and not the others types typically sold in stores.  Add to cooking or your ginger tea or ½ teaspoon every day with some honey.

e. Cruciferous Vegetables:  Eat as much as possible.  Add them to your menu EVERY SINGLE DAY!

f. Green Tea:  Drink as much green tea as possible every day (maybe even combine with the ginger tea above).  Try to use loose tea over tea bags as tea bags come with their own chemicals.

g. Most Vegetables:  Avoid those that are high in starches.  See “Foods to Avoid List” on the GAPS Diet for vegetables to avoid (i.e. corn, potatoes, etc.).  (Use the GAPS list as a guide only.  There will be conflicting information between that list and some recommendations in this post.)

h. Apple cider vinegar (ACV):  Drink a glass of water with a tablespoon or so of ACV daily, build up to this slowly. You can add some honey. Lots and lots of health benefits from ACV.

i. Coconut Oil:  Amazing in many ways!  It may take 1-2 weeks to get used to Coconut Oil so please be patient. The added benefit is that it stimulates your metabolism / helps you lose weight!  Fry everything on coconut oil (never olive or other vegetable oils, they are not heat stable and become bad for you when heated).  If Coconut Oil is not appetizing, cooking on Ghee or lard.

j. Berries:  Berries are incredible for you.  Eat as much as possible.  As with everything else, choose organic.  Frozen may be less expensive and a better choice when local is not available.  Costco has a great frozen organic berry selection.

k. Fermented Foods:  Much of our immune system lives in the gut in the form of our good gut bacteria.  In addition, these bacteria play a critical role in processing foods and even producing the vital vitamins for our bodies.  Fermented foods are the single best way to replenish good bacteria, in addition to vitamins, digestive enzymes and other goodness.  Try to add fermented foods to every single meal you eat.  Fermented foods include:  Kombucha, sauerkraut, real pickles (homemade or Bubbie’s brand), pickled tomatoes, kefir, yogurt, kimchi.  Note, all of these foods must be raw / unpasteurized.  For example, if the pickles are in vinegar they have no probiotics!  All of these foods will be in the refrigerated section if they have live bacteria.

l. Sprouts:  Raw sprouted grains and seeds are some of the most nutritious foods you can get.  And there is the added benefit of you eating a food that is alive and still “growing” when you eat it!  Sprouting at home is incredibly easy.  If you add sprouts to every meal in addition to the fermented foods, it would be incredible.  My favorite are sprouted sunflower seeds (eat once greens are 1+ inches long), sprouted buckwheat (wait for root to show, good in yogurt) and alfalfa (mild taste).

5. Stay Hydrated But Not With Water

Staying well hydrated is critically important as mild dehydration contributes to disease.  And, many if not most people do not get enough “water”.  If recovering from cancer, there is only so much one can eat / drink in a single day.  So rather than “wasting” your drinking opportunities on water, go for a healing drink instead!  Green tea, ginger tea, kombucha, ACV with water, fresh squeezed juices (see Gerson), coconut water, golden milk, etc.  If you do drink water…DO NOT drink bottled water…DO NOT drink “water” with ingredients in it (calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, magnesium sulfate, etc)….only drink spring water or well filtered water.

6. Eat Foods That Are Alive with EVERY SINGLE MEAL

Every time you sit down to eat, make sure there is living food in your meal.  This includes raw fruits and veggies, sprouts, raw dairy and fermented foods.  Think of anything that is cooked as a dead food…there are no probiotics, there are no digestive enzymes, many of the vitamins have been altered by the heat, etc.  The key focus here is probiotic and digestive enzymes.  Both are critical to digestion, which is how we get the proper nutrition to the rest of our body and nurture our cells and immune system.  This is CRITICALLY important.  Best to include a living food and fermented food at every single meal.  Even if its just a spoonful of yogurt or sip of kombucha.  More is better than less!

7. Supplements

I list a lot of supplements below.  Not all are important for all people.  You need to research each one to determine what is best for your situation.

a. D3 / K2:  D3 is critical to fighting cancer.  It is best to get it naturally from the sun.  This requires following a proper washing routine and NOT washing your body daily (only smelly parts).  D3 must be taken with K2 for maximum absorption.   Magnesium deficiency contributes to D deficiency, so magnesium supplementation becomes important.  Note, there is a school of thought that D3 supplementation is not wise (see magnesium advocacy group), their Facebook page is a great resource).  I am not convinced by this theory.  Plenty of study seem to confirm that D deficiency contributes to cancer and D supplementation helps.  Do your own research.

b. Probiotics: Daily or with every meal.  Mix up brands.  We like Bio-Kult and Klaire Labs. Take both shelf stable and refrigerated varieties, they have different equally important bacteria strains.  Even better is to eat fermented foods.  Think of your body like a garden and probiotics as seeds, you can plant as many seeds as you want but if the soil / environment isn’t right for seeds to grow or if there are too many weeks, the seeds will not grow.  Taking probiotics alone is NEVER enough, cleaning up your diet is of paramount importance.

c. Omega 3 / Fish Oil:  Cod Liver Oil is best.  Mix up brands.  We like Sonnie’s, Nordic Naturals and Dropi.

d. Desiccated Liver:  Eating organ meats adds important nutrition to your diet.  If you cannot stomach them, consider taking desiccated liver pills.  We turn to these when sick for the natural vitamin A.  If you research online, you will find that people turn to A for skin condition, vision, immune support, to treat & prevent cancer and more.

e. Vitamin C: Google vitamin C and cancer and the results will be endless.  We strive to stick to “natural” sources so my preference is Pure Radiance and camu camu powder.  If you are going to take very large doses, sodium ascorbate will be easier and much less expensive.

f. Iodine:  Many are deficient in this critical mineral that may play a role in causing cancer and help in curing it.

g. Magnesium:  Most people are deficient and magnesium deficiency leads to D3 deficiency among other issues.  This supplement is an important one to add.

h. Broken Cell Chlorella:  Helps with detox.  Consider eating with each meal, but especially with fish as it it binds with heavy metals and moves them out of your body.  (As a side note,strawberries are great at binding with heavy metals as well!)

8. Other Things To Support Your Immune System and Detox 

a. Lymphatic System / Detox:  Your lymphatic system is a key to detox.  To get it working, you need to jump / rebound.  Buy a mini trampoline to keep inside the house.  Jump on it every day a few times a day.  As an alternative, use a jump rope.  But the mini trampoline will be much easier.

b. Sleep:  You need to maximize your sleep to support your immune system and get well.  THIS IS CRITICAL.  Make it a top priority to fighting cancer!

c. Stress:  Stress suppresses your immune system.  You MUST lower your stress levels.  THIS IS CRITICAL.  Make it a top priority to fighting cancer!

d. Take Care of Your Teeth:  Bacteria in your mouth and on your teeth impacts the health of your body!  If you have root canals, there is a good chance they may be infected as many if not most fail over time!  Get x-rays done to ensure there is no bacterial infection in the root canal teeth / roots.  If there is, treat it or pull the tooth.  The bacteria releases toxins into your body…this will only impede your ability to heal from cancer.  You can read more on oral health in my post on healing a cavity.  I do not think the protocol in my post will help a failed root canal!

e. Grounding: Spend as much time as possible walking outside barefoot.  Better yet, take a cotton blanket and relax outside on the grass.  There is a school of thought that energy from the earth travels into our bodies and helps us heal.  Whether this is voodoo magic or real, who cares!  Spend time outdoors barefoot…if nothing else, being outdoors will help lower your stress!

f. Lose Weight:  If there is room to lose a few pounds, do it. The best way is through the right diet.  Diet does not mean eating less. Eating less will only slow down your metabolism and make you gain weight in the long term!  Following a Paleo or GAPS diet will help you get there.  The key to losing weight is a diet low in carbs and high in healthy fats and proteins. Foods like avocado, nuts/seeds, grass fed meats (especially organ meats), eggs, fish, etc are the best and lots and lots of vegetables. Keep in mind that fat does not make you fat, sugar does!  Also, sugar feeds cancer!

g. Cut Down or Eliminate Cow Dairy:  Many, if not most, people cannot tolerate dairy well.  The issue is not lactose (which is highly advertised) the issue is cow dairy proteins.  Some of these proteins may stimulates chronic inflammation in the body, producing mucus and weakening your immune system.  This is a food intolerance issue not a food allergy or lactose intolerance issue.  It would not hurt to cut out dairy completely, with the exception of the cottage cheese / yogurt you will eat as part of the Budwig diet and Ghee for frying.  Raw milk may or may not cause the same issues as pasteurized milk, but it is always the best choice.  If you have access to raw milk, make raw milk yogurt. Goat dairy may be tolerated better than cow.

9. Things You Should NOT DO

a. Do not fry any food on vegetable or olive oil.  These oils have a low heating point and become carcinogenic!  You should only fry on saturated fat – coconut oil, lard, ghee or butter.

b. Hold off on vaccines until you are 100% better.  The ingredients are not without risk and your body cannot handle the toxic load.  Additionally, they have questionable effects on your immune system which is currently suppressed.  This especially holds true for the flu shot which has a low effectiveness and higher rate of adverse reactions than other vaccines.

c. Do not use conventional personal care products, sunscreen, detergents, dish washing soaps, etc.!  You need to decrease the toxic load on your body and typically these products come with chemicals that are questionable or outright carcinogenic.  Choose options that are less toxic.  Visit www.ewg.org for their databases on safety of products.  The Skin Deep database is a great place to check your personal care items and the sunscreen guide is also great.   See my posts on washing and shampoo/conditioner for what we use.

d. Do not go crazy with sunblock and be sure to choose a safer option (we like Badgers). You need to get D3 naturally. When your body produces D3 it takes 24-48 hours for it to be absorbed into your skin, so if you are washing with soap daily you are washing it off.  DO NOT wash with soap – other than the smelly areas (arm pits, etc) – its not necessary, washes off the d3, washes off healthy bacteria and in other ways isn’t good for your body.

e. Do not take antibiotics! As much as 80% of your immune system resides in your gut, antibiotics kill the good bacteria and thus your immune system. When sick, turn to garlic first!

f. Do not fight fevers!  When you are sick, a fever is your body’s way of fighting the infection. Decreasing the fever decreases your immune system / response. Only reduce fevers if your are absolutely miserable. On this note, there are some interesting studies showing how people had regression in their cancer after high fever illnesses! Someone is doing research into using a high fever illness to treat cancer!

g. Do not take medications (if at all possible)! They mess with our gut bacteria, immune system, increase toxic load, decrease our bodies ability to remove toxins and so so much more. If you are taking any, try to get off of them and opt for natural options if at all possible!  This holds true for prescription drugs and over the counter medications like Advil and Tylenol.

h. DO NOT eat GMO foods! GMO foods are genetically modified to withstand poison / pesticides.  Roundup is the most widely used on GMO crops.   Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, has been recognized as a probable carcinogen and a recent court ruling awarded $289 million to a man that got cancer applying Roundup on school properties.   There is so much more to be said about GMOs which I will do in a later post.  Avoid them at all costs!  And, this holds true for oats and wheat / flour based products that are not organic.  Those crops get sprayed by the same glyphosate as GMO crops prior to harvest.

i. DO NOT eat any products containing soy! Unless its fermented and eaten in small amounts, soy messes with your hormones.  Plus, it is GMO if not labeled organic.

j. Do NOT use any scented products!  Perfume, creams, soaps, shampoos, gels, etc.  Artificial “smells” are created with man made chemicals with questionable safety.  Only use scented products if the scent is natural, food based or essential oil based.

 

I hope to cover each of the bullets in this post in more detail over time and will keep this post updated as more information becomes available and my knowledge grows!