743. Does Sugar “Feed” Cancer? By Carolyn Allen in Meridian Magazine · November 27, 2016
A word to the wise! Sugar has been around a lot with all of us, since Halloween. This article will help us not over-indulge during the Christmas season, and after!
Does Sugar “Feed” Cancer?
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Note From Carolyn: Our herbal detox, such a great health boost for after Thanksgiving indulging and to get the sugar and bloating on its way, is on sale through today, 11-28-16! CLICK HERE.
Our great privilege to share this all-natural product has brought many interesting conversations into our lives over the past nine years. Among those are numerous direct conversations with people who have purchased it for help in coping with the side effects of cancer treatments. They felt very fortunate to have found this product and today’s article is a result of those conversations.
With Thanksgiving last Thursday, the Holidays are officially here! Our taste buds are very much alive and probably still clamoring for more of the indulgent goodies we’ve just enjoyed. For most of us, it’s an easy thing to let from now until New Year’s Day turn into one long party and snack fest, even when we’re alone.
Good news! Today, the Monday after Thanksgiving, can be a wonderful decision day! I remember very well a Monday after Thanksgiving where I was absolutely miserable from overeating from Halloween through Thanksgiving. I knew that I was starting December, the most difficult month of all, in a very out of control place. None of my clothes fit and I was uncomfortable in every way. It was a scary feeling emotionally to see where I was headed and I couldn’t imagine what it would take to get me to stop eating. Plus my family needed me to be happy … with ME! That old statement that “When mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” is as true as anything I know. My children and husband all deserved a happier me!
I used that scary Monday to decide that my gift to myself on Christmas Day would be to see that I had spent December in control of my eating and happy about how I’d treated my health through the month. I had a house full of young children and wasn’t going get obsessed about it, but I promised myself and the Lord that I would stayed focused, eating better and exercising however I could. By Christmas Day, I was feeling much better and so much happier with my life and the Holidays that year!
With that thought in mind, today’s article about cancer and sugar is not meant to be a downer, but to help us approach the month mindfully and prayerfully in terms of our health for today and for many years to come.
Just after Halloween, where candy ranks as importantly as cute costumes, I had an important conversation with Georgia of Salt Lake City, Utah who had used our product to successfully cope with the effects of cancer treatments and has been declared cancer free. With Halloween and Georgia’s cancer in my heart, I did some research on sugar “feeding” cancer cells, and sent it out to the dear people on my newsletter list. (You can sign up for it HERE)
My research came up with several articles, including one from the Mayo Clinic that stated that sugar feeds ALL cells, but basically not to worry too much about it. I’ve reprinted that information below.
Several days later I got an email from another woman who had recently experienced breast cancer. Her research that stated just the opposite! Whooo boy ….why would the Mayo clinic tell us that? That’s a story for another day. Here are the articles, including the emails from these two women.
Dated 11-04-2016
“I checked in this week with Georgia, who served as an LDS missionary in Denmark and found us through Meridian Magazine. Georgia loves this product and has used it several years for regularity and digestion, but this past May (2016) brought an unexpected, shocking chapter: CANCER.
She had noticed some unusual spotting and without any delay, made an appointment and was evaluated. Endometrial-carcinoma was diagnosed and an immediate hysterectomy was performed. Due to the quick diagnosis, the cancer was contained, although the cancer cells themselves were stage 3 and very aggressive. Over the next several months, she received radiation treatments, focused on excellent nutrition, and drank our herbal detox product faithfully.
In October, just 3-4 months later, she was declared cancer free! She and her family are feeling thrilled, relieved and very, very blessed. Her doctors are extremely impressed, telling her, “Whatever – WHATEVER – you are doing, continue!”
She feels sure that our product was very helpful in aiding a very valuable detox from the radiation treatments. She stresses again and again the importance of excellent nutrition and getting to the doctor at the first sign of any abnormality.
My newsletter continued with our family’s Halloween celebrations, and then I launched my article, thinking of the overload of candy we all experience at Halloween and Georgia’s cancer. I had heard that sugar feeds cancer, is it true????? My research came up with a number of sources stating that sugar feeds all the cells in our bodies, including cancer cells, but that it was nothing to be unduly concerned about. The Mayo Clinic had the most succinct answer in one simple statement, then documented it.
Does sugar feed cancer cells? No. It’s a myth. Here’s the information from their webpage.
Myth: People with cancer shouldn’t eat sugar, since it can cause cancer to grow faster.
Fact: Sugar doesn’t make cancer grow faster. All cells, including cancer cells, depend on blood sugar (glucose) for energy. But giving more sugar to cancer cells doesn’t speed their growth. Likewise, depriving cancer cells of sugar doesn’t slow their growth.
This misconception may be based in part on a misunderstanding of positron emission tomography (PET) scans, which use a small amount of radioactive tracer — typically a form of glucose. All tissues in your body absorb some of this tracer, but tissues that are using more energy — including cancer cells — absorb greater amounts. For this reason, some people have concluded that cancer cells grow faster on sugar. But this isn’t true.
However, there is some evidence that consuming large amounts of sugar is associated with an increased risk of certain cancers, including esophageal cancer. It can also lead to weight gain and increase the risk of obesity and diabetes, which may increase the risk of cancer.(Link to Mayo Cinic: CLICK HERE)
My article continued: “Every cell in your body uses sugar, in the form of blood glucose, for energy and growth. That includes cancer cells. But that doesn’t mean you should feel free to eat as much sugar as you like. Sugar doesn’t offer the protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that other foods offer. These nutrients help your body fight cancer.”
I added some links to healthy eating to fight cancer, and thought I’d sent a pretty good newsletter, right?
Wrong. Here’s the email I got a few days later from another reader, Lynn of Lancaster, California, who has also experienced cancer over the last year.
I was distressed to see your post last week about sugar not feeding cancer. I just had a cancerous tumor and a breast removed one year ago and I have done extensive research on cancer to make sure that it does not again invade my body. Everything I read says that sugar feeds cancer …. I’m incensed that Mayo Clinic gave you the report it did when there is SO much research to the opposite!”
Here is some of Lynn’s research:
- Bollinger, Ty. The Truth About Cancer: page 147:“Sugar also acts as fuel for cancer cells, feeding their anaerobic lust to ferment. Dr. Mark Sircus of the International Medical Veritas Association says sugar and cancer are “locked in a death grip” (11) and science proves this. Research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2009 was the first to show that sugar “feeds” tumors, drawing from scientific data long buried from nearly 100 years ago. “It’s been known since 1923 that tumor cells use a lot more glucose than normal cells,: stated Don Ayer, Ph.D., an investigator at the Huntsman Cancer Institute and professor at the University of Utah’s Department of Oncological Science. (12)
- Sircus, Mark, “Cancer and Sugar = Strategy for Selective Starvation of Cancer” GreenMedInfo, 2013. CLICK HERE.
- University of Utah Health Science, “Does Sugar Feed Cancer?” ScienceDaily, 2009. CLICK HERE.
- http://www.BudwigCenter.com is one of the most respected sites on cancer research. Please check what they have to say about sugar and cancer.
- Cancer Free by Bill Henderson and Carlos M. Garcia, MD – page 163: “The Four No-Nos: Avoid Sugar – in any form! (Stevia or xylitol are the only sweeteners we recommend for patients with cancer.) This is a lifetime commitment, not only during your recovery. This by the way, includes all forms of honey and syrup.
As I browsed through these articles, there was plenty to inspire me to pass on the sugar, no matter how good it tastes! (Did I mention it makes me sleepy during the day but keeps me awake at night? Oh, it’s a wicked thing for me.)
So, here’s to a healthier December! Even cutting back on our sweets to just a few special occasions this month will be a big improvement over nibbling mindlessly all month long. How we manage our health is a personal decision, and one of the most important gifts we provide for ourselves and our family. It comes through the foods we choose to eat, or not eat, exercise and finding ways to relieve stress. While there’s a place for the goodies that define a holiday and a culture, there’s also an important place for learning about what our bodies need most to function best.
Happy December!
Carolyn Allen is the Author of 60 Seconds to Weight Loss Success, One Minute Inspirations to Change Your Thinking, Your Weight and Your Life.. She has been providing mental and spiritual approaches for weight loss success both online and in the Washington, DC community since 1999 presenting for Weight Watchers, First Class, Fairfax County Adult Education and other community groups. She and her husband Bob are the parents of five children and grandparents of ten. They are now happy empty nesters in Jackson Tennessee, close to Memphis where they center their online business
and Carolyn serves in the Primary Presidency. She has been writing for Meridian Magazine since March of 2007.
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