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WHAT
IT IS
The
Story
What
It Is, and
What It's Not
Conventional
Medical Treatments
HOW
IT WORKS
The
Immune System
and Cancer
Foods
& Supplements
HOW
TO DO IT
Key
Concepts
Forbidden
Foods
The
Eating Regimen
Toolkit
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The
Cancer-fighting Diet>> How to Do It
Forbidden Foods "Forbidden" may seem like a strong word, but your first months on the cancer-fighting diet are the most critical. This is when you need to focus all your body's resources on strengthening your immune system to fight your cancer, while keeping the rest of your body in optimal health. So it's especially important to avoid anything that reduces the
absorption or beneficial effects of the foods and supplements, or
prevents them from doing their work.
Many of the foods listed below
have been linked to an increased risk of getting cancer. While it's
important for people to avoid these foods to lower their chances of
getting cancer, it's especially important to keep them out of your diet
if you already have cancer.
Red Meat
Beef, veal, lamb, and other red meats should not be eaten for three reasons.
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They all contain saturated animal fats. These fats coat the lining of the digestive system and the walls of the blood vessels, and block the absorption of nutrients your body needs to fight cancer.
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Cancer-causing chemicals
called nitrosamines are formed in meats during
high-temperature cooking (frying, grilling and broiling).
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Even lean red meats
cooked at lower temperatures (baked or stir-fried) take up space in
your digestive system that could otherwise be filled with foods that are valuable for fighting cancer.
Although red meat is an important source of iron, the iron in the foods and multivitamins you'll
consume will meet your body's needs.
Pork Products
Pork, ham, bacon, sausage, and other products of pigs also contain saturated animal fats (see
Red Meat, above). Ham, bacon, and sausage are even worse for people
fighting cancer, because they are heavily salted and contain preservatives called
nitrites that cause cancer (see below).
Processed Meats
Hot dogs, coldcuts and luncheon meats, pepperoni, corned beef, pastrami, and other processed meats are especially harmful to people with cancer. First, even "low fat"
and "all beef" processed meats commonly are more than 50% fat! (Read the amounts of
"calories" and "fat calories" on the Nutrition Facts
labels. Don't be surprised to find that 140 calories or more of each
190-calorie slice of meat comes from fat.)
Cancer-causing chemicals are produced during the salting of meat.
Nitrites are added to meats because they prevent the growth of bacteria. They combine with a protein in meat to produce the "desirable" dark red or pink color typical of
ham, hot dogs, corned beef, pastrami, and coldcuts. Very high concentrations of nitrites, by
themselves, cause cancer. But during cooking, nitrites combine with other substances in meats to form
additional carcinogenic substances. The last thing a person fighting cancer needs to consume is more carcinogens!
Margarine, Butter, Shortening, Trans Fats,
Vegetable Oils
Margarine, butter, shortening (e.g., Crisco), and other oils and spreads made of saturated animal fats, polyunsaturated vegetable oils, and trans fats
(listed on nutrition labels as "hydrogenated" and "partially hydrogenated" oils) should not be used at all during the first
months. They keep cancer-fighting nutrients from being absorbed into
your body. They also may make existing cancers grow faster.
These types of fats and oils can raise levels of
"bad" (LDL) cholesterol, lower levels of "good" (HDL) cholesterol, and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Animal fats and many vegetable oils contain omega-6 fatty acids, which
form inflammatory substances when broken down in the body. Inflammation
may play an important role in the development of cancer.
Only extra virgin olive oil
(EVOO) and canola oil should be used for cooking an in salad
dressings. EVOO is loaded with antioxidants and also raises levels of HDL cholesterol.
Olive and canola oils, along with fish oil, and oils in nuts, contain
omega-3 fatty acids, which curb inflammation and may slow the growth and
spread of cancer.
Fried Foods
All deep-fried foods (meats, poultry, seafood, French fries, potato
chips, taco chips, etc.) are strictly off limits, because they are cooked with unhealthy fats and oils.
More important, the high temperatures reached during frying creates
carcinogens.
While
frying is out, sautéeing poultry, fish, and vegetables in olive oil is fine. You won't believe it until you try it, but chicken, shrimp, scallops, and vegetables sautéed in a high-quality extra virgin olive oil taste almost exactly the same as when cooked in butter.
Vegetables also are delicious when tossed with olive oil and a little
salt and roasted (see Recipes).
Coffee
Although drinking a few cups a day of caffeinated coffee may have some health benefits, such as lowering the risk of diabetes and Parkinson's disease,
people on the cancer-fighting diet should not drink coffee. Coffee is a diuretic (increases the flow of urine), and it complexes with calcium and accelerates its
eliminationfrom the body. The
whole point of Dr. Miller's diet is to maximize absorption of cancer-fighting
nutrients, and calcium is a key nutrient. Another important reason
not to drink coffee is that it does nothing to fight cancer, and
it keeps you from drinking something that may prevent or slow the
formation of tumors (low fat milk, soy milk,
green tea) .
Laxatives
By now, you probably have figured out why laxatives should not
be used: they
prevent absorption of the food and supplements that are key to boosting
your immune system to combat cancer.
Sugary Foods
Sugar is not entirely off-limits in the cancer-fighting diet. In fact, some sweet foods, such as fruits and dark
chocolate, are important parts of the regimen. Big bursts of
sugar--what you get from a can of Coke (9 teaspoons of sugar!) or a
candy bar can rapidly raise the level of sugar in your blood.
There is new evidence that sugar-sweetened beverages increase the
chances of getting colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, and endometrial
cancer, and possibly other cancers.
More important, high levels of blood sugar cause
Natural Killer (NK) cells--the
main cancer fighters of the immune system--to leave the bloodstream. While they are away,
it means that the
"cancer police" are not patrolling for and destroying cancer cells.
The idea is to boost levels of NK cells, so sugar consumption should be
limited mostly to sugars found in natural foods.
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