Can natural therapies cure cancer?

If you were diagnosed with cancer, would you try natural remedies? I know cancer is not a nice subject to talk about. But I have to ask this question, because in the time that it will take you to read this article 3 people in the US will die of cancer . That's 1 person every minute, or 1600 people each day. First, let's look at what cancer really is. It's a disease that's caused by an uncontrolled division of cells in a part of the body. Normally, when cells grow old or become damaged, they divide to form new cells that take their place . But with cancer the cells start growing out of control and form new, abnormal cells. Almost half of all men and a third of all women in the US will develop cancer during their lifetime. You can reduce the risk of cancer with a healthy lifestyle — if you have a strong immune system then most likely the cancer cells will just die without you even realizing it.

“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease” — Buddha

But supposing you did get cancer, would you choose chemo- or radiotherapy, or would you look for other alternatives? Studies show that chemotherapy improves the 5 year survival rate of cancer patients in the US by just 2.1% . So the majority of cancer patients are choosing a treatment that offers little real hope of improving their chances of a full recovery. And with such a tiny impact on survival rate, we have to question why the FDA would even approve a treatment with such negative side effects. There are many people though, who believe that there is an alternative. Dr. Otto Warburg, a 1924 Nobel Prize winning biochemist, made a hypothesis that cancer is a metabolic disease, and cancer cells prefer glucose (sugar) as a fuel.

“Cancer, above all other disease, has countless secondary causes. But even for cancer there is only one prime cause. Summarized in a few words, the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar.” — Otto H. Warburg

Yes, cancer cells love sugar! Blood sugar raises your insulin level which stimulates the cancer cells to take in more glucose. There is a strong connection between diabetes, cancer and high blood sugar. Normally our bodies will use carbohydrates as their main energy source. Normal cells and cancer (abnormal) cells also feed off carbs and glucose. So if this is the case, what would happen if you put your body basically into starvation mode? Surely it will then start looking for an alternative energy source in order to survive? That's exactly what happens! And there are 2 ways to achieve this — one is through therapeutic fasting (water fast), and the other is calorie restriction with a ketogenic diet. On a ketogenic diet your daily calorie intake is made up of 2 - 5% carbs, 10 - 15% protein and around 80% fat. With this low carb intake your blood sugar level will remain low, and carbs are not available as the main energy source, so your body will start looking for a different source of energy. That's when you'll switch to your body's second possible energy source: “ketones” (fatty acids). Normal cells can use ketones for energy, but cancer cells can not — so you are effectively feeding your healthy cells and starving the cancer. Re-conditioning your body to use ketones as the primary energy source has other positive side effects too, including increased energy and much clearer thinking. Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not saying that none of the conventional therapies works. And I'm not claiming that the ketogenic diet on its own is a miracle therapy. Just if we have a very good idea about how we can prevent or reverse cancer, then why are we ignoring it and not even trying? There is countless evidence of the ketogenic diet working, and no evidence of it not working! Isn't it worth trying? Sometimes we really need to look and question what is really going on. What would I do if I develop cancer? First, I'd stop eating for at least 2-3 weeks. I'd start on a water diet, observe how my body reacts and then start slowly adding raw green veggie juice and healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, avocados and nuts.

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease” — Thomas Edison

If you look to nature, what does an animal eat when they're sick? If your dog gets sick it will stop eating, and eat only grass. I believe we need to give our digestive system a break so the body has a chance to heal itself. Of course not everything is about nutrition though. I would do more meditation, visualize my body healthy again, and add relaxation techniques. I'd slowly increase the intensity of exercise. I would take multivitamins, and especially high doses of Vitamin C, curcumin extract and essiac tea. And I'd focus on staying as happy and positive as possible. But we don't need to wait until we get sick, we can start taking preventative measures now. We can prevent serious diseases by just giving attention to what we are putting in our body. Now I'm not saying that everyone has to fast, or follow a ketogenic diet. But if you're healthy now then I suggest, just once in a while, try it out and see how your body reacts. The answer is within you - if you listen carefully then your body will always tell you whether what you're doing is right or not. And if you are suffering from cancer, or another disease, then why not try all the options that are available to treat it, instead of just relying on the conventional methods? I think it's time to question what's really happening in how we treat disease, and whether we should be focusing more on alternative (natural) or conventional (drug industry) medicine. -- Recommended reading: “Cancer is a metabolic disease” by Thomas Seyfried