A Dangerous Addiction
If you have an insatiable sweet tooth, it might be time to consider cutting back on all those refined sugars you eat. New research conducted shows that sugar not only poses a diabetic health risk, but that it also contributes to 35 million deaths globally a year [1].
The risks of sugar don’t just end at diabetes and heart disease, either. Sugar and cancer go hand-in-hand in ways that some oncologists and the media fail to see: and that by limiting a cancer patient’s sugar intake it could stop the rapid growth of cancer cells.
According to an article [2] written by Patrick Quillin, PhD, cutting sugar from the diet of cancer patients is overlooked in the treatment process when it is actually a very vital step. “Sugar feeds cancer” is a phrase often omitted and overlooked when it shouldn’t be.
There is some research [3] conducted that suggests that starving the tumor cells—essentially—of glucose is an effective cancer treatment, because cells need sugar to thrive.
Sugar Feeds Cancer
Some even describe cancer as a “preventable disease” that just requires a lifestyle change. [4] While that statement is a little iffy for the genetic strains of cancer, it does ring true for those who were diagnosed due to things such as unhealthy diet or tobacco use.
So how is natural sugar, not artificial or refined, bad for us when cells require glucose to function? The answer is fructose.In the journal Cancer Research, it’s posted that people who consume more sugar are at a higher risk of breast cancer [5]. And due to the American diet, lack of activity, and tobacco use, it seems that maybe cancer is a preventable disease.
So how does fructose contribute to cancer more than natural sugar? Pancreatic tumor cells use it to grow and thrive. The knowledge that high fructose corn syrup is bad for you is widely accepted nowadays, so it should be easier for people to accept that it has cancerous properties as well. That isn’t always the case, though.
Refined Sugar is The Enemy
The first people to discover that sugar feeds cancer were researchers at Huntsman Cancer Center in Utah. [6] Since tumor cells use more glucose than healthy cells, knowing the process and ballpark estimation of time can help future studies and patients.
Refined sugars have a strong link to cancer, both as a cause and as the kerosene on top of the fire. Prevalent in today’s diet and found in things from bread and pasta to soda, refined sugar can cause cancer by inflammation.
Inflammation aids the growth of cancerous cells by providing it the right amount of comfort to proliferate. It promotes metastasis, subverts immune response, and alters hormone response. [8]
Dr. Anthony Heaney even describes fructose as a hidden danger, one that leads to obesity and diabetes as well. It was Dr. Otto Warburg’s paper in 1924 that first discovered the link that Heaney talks about. Titled “On metabolism of tumors,” Warburg stated that the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of oxygen in normal blood cells with a fermentation of sugar.
What difference does that make? Normal cells require oxygen; cancer cells, on the other hand, hate it. Warburg’s theory was that cancer cells converted glucose into energy without oxygen.
Starving Cancer
“Starving” the cancer cells prevents this. Dr. William Li discusses anti-angiogenesis, which is preventing the extra blood cells needed to grow and feed the tumor. In his video [9] Li discusses foods that can have anti-angiogenesis properties and suggests consuming them to starve your cancer or prevent it from cropping up in the first place.
While sugar feeds cancer isn’t as widely-known or accepted in the United States, it is in Europe. So much so, in fact, that oncologists use the Systemic Cancer Multistep Therapy (SCMT) protocol.
Created by Manfred von Ardenne in Germany in 1965, this protocol calls for injecting patients with glucose to increase their blood-glucose concentrations, which then lowers the pH value of the tissues by lactic acid formation.
The patients then undergo whole-body hypothermia to induce further stress on the cancer cells before they are then put into radiation. On the 103 patients tested, this method increased five-year survival rates by 20-25% and tumor regression by 30-50%.
Cutting sugar consumption is easier said than done, unfortunately. Because of the hedonic effects in the brain generated by fructose consumption, imbibing less can be a struggle.
It modules the opioid and dopamine receptors in the brain, much like alcohol does. And gluten-containing grains, which have pharmacologically active peptides [10] that drive addictive behaviors, such as the compulsive need for grains at every meal. With that comes increasing your risk of cancer, making it an endless loop of addiction that many aren’t able to fight.
A Needed Lifestyle Change
Perhaps now it’s time to consider that lifestyle change you’ve been pondering, or maybe to just think a little bit harder before you pick up that next can of soda.
Though the effects aren’t always obvious or immediate, it does add up. Opt for natural sugars, such as honey and agave, which are healthier and are also packed with antioxidants to protect your body from the development of cancer.
With research suggesting that Americans pack away as much as 160 lbs of sugar annually, and with the USDA estimating that Americans eat as much as 200 lbs of grain annually—in which there are hidden sugars—it never hurts and is never too early to watch your diet.
References:
1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9062809/Can-sugar-really-be-toxic-Sadly-yes.html
2. http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/sugar_cancer.htm
3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6130780
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2515569/
5. http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/here-s-how-sugar-might-fuel-growth-cancer-n488456
6. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090817184539.htm
7. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120626131854.htm
8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18650914
10. http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/60-years-research-links-gluten-grains-schizophrenia
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