
We get asked this question a lot from our patients and readers.
It makes sense…
Since diet is one of things you can have control over during your cancer care!
Our cancer expert, Alex Rolland, made a video to explain which foods you should be avoiding when you’re on cancer treatment:
Foods to Avoid with Cancer Treatment
With chemo, Alex says you definitely want to avoid eating foods that are involved in inflammation. These include…
- Saturated fats – often found in cheeses, meats, and junk food
- Acrylamides – a byproduct of barbecuing, cooking, and used in the food industry
- Bisphenols – a compound found in water bottles and in the lining of tin cans. (Bisphenols are what Alex calls an ‘endocrine effector’, meaning they can falsely signal a lack of estrogen and mess with your hormones…so if you have ER+ or triple positive breast cancer, you should steer clear of food stored in tin cans.)
- Processed foods – such as packaged meats, certain cheeses, and so on.
In an ideal world, Alex suggests that a good rule-of-thumb is to only eat foods that you prepare and cook yourself.
Note! Even if you’re not undergoing chemo, you should stick to avoiding the foods on this list. They will only hinder your ability to fight cancer, as well as prevent it.
What about wheatgrass?
It’s true that wheatgrass may help to reduce chemo side effects. While there have been pre-clinical trials and patient reports to indicate the benefits, no double-blind studies have been done. So give it a try if you like. It won’t hurt, if nothing else.
Lastly…what about sugar?
Yep, sugar is not the best choice – here’s why:Sugar requires insulin to cross the barrier from the bloodstream to the cells…and cancer cells love insulin…and you don’t want to be feeding the cancer cells, right?!
Plus, complex sugars are hard on the body in general. They bloat your blood vessels (since each sugar molecule requires a shell of water around it), they’re dehydrating, and draining on your digestive system and other processes.
Having said that, it’s important to remember that your body does need natural sugars to function properly…
Eat more whole fruits and veggies! 🍒🍊🥦
Naturally occurring sugars are much better because they’re locked in with fibre…so you have less glucose. Insulin – remember, that’s what the cancer cells feed on – is specific to glucose.
Just stay far away from the artificial (aka added or processed) sugars as much as you can. Don’t feed the cancer cells.
It’s so crucial to make good choices about the things you can control with cancer…
on April 7, 2021