anticancer diet to help fight cancer (Part 1) : introduction

[This is Part 1 of a 5-parts article.]


Introduction
What special food or diet should I take to help me cope with cancer?

This is a question I'm frequently asked by people suffering from nose cancer. It is a valid question. Food or diet is a top concern of every cancer sufferer & survivor. I too had asked this same question when I was diagnosed with NPC (nasopharyngeal cancer) in 2006. Five years on, this topic is still very close to my heart.

By asking this question, we recognise that end of treatment does not necessarily mean end of cancer. We have gone (or are going) through the vigorous cancer treatment which has weakened our body's immune system. We have lost many kilos of weight. We now experience many changes in our body, including the side-effects of cancer treatment. We want to know what we should eat or do to restore our health and prevent cancer from coming back.

In the past 5 years, I have searched the internet, read up books, attended talks & picked up tips from my "NPC family" on what I should eat or do to help me cope & live with nose cancer. I will share some of these anticancer diet or remedies but before we delve into that, we must first understand some basic facts about cancer.

Cancer Facts
Every person has cancer cells in his body. These cancer cells do not show up until they have multiplied to a few billion. When your doctor tells you there are no more cancer cells in your body after treatment, it just means that tests are unable to detect cancer cells because they have not reached detectable size. When your immune system is strong, cancer cells will be destroyed and thus will be prevented from multiplying & forming tumours.

Chemotherapy involves poisoning rapidly-growing cancer cells as well as destroys healthy cells in the body. Radiation, while destroying cancer cells, also burns, scars & damages healthy cells, tissues & organs. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation, our immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence we can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

A Total Approach to Fighting Cancer
Our battle with cancer does not end with treatment. End of treatment does not mean we simply return to our former way of life without making changes to our diet & lifestyle. In other words, we cannot afford to do nothing.

Our battle with cancer is an ongoing lifelong battle. We need to stay vigilant against cancer at all times. But we should not live each day worrying about cancer either. While we should lead normal lives, we need also to pay more attention to our diet & lifestyle. So what do we need to do to gear up our ammunition against cancer?

To fight cancer, we need to :
1. starve cancer cells by not feeding the cells with foods that can help it to multiply
2. build up our body's immune system to enable our body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells
3. detoxify our body so our body's immune system can function more efficiently to remove the cancer cells
4. do deep-breathing exercise daily to get more oxygen down to the cellular level as cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment
5. adopt a positive mindset & stress-free lifestyle

In this 5-parts article as well as in future articles, I will provide some practical guide on how we can incorporate these 5 points in our daily battle against cancer.

Anticancer Diet
I will present in this article natural remedies or recipes that are believed to help our bodies fight cancer and provide relief from the side-effects of cancer treatment. Some of these remedies have scientific evidence, while some may not; and some remedies are spread by word of mouth. As each of our body constitution is different, what works for one person may not necessarily work for another. Therefore as you try out these remedies, you must listen to your body, monitor your body's reactions & then make your own decision.

Please note that these natural remedies are NOT meant to replace your daily balanced meals or cancer treatment. These remedies are supplementary diet to help you fight your cancer.

I will group the anticancer diet under 4 categories : juices, herbs & spices, fruits & vegetables and soups. Due to the length of this article, I will present it in 5 parts as follows :

Part 1 : Introduction
Part 2 : Juices
Part 3 : Herbs & Spices
Part 4 : Fruits & Vegetables
Part 5 : Soups & Beverages

Please proceed now to Part 2 on juices.


Eat rightly. Exercise daily. Rest adequately.
shuqin

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References

Cancer Facts
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/what-is-cancer
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerBasics/what-is-cancer
http://www.detox.net.au/articles/cancer-facts-vegetarian-recipes.htm