Sugars Feed Cancer Cells

Don Matesz over at Primal Wisdom posted about a study I had missed: cancer cells feed on a diet of sugars, and cancer cells increase rapidly on fructose.Thanks for your post, Don!

Somehow the study results are not surprising, given the increase in HFCS in the SAD (Standard American Diet) and the overwhelming increase in disease and obesity. The HFCS consumption figures quoted in the study are outdated, but in the 20 years from 1970 to 1990, the consumption increased 1000%, long before almost every soda or fruit juice was sweetened with HFCS.

Don said this: "Finally a mainstream article admits that "tumor cells thrive on sugar"!  And how amazing also that a mainstream article discusses cancer and nutrition with nary a mention of the dreaded saturated fat or how meat supposedly promotes cancer!"

A point Don makes, and I agree completely, is that developing a drug to prevent cancer cells from thriving on HFCS is ridiculous. HFCS is neither a bug requiring a drug, nor even something essential; it's a non-essential additive to the human diet. Humans do not require sugar for health, only for pleasure. Of course, we all know the increase in HFCS use is largely because of government corn subsidies, making it cheaper than other sugars. However, the study points out that it's not just fructose that feed cancer cells; so does glucose. The solution seems pretty straight-forward: eliminate sugars from your diet!

As a group, we are totally resistant to change; very few people reading that study will even consider eliminating sugar from their diet, much less actually do it, despite being faced with evidence of the dangers to their health. 

My changes in dietary choices over the last several years were slow in coming, even with the possibility of needing a transplant 3 years ago. I'm still not even sure now what actually made me finally make some drastic dietary changes 6 months ago. I think I just got sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Best decision I've made in many years!

Since I eliminated nearly all sugars from my diet several months ago I have felt so much better (and healthier) that I cannot even put a number to how much better I feel. 100%, 500%, 1000% ?? I have eliminated all sodas, candy bars, PBJ's, cake, pie, donuts... in short, anything with added sugar, regardless of the form of the sugar (even things like peanut butter and ketchup contain lots of sugar, some in the form of HFCS). I have also eliminated all the starchy carbs that convert so readily to sugar in the body. I now get my energy from burning fats, not sugar intake.

Oh, I still get some natural sugars in a wee bit of fruit (and some vegetables) but that's not often, and not much from fruits. I eat the equivalent of 1 stone fruit (peach, plum, apricot) a week, or maybe half a cantaloupe, if they are locally grown, and lots of vegetables with a low glycemic index. During the winter, local fruit will not be in season here (other than apples), so I'm enjoying them now!