I have Colon Cancer.
I have been attempting to fight the cancer through diet
rather than Chemotherapy this time around and have been on the diet since
February of 2013. In the first 10 weeks I lost 60 pounds and still weigh in at around
165 pounds today. (This was my weight when I graduated from U of F) I have been
asked by several people to share my diet with them. The following is a
description of how I settled on this diet and links to my research and resources.
I started a variation of a Ketogenic diet in February of
2013 with the hope that I could starve the malignant tumor that had
metastasized to my liver. (Only four years after my Chemo treatments.) The
scans at that time, showed the tumor to be 5 cm with undefined edges (a bad
thing). The oncologist wanted me to come in immediately for treatment, but I
had just started a move (The World Made Straight) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2420166/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast
as the prop master and could not walk away from the project.
(The knowledge of the tumor made it a little difficult to concentrate on the
movie for the first several days I can tell you.) In a way, being on the movie
helped me cope. I was working 14 to 18 hours a day and really did not have time
to think about it. One of the hardest things was avoiding the abundant amount
of food that was on set that I could no longer eat.
After 10 weeks on the diet, the tumor had reduced in size to
be 3.5 cm and had very defined edges. The surgeon was able to remove it
completely and six months after the surgery, a PET scan showed no signs of it’s
return. Another benefit of the diet is that I am no longer on high blood
pressure medication, my sleep apnea is gone and I no longer snore. Even though
I eat a high amount of fat, my cholesterol levels are perfect.
This site helps to define what a Ketogenic diet is and what
it can do for you. http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/ketogenic-diet-plan.html
These are other sites that have good explanations of how the diet
works.
I have been looking into nutrition as a cure since being
diagnosed in 2009, but after surgery (removal of the sigmoid section of my
large intestine) I opted for the more traditional method of treatment. I was
told that without Chemo, there was only a 30% chance that the cancer would not
return and with Chemo there was a 70% chance of being cancer free for 5 years. My experience with Chemo was not a
pleasant one. But that is a different story.
There is enough literature about nutrition out there to keep
you reading 24/7 for the rest of your life. With the help of my Father, an avid
researcher and someone who has personally survived cancer through diet, we
focused on two simple theories for starters. Cancer thrives on sugar and Cancer
likes an acid environment. (Some Doctors will argue against the “thrives on
sugar” statement, but look up how a PET scan works and draw your own
conclusion.)
The plan was to find foods with low to no carbohydrates that
became alkaline when digested and that are high in good fats. This involved
cross-referencing dozens of lists. We discovered that different lists gave
different values and that some foods like lemons and grapefruit are acid, but
become alkaline when digested and other foods like dairy, are alkaline but go
acid in your system. This is a list of Alkaline and Acid forming foods. I have
no idea what the numbers mean, but the higher the number, the more alkaline or
acid the food is.
This site gives some good examples of the carbohydrate
values in some foods. It is always best to compare apples to apples, so when
you research carb values, always use the “per 100g” setting.
You can search this site for the carb value of different
foods. You can subtract the dietary fiber number from the total carbohydrate
number, but keep an eye on the sugar value. For example, red tomatoes have a
carb count of 4g per 100g. 1g of dietary fiber and 3g of sugar so when you
subtract the dietary fiber, red tomatoes are very low in carbs, but almost all
sugar. Yellow tomatoes however, have 3g of carbs per 100g, 1g of dietary fiber
and 0g of sugar.
This link is to a book that is an easy read about the Ketogenic
diet. The last half of the book contains recipes for low carb meals.
We decided that I would start with a very simple plan to begin with.
It can be overwhelming trying to figure out what to eat when you look at
everything all at once. For the first 10 weeks, I limited my diet to
combinations of; wild caught Alaskan salmon in can and steak forms, raw
spinach, avocados, asparagus, zucchini, cucumbers and shrimp. I use a lot of
olive oil and coconut oil. As your body starts to burn fats instead of carbs,
you need to increase your good fat consumption.
I would grill the salmon steaks, asparagus, zucchini and shrimp,
make salmon salad and stew out of the canned salmon and big salads from the
spinach, avocados and cucumbers.
Most spices are good for you, so spice it up. That being said, processed
salt, sugars, artificial sweeteners and any chemical you cannot pronounce (and
some you can) are to be avoided. Yes that means all sodas and most juices.
After four weeks on the diet, I had lost 40 pounds. I also
experienced memory issues and discovered that your body needs some forms of
salt to keep the synapses firing. I started adding alkalizing salts
into my food preparation and after two weeks the memory issues had
cleared up.
I am also taking a handful of supplements twice a day.
These are links that describe what each supplement does for
you.
Omega 3
Vitamin C
Colon Health
Vitamin K2+D3
http://www.dedicatedtohealth.com/heart-health/vitamin-k2-and-d3-and-how-they-impact-your-nutrition-bones-and-heart-by-dr-stephanie-king-in-pasadena-ca
Resveratrol
Astaxauthin
B-12
Alpha Lipoic
Vitamin E
Advanced D
CoQu 10
Omega 3 Krill
Oil
Folic Acid
Selenium
Lycopene
In conclusion, I am still on the diet, with the addition of
cheeses, organic meats and Bud Select 55 (a beer with only 1.8 g of carbs per
can verses the 12 g in most beer). My weight has stabilized at 165 and I have a
lot of energy.
Good luck to you and I hope this information is beneficial
Doug Mackenzie
