We all have friends and family who have been diagnosed with cancer. The diagnosis started them on a journey that took them where they never thought they would go. When you have cancer, your medical team focuses on eradicating the tumor, but often there is little support for the rest of your body. I believe it is vital to support your body in the battle, whether with cancer or other threats to wellness.

My first client with cancer had already had a brain tumor removed and was going to start radiation treatment. She changed her eating habits as I educated her on the effects of food on her body.

Her medical team warned her that she would experience fatigue and nausea with the radiation, yet when we met, she marveled that she was feeling good. Amazingly, her oncologist had never had a patient that didn’t struggle. In fact, he thought she was in denial of symptoms and wanted to prescribe antidepressant meds!

It Starts With Good Food And Habits

Without the proper support, the rest of the body can become collateral damage from treatment. Supporting the body starts with good food and habits to provide positive information for our cells and improved health.

When driving an endurance race, what type of fuel do you think would be best for the car? High octane would be my choice for better performance. What equates to high-octane fuel for our bodies? Real food – the perishable type you find around the perimeter of your grocery store.

The packaged, shelf-stable processed foods found in the center aisles of the store offer low-nutrient edible content. It doesn’t provide the information your body needs, whether you have cancer or not.

Cancer patients are often encouraged to eat whatever foods help them maintain their weight during treatment. My clients have reported being encouraged to eat cookies, donuts, ice cream, pasta – whatever appealed. I respectfully disagree.

Medical personnel often don’t recognize the significant effect of food in the body because there are few significant studies to demonstrate it. There simply is no funding for big studies that don’t lead to a patented medication.

Why No Sugar?

Cancer cells are metabolically damaged. They avoid oxygen and favor sugar for energy production. This anaerobic method also produces lactic acid, which helps hide the cancer from the immune system, and carbon which fuels its rapid cell growth. Sugar works against good function for anybody, whether it’s dealing with cancer or chronic disease.

Beyond supplying building blocks for function, food can provide ways to counter the development of tumors. The battle of Stalingrad was won during World War 2 when the outmanned Russians managed to cut off the Nazi supply lines. Some foods provide ways to cut off the tumor’s supplies.

Mushrooms

In addition to avoiding added sugar and processed carbs, add mushrooms to your meals. They provide a vegetarian source of protein, antioxidants, and angiogenesis inhibitors. This means they help prevent the growth of new blood vessels which limits tumor growth.

An interesting nutritional tip – set your mushrooms outside in the sun, gills up, for a couple hours. This will boost their Vitamin D levels and provide you with added benefits.

Green Tea

Drink green tea which provides EpiGalloCatechin Gallate – EGCG – to hinder cancer’s supply. Black tea doesn’t have high levels of EGCG. Green tea must be steeped at least 10 minutes for maximum benefit. Bottled green tea doesn’t help due to the short steep time, long storage time, and added sugar.

Hydration

Hydration is important for cancer patients to ensure lymph flows well to clear waste. Our bodies are 65-70% water, and water is involved in almost every function of the organs and systems inside.

Everyday activities – talking, breathing, sweating, and elimination – cause the loss of about 56 ounces of water. Drink enough to replenish that and more.

Epsom Salt Baths

Another beneficial practice during chemo treatment is detox baths or foot soaks with Epsom Salts added to the water. Epsom Salts is magnesium sulfate.

Being able to absorb magnesium through the skin is beneficial for relieving aches and pains, reducing inflammation, and supporting digestion. The sulfate helps to flush toxins from your cells for excretion. Rinse your body or feet after soaking to clear any toxins from your skin.

Mindfulness Meditation

Numerous studies have demonstrated that cancer patients who began a mindfulness meditation program reported feeling less stressed and sleeping better. Notably, their immune systems responded to the practice as well, with white blood cells, including the important natural killer cells, rebounding to a normal profile that supported their battle against cancer.

Thriving?

You may wonder why I would title my book, Thriving Through Cancer. Doesn’t everyone going through cancer treatment suffer a lot?

Dr Sherri Yoder, founder of Thriving Thoughts Global, shares that thriving is not running through a field of daisies with a kite. Thriving is the process of growth, which involves internal work.

Each person going through cancer treatment has a different experience, partly because of their attitude. Even upbeat people will have hard days when their body is heavily protesting the treatment.

Yet, they can acknowledge those feelings and choose to affirm their belief that their body can heal. Then they can choose to take the next right step to support their body. This will help them thrive, and come through stronger.

A cancer survivor shared some wisdom with me. Whether you are facing cancer or just the challenges of life, you get to ask yourself is this “happening TO me or FOR me?”

Whatever your situation, when you choose the “FOR ME” perspective, you are better empowered to make the changes to THRIVE. And I can help you do so.