Cancer nutrition

I went to a talk [yesterday] at [Louisville's] Baptist Hospital East about cancer treatment and nutrition given by Alan C. Simon [pictured to the right), a pharmacist who specializes in natural medicine [largely to find out information that would be useful to my Mom]. Most of the talk was about what most of us already know [partly from Weight Watchers] but seldom really follow through with, i.e., eating lots of fiber, less meat, natural unprocessed foods, etc.

One of the things I found interesting was eating protein after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. He said that protein helps you heal and your body needs more of it at these times. He also upped the amount of fruits and vegetables per day from what I always heard of, "five a day." He said five to nine was better. The fruits and vegetables should be bright in color (yellow, red, green, blue) and you should vary your diet. He also talked about reducing the amount of pesticides that you eat. We all know this but, he suggested certain vegetables/fruits if you can't buy organic and also washing them in vinegar to reduce the pesticides.

Omega-3 was a big one he talked about a lot. It slows cancer growth and restores natural cell death, cancer being the out of control growth of cells. Omega-3 also will reduce inflammation from the cancer and the treatment. He had lots of studies quoted about omega-3, some even from the National Cancer Institute.

He talked about oxygenating the body. He says oxygen kills cancer. He said alkaline foods are better for you and help oxygenate your body. Activity also helps to detoxify your body, especially your lymphatic system.

Some of the big dietary supplements he talked about were milk thistle and the chemicals silymarin and silibin that are derivatives from milk thistle. He said they reduce the toxicity of the liver during chemotherapy. I'm not sure if [Mom's] doctor would want this [for her] since the cancer is in the liver and you want to have the chemo targeted there, or if the opposite is true and it would help the liver because it would help the chemo. He said this in particular you need to talk to your oncologist about but he was very careful with all supplements and clearing them with your oncologist.

Probiotics help the immune system and reduce diarrhea from radiation but he pooh-poohed the idea of the yogurt with probiotics, saying that the stomach acid would destroy most of the probiotics and you wouldn't be able to really tell how much/little you were getting and the quality. He did say they help to break down known carcinogens.

IP6 is another supplement. He said it is from whole grain. Glutathione also helps with detoxification and restores natural cell death. Selenium reduces cancer cells but too much causes hair to fall out! He said to talk to oncologist especially when doing chemotherapy. He said that you might be losing your hair from the selenium and not the chemo. DIM a derivative made from broccoli. He said it is the equivalent of eating two pounds of broccoli a day. DIM makes chemo more effective and inhibits HPV (dad wrote a whole book on HPV and what he says causes cancer). He said to ensure quality of supplements they should be manufactured by a FDA drug registered manufacturer. Said FDA food lets in too many impurities and the quality is affected.

His website is www.intergrativerxpharmacy.com
(502) 228-4161
9217 US Hwy 42
Prospect, KY 40059

I also received a flyer about tai chi for cancer patients. I'll look into going to the seminar. Again, it stresses activity to keep muscle mass during treatment and to help with circulation.

I know all this sounds kind of [New Age]-ish but some of it we already knew...eat healthy...not red meat...more fish (he stressed wild caught over farm raised because farm raised eat modified foods)...activity. But it was interesting to hear some of the studies he talked about and the specifics. He said he does one hour consultations with people after they have their blood work and treatments.

-- Stephanie