Eating to Beat Cancer: it’s all about the gut!
Even though it was 2,000 years ago Hippocrates stated:
“All disease begins in the gut”…
…conventional medicine has been slow to understand the connection between gut health and diseases like cancer. In conventional medicine, we are good at cutting, burning and poisoning cancer cells with surgery, but not always asking the question of WHY the disease has occurred in the first place. Functional medicine and functional nutrition seek out the why and we always start by looking at the gut.
The GI tract is home to more than 3 trillion bacteria – that’s more bacteria than there are in three galaxies of stars. With more microbes than DNA cells, you are actually more microbe than human! These microbes do some incredible heavy lifting in our bodies – breaking down food, manufacturing vitamins, training our immune system, and protecting against pathogens. Studies have shown that dysbiosis, or an imbalance of gut bacteria, can lead to chronic inflammation and DNA damage, two significant risk factors in cancer development. Bacteria can also activate or deactivate genes in tumors promoting or inhibiting their growth. A test I recommend to all my clients is the GI Map stool test which gives us a blueprint for your microbiome and exactly how to best support it to make your body inhospitable to cancer.
Shifting one’s diet to support the healthy microbes in the gut and to crowd out the bad bacteria can have a huge impact on cancer outcomes. In a prostate cancer study, Dr. Dean Ornish showed that after just three months on an intensive lifestyle program with prostate cancer patients including a whole-foods, plant-based diet, over 500 genes that regulate cancer were beneficially affected, either turning off the cancer-causing genes or turning on the cancer-protective genes. “The growth of the prostate cancer cells was inhibited almost 8 times more in the group that had diet changes than the control group” (Ornish 2005).
Additionally, we know that a healthy gut during cancer treatment can yield better outcomes. A 2013 Study at MD Anderson studied microbiomes from more than 200 patients with metastatic melanoma beginning immunotherapy. They discovered that those with a diverse gut microbiome, especially with increased levels of Ruminococcus, faecalibacterium and bacteriodetes experienced better treatment outcomes.
How to nourish your microbiome
Say goodbye to sugar and fake sugars: Sugar feeds the harmful bad bacteria in the gut and sugar also feeds cancer. The average American consumes about 152 pounds of sugar a year and about 146 pounds of refined flour a year– which like sugar, turns immediately to sugar in the system. The number one thing you can do to prevent and control cancer is to control your insulin levels with a diet low in processed foods which will reduce your intake of sugar processed foods and refined grains (Hyman). A cohort study conducted in France called the NutriNet-Santé Study looked at intake of artificial sweeteners from all dietary sources and found that persons who consumed the greatest amounts of artificial sweeteners were slightly more likely to develop cancer than those who did not consume artificial sweeteners. Fake sugars like aspartame and sucralose harm beneficial bacteria.
Consider food sensitivities that harm the gut: Dairy and gluten are the most common triggers of food allergies that are linked to insulin resistance as well as leaky gut. Cutting them out of the diet allows the inflamed gut and an inflamed body to heal. Dairy also is growth promoting so can contribute to tumor growth in cancer patients.
Say hello to plant points: Researchers at the American Gut Project found that people who ate more than 30 different plant foods each week had a more diverse gut microbiome compared with those who ate 10 or fewer. While the harmful bacteria love sugar, the beneficial bacteria thrive on all different types of fiber from a diversity of plants. The research also showed that people who hit the 30 plants in one week mark had more beneficial bacteria that produce something called short chain fatty acids that prevent inflammation. An easy way to think about this is “nutrition by addition!” Think about simply adding more “plant points” to your plate at each meal. Each new species of plant food you add to your plate counts as a point. Aim to get 30 points in one week!
Smoothies are a great place to add – in addition to protein powder and a plant-based milk, you can rotate different plant points in like chia, flax, hemp seeds, veggies like spinach or celery and frozen fruit like blackberries, cherries or raspberries. Stay tuned for an amazing SUPERPOWER SMOOTHIE RECIPE next month!
Think about upping plant points in a salad by rotating toppings: A salad of arugula, pumpkin seeds, carrots, cucumbers, artichokes, and olives and a dressing that had olive oil and lemon would be nine points. And don’t forget the protein to your meal too – I love SMASH fish for their anti-inflammatory properties – salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardine and herring are a great addition to any lunch.
When making dinner, instead of having one veggie as a side, can you add in a rainbow to the meal with a sheetpan of roasted red pepper, carrots, fennel, asparagus, and purple cauliflower, for example, to up the phytonutrients, fiber and plant points? Get creative and have fun.
Colors, crucifers and ferments oh my!
The most brightly colored “plant points” are not only high in fiber to feed the good bacteria, but are also high in polyphenols and anthocyanins, antioxidants that reduce oxidative stress and damage. Think berries, pomegranates, red grapes, and blueberries.
Dark leafy greens are incredible for the body – think “green on the outside, clean on the inside.” Leafy greens like spinach, Swiss chard, kale contain carotenoids, antioxidants that aid cell-to-cell communication that controls cell growth, while folate is essential to protect our DNA, the starting point of any change that leads to cancer.
Cruciferous veggies – broccoli, cauliflower, arugula, kale, cabbage, bok choy are a source of two compounds that have demonstrated strong anti-cancer activity: DIM and sulforaphane. Both compounds can stop cancer cell development and growth in their tracks and are particularly helpful for reproductive cancers.
Lastly, fermented foods are living probiotics that populate our gut with live microbes! Aim to add in 3 ferments a day like you would a condiment on your plate. Fermented foods have been found to have powerful anti-cancer properties. The probiotics and enzymes in these foods can help to break down toxins in the body and will reduce exposure to chemical carcinogens. Try a dollop of sauerkraut on your salad, experiment with pickled veggies or kimchi or try using apple cider vinegar in a dressing! I order my fermented foods from Olive My Pickle.com.
Seek out a functional nutritional therapy practitioner to help you on your journey to support you though this critical time in your life where a nutrient dense plant strong diet can help support a gut microbiome that becomes inhospitable to cancer!
STAY TUNED…
SUPERPOWER SMOOTHIE RECIPE
to be released on November 15, 2024
ABOUT SUSAN BROWN
Mom, personal trainer, lacrosse coach, functional nutrition practitioner and pizza lover, dedicated to helping you achieve optimal health. My journey to find functional nutrition began while relentlessly searching for answers to a lifetime of personal health struggles. My mission is to provide you and your family a personalized roadmap to accelerate your healing using food as medicine.