Changing diets to fight cancer

February 4 marked World Cancer Day.

A workshop at the Alberlito Hospital in Ballito, organised by Jaime Ernst from the Ballito Cancer Support highlighted ways of preventing the disease.

Dr Hennie Palm, one of the few Integrated Health Practitioners in KZN, was a guest speaker and he was joined by a Ballito cancer survivor, Derek Stafford.

Palm highlighted the crucial importance of the food we eat in both fighting and preventing the disease.

“Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, said thousands of years ago, ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food,’ and functional medicine agrees.”

Palm discussed a variety of nutrient rich foods that helped prevent cancer, including fresh organic vegetables, plenty of water (preferably reverse osmosis filtered water), oily fish, berries and seeds and nuts, and he stressed the importance of starving the disease of anything containing glucose.

“Cancer loves sugar – stay away from anything containing glucose and you will starve cancer cells,” he said.

He also said it was vital that we increase our Vitamin D intake.

“Vitamin D boosts our immune systems and a healthy immune system will prevent cancer cells from forming – 15 minutes in the sun every day will boost your intake. Exercise is also vital as it impacts every cell in our bodies,” said Palm.

Survivor Derek Stafford said that he came from a long line of cancer sufferers. Stafford backed the functional medicine ethos, as he had found that minimising cancer promoting foods and maximising the intake of foods that fight cancer seemed to have helped prevent the disease from returning.

“A reason that cancer is not going away is because people do not change their diets and habits,” said Stafford.

According to Stafford, in countries around the world where red meat is very prevalent in the diet, there were more cancer sufferers, as opposed to countries that do not have red meat as a staple in the diet.

There was a great deal of interest, questions and comment after the talks and Jaime Ernst said she would soon be putting together another workshop and debate with oncologists, functional medicine practitioners and homeopathic consultants.