After my cancer diagnosis in 1994, I was slow to change my diet. Looking back (if I knew then what I know now), I would have helped my recovery tremendously by focusing on what I put in my body.

While I don't follow any specific diet, I do follow some basic rules:

• I eat raw fruits and vegetables throughout the day
• I avoid sugar as much as possible
• I avoid caffeine- one cup of coffee first thing-
• I avoid alcohol-a glass of red wine 2-3 nights per week
• I try to eat organic foods as much as I can (it's expensive)
• I drink as much clean water as I can each day (see the sauna page)

The relationship between nutrition and cancer is not yet fully understood, but researchers do know that well-nourished patients have a better prognosis.

The first article in this section clearly states that patients who have more nutritious foods live longer.
Further, a more nutritious diet helps you tolerate chemotherapy.
“From a dietician’s perspective, it’s great if you can get them really early in the diagnosis, because they’re very open to making changes to their diet that might be beneficial,”

I have no doubt that my response to chemotherapy - which my consultant described as 'phenomenal' and which meant I no longer needed a mastectomy - was due to the fact that I had taken control of my spiritual, emotional and nutritional needs, so everything was working at its peak to fight the cancer."

Like the article above, this article clearly outlines the benefit of proper nutrition during therapy. If your diet is better during your chemo and radiation, your body will handle it better.

Nutrition and Cancer: A Review of Evidence for the Anti-Cancer Diet (original)
If you can only read one article about nutrition and its relation to cancer prevention, this is the article to read. This link will get you to the abstract of this 21-page article. To read the complete text, look to the upper left portion of the page and look under "viewing options.: Click on "pdf (615 kb). The entire text will download. You can then click page up or page down to read the article.

This article is long but well researched (238 references) and complete. The information contained in this article sums up my view of the relationship between nutrition, supplementation and my health as a cancer survivor.

Sugar and Cancer (original)
I include this article to make everyone touched by cancer aware of the link between sugar and cancer. The article says, "The quest is not to eliminate sugars or carbs from the diet but rather to control blood glucose within a narrow range to help starve the cancer and bolster the immune system."

Can I tell you I've eliminated sugar from my diet? No. Can I say that I have dramatically reduced the amount of sugar I eat daily? Yes.