Death starch

My ideas about the right way to eat are hardly “fringe.” If you ask me, they’re just plain good sense.

Yet somehow, high-carb diets still don’t get the kind of censure they deserve. And that’s why I’m so excited to share this next bit of news with you–even though it’s anything but good.

According to a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, a high-starch diet can affect the outcome of your cancer diagnosis. And not in a good way, to say the least.

The 1,011 patients in this study all had locally advanced stage 3 colon cancer. The patients reported on their dietary intake during and six months after participation in an adjuvant chemotherapy trial.

Researchers discovered that the patients with a starchy, high-carbohydrate diet faced double the risk of recurrence compared to patients with a more balanced diet. And this deadly association was particularly profound in obese or overweight patients.

Of course, none of this is surprising to me. In patients like this, recurrence is usually due to micrometastasis. That’s when tiny, undetectable tumors begin to grow in other parts of the body.

A high-carb diet increases insulin levels and levels of insulin-like growth factors. Both can promote the growth and spread of cancer cells–including those micrometastases I just mentioned.

We have known this for years. And this study bears the association out.

Yet, there are still no specific dietary recommendations for cancer patients. In fact, most of my patients who have cancer were told by their oncologists that what they ate didn’t matter at all.

And here’s the real kicker. Even this study’s lead researcher said that the takeaway isn’t for cancer patients to “eat less sugar”–at least, not conclusively.

What?! Since when doesn’t 2 + 2 = 4? Honestly!

Many alternative doctors–myself included–encourage cancer patients to avoid all sugar. And for very good reason, as you can see.

Yet, these researchers believe there isn’t any reason to come out and tell people not to eat sugary foods.

Even though they admit that their study supports the idea that diet influences colon cancer progression. And that patients and doctors should consider this fact when making plans post-treatment.

Why not? Because “further research is needed to confirm the findings.”

In the meantime, experts suggest that colon cancer survivors “maintain a healthy weight, participate in regular physical activity, and eat a well-balanced diet consistent with guidelines for cancer and heart disease prevention.”

That’s a load of wishy-washy gibberish. Especially when you look at the numbers.

Overall, patients with the highest glycemic load and carbohydrate intakes suffered an 80 percent increase in colon cancer recurrence or death. Yes, you read that correctly–80 percent.

Granted, the association was only this significant in patients with BMIs greater than 25. But the way obesity trends are shaping up in this country, soon you’ll be hard pressed to find any American with a BMI less than 25.

Still, what’s the rush? Let’s research this effect for a few more years and watch more people die in the process.

Never mind that those deaths could be prevented if we only had the chutzpah to stand up to the medical, pharmaceutical, and agribusiness giants that control the United States.

The fact is, this study’s results should be front page news. And if the same outcome had occurred on a low-carbohydrate diet, you can bet it would have been.

I know I say it a lot, but this message bears repeating over and over. The medical industry is not there for your health. And you can’t rely on mainstream media to protect your interests, because they only report on things that won’t upset their advertisers.

High carbohydrate foods are some of the biggest advertisers on television. So go ahead and let people think you’re nuts because you subscribe to this newsletter.

At least you’ll get your facts straight. And you may even live longer for it, too.

Sources:
High-Carb Diet Increases Risk for Colon Cancer Recurrence. Medscape. Nov 07, 2012.
“Dietary glycemic load and cancer recurrence and survival in patients with stage III colon cancer: findings from CALGB 89803.” J Natl Cancer Inst. 2012 Nov 21;104(22):1702-11.


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