Does sugar feed cancer ?

This debate has been going on for years. Arguments on both sides. Well it is like anything really, you will get differing opinions and conflicting views on both sides for literally everything.

You have to read, research and come to your own conclusions based on current evidence! Look for published medical journals first!

Disclaimer….. all research, opinions, views in this blog or any blog of mine are my own. Put in italics for effect !!!!

So, when I had my PET scan, any scan, I keep asking questions, I ask over and over. I ask different people, even though I’ve already done my homework before it. I like to have the FULL picture!!!

You get injected with a radio-active dye…. you wait 1 hour. The cancer cells pick up the dye and show up on your scan. I’ve put it simply but basically that is it.

https://mybeautifullife.org/2018/11/13/scan-day-or-yoga-day/

How does the dye get picked up by the cancer cells? How does it know where to go? It didn’t go to my brain, as there are no cancer cells there, it did not go to my feet as there is no cancer there.

I had starved for 6 hrs before so my body is empty. The radioactive tracer is given in a glucose solution, I am left for an hour. The cancer cells use glucose at a higher rate than normal cells, grab all they need to grow and spread. This is what they refer to as a highly metabolically active cancer.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2579910/

If it is highly metabolic and is using sugar then surely this is screaming out that sugar feeds my cancer. Hence why I radically changed my diet on 11th January 2018, over night, did vegan for a whole year….. mostly stuck to it but added a bit of fish for my omega 3 fatty acids, protein and minerals once chemo started. I am sensible, I know what my body needs!

The whole argument surrounding if sugar feeds cancer or not is that if you eliminate the sugar, the cancer will find another metabolic pathway to feed off.

In this case, it may either slow down or use another source like fats….. so in my simple mind you need to block the metabolic pathways to slow or halt the spread of cancer, boost the immune system to do its job and create an optimum environment working against the cancer and towards keeping a healthy gut and immune system. This alongside your treatment regime, I believe may slow everything down a little. It is worth asking the questions!

Sounds complex and there is lots of science behind it. It is not simple especially when you dont know what is going on inside. I am working through this step by step. The mind boggles and the internet is a mine field but well sugar…. I have mostly cut out. I don’t torture myself….. if I want/need a scone on my birthday, I will just have one!!

This is just my opinion. Why fuel the fire. So a good tip for everyone, well a reminder really now that the weather is better, go for a quick walk after every meal to avoid that glucose spike. Just do it! It will cause no harm, only good.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29801420/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.24125

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3909335/

Some of these articles are quite in depth and complex. Some difficult to understand. You can just text sugar, cancer and pubmed into google and have a browse. Read the summaries and conclusions if you are interested further.

I know this is a really complex issue and a harder read but its very interesting!! I’d just love to shovel a malteser bar down my throat or 3 Krispy Kreme donuts but I can’t risk that at all.

If anyone knows any different and I have got this all wrong, then speak now!!

Anyway I did really well today…. well brekko and lunch and one of my vegetable juices! Skipped dinner…. stomach feels quite raw…. I think its chemo attacking all my bad cells !!

Coconut yogurt, granola berries, seed mix, chopped nuts on top!! My fave!! I can’t have it in winter though brrrrr! Sugar spike from the berries…..? Go for a walk!