Diet and Cancer
Chapter 8 – The Moerman Diet
Dr. Cornelis Moerman of the Netherlands developed a cancer diet that became known as the Moerman Therapy. This therapy was based on the discoveries that some of his most important contemporaries made in the first half of twentieth century. Based on his own research, he determined that a therapy based on what he called the "eight essential substances" could cure or prevent cancer. As the Institute does, he believed that cancer is not an organ-specific or localized disease, but rather a weakness of the immune system that is caused by a deficiency in essential minerals, vitamins and other substances.
The eight essential substances are: vitamins A, C, E, and B complex, citric acid, iodine, iron and sulfur. Notice how over half a century ago the first cancer researchers had already identified some of the key substances that are just now being recognized as having the ability to ward off cancer. The Institute does not have a position on citric acid and iodine, although we believe that excessive iron is conducive to cancer. However, we very well know that vitamin A, C, E and some B vitamins help prevent and treat cancer. These first three vitamins form the foundation of the Moerman diet, just as they do the Institute's. Sulfur is closely related to sulforaphane, which is the substance in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables that has been proven to prevent cancer.
In 1987, the Ministry of Health of the Hague publicly recognized the Moerman Therapy as an effective treatment against cancer. It is a sad thing that other governments don't recognize the power of such basic substances that all of us can readily obtain that would save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world.
Chapter 9 – Diet in General and Exercise
Diet in General
Besides getting your fair share of all the above mentioned foods and substances, following a proper diet can also be considered a cancer preventer. Numerous studies have shown that diets high in fruits and vegetables, low in fat, high in fiber, low in refined sugars and grains, low in protein, low in red meat, and low in vegetable oils (except for olive oil) reduce cancer risk dramatically. A 60-year study has shown that people who ate fruits as children have a significantly lower risk of cancer throughout their lives. A 2004 study at the University of California, Berkeley found that children who ate oranges or bananas or drank orange juice on a regular basis before the age of 2 had half the risk of developing leukaemia before the age of 14. A study undertaken at the University of Montreal showed that pancreatic cancer (one of the deadliest cancers) risk can be cut in half by consuming a greater-than-average amount of fruits and vegetables. Low calorie diets have also been associated with reduced cancer risk.
The "Western diet" is considered highly cancer-promoting because it consists mostly of processed foods, loaded with refined flour and sugar. It is also high in fat and red meat (excessive protein) and low in fiber, fruits and vegetables. Generally speaking, it is extremely high in calories. The Western diet has been found to be conducive to most other degenerative diseases as well. A study linked a high fat, high energy diet to increased risk for Alzheimer's disesase, while diets high in fish and fiber decrease the risk. A study at the University of Athens Medical School fournd that the "Mediterranean Diet", which consists of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, olive oil and fish, extends people's lives.
Overprocessed foods are unhealthy, and can lead to cancer, for several reasons. First of all, many of the nutrients and phytochemicals of fruits and vegetables are removed during processing. Much of the fiber that the food might have had originally is degraded and lost during refining. Often, fat and sugar are added, and usually the fat is in the form of saturated fats, trans-fatty acids and vegetable oils. These are the kinds of foods that are most easily converted to fat in the body when their calories are not immediately used up.
Low-calorie diets are cancer-preventive. Fat build-up is the result of excess consumption of calories (energy), and excess body fat, especially obesity, has been conclusively linked to cancer. Your body requires a certain number of calories for its metabolic processes, plus you spend a certain amount of energy performing activities such as walking, worrying, thinking, eating and many others. If you consume more calories than you expend, you begin to build up fat. So there are really two ways to lose weight (namely fat): consume less calories or burn off more calories. It may sound simplistic, and if you have ever tried to lose weight and failed you will probably scoff at this, but it really is that simple.
Consuming less calories does not mean eating less – it means eating "lower-energy" foods. The highest-energy foods are fats, carbohydrates and proteins, in that order. Alcohol is actually more calorie-dense than carbohydrate and protein, which is another reason to limit your alcohol intake.