About Cancer

What is Integrative oncology? The science of combining both medical, conventional treatments of cancer mixed with biobehavioral techniques, nutrition, supplementation, exercise, limiting or eliminating the many poorer lifestyle habits such as being sedentary, a poor diet that is supportive of cancer growth, alcohol & smoking.

Living cancer free - goes a long way to slow down aging, prevent diabetes, prevent heart disease... and feel extremely energetic, focused & productive.

People don't die from Cancer - they die from complications & consequences of the disease. An inflammatory cascade, biochemical toxicity, pneumonia, embolism... Therefore optimizing the biochemical environment & helping people thrive through the treatment with integrative oncology (those lifestyle habits nutrition, & exercise) is just as important as zapping tumors.

1. Omega 6s make you sick. Omega 3s & 9s make you healthy. Stick to walnut, olive, avocado, canola, rice bran & sesame oils. Watch the smoke point, no reusing oil.


2. Dietary choices have a massive impact on the body's biochemistry - creating either an environment of cancer hospitality or hostility


3. 5kg of weight gain in a breast cancer patient increases mortality by 14%


4. Alcohol: anything more than a tiny amount of alcohol can fuel cancer and increase recurrence, progression & mortality. Breast cancer - any alcohol is the enemy. BTW - very small amount = 1 glass per week. Alcohol is putting lighter fluid on a fire. Again - all of us have cancer - alcohol encourages replication of cancer cells. Alcohol takes advantage of sparks we all have- we all have periodic immune suppressions - don't add lighter fluid.


5. A diet of less than 20% fat, has a 24% reduction in the risk of reccurrence - that is on par with tamoxifen - or any drugs available for treatment of breast cancer & other tumors. Unfortunately, most oncologists do not even discuss diet details - its just "eat a healthy diet".


6. Consuming the right fats, can reduce the recurrence & mortality from many cancers - the EPA/DHA ratio - eat your cold water fish! 25g of flax seed a day - another great choice for getting your fatty acids.


7. Cancer cells love sugar! One of the thousands of reasons to ditch sugar, refined flours, aka empty carbs. These cancer promoters raise insulin - fuel that cancer!


8. Get an assessment & profile to know the right foods to create an anticancer environment suited to you. But lots of berries, eat a rainbow, vegetables, plant based proteins, beans & lentils...


9. EXERCISE! Keep active through out the day. Walking 6 hours a week can drop colon cancer mortality by 60% - one of many examples - I don't care how busy you are at your computer - there is no excuse. You don't have to go to a gym. Aerobic exercise for 10 minutes before chemotherapy - can cut the toxicity by 50% - Wow! But yes, speak to a cancer trained exercise professional for the right type of exercise


10. Biobehavioral aspects of cancer - psychological reduction of stress for immunity - Breast cancer recurrence rates reduced by 45%, mortality 56%, mortality all causes by 49%. Don't ever underestimate the power of the mind.


11. You smoke? Stop! Success rates of smoking cessation are far greater with a counsellor rather than the dance of quit relapse.


12. Excess adiposity - body fat - again - much better success rates when done as part of a take control health modification program with trained health coaches. Proper guidance with a health coach can help you ditch the yo yo. Retraining our minds, our attitude, self empowerment are equally as important as the diet and exercise


13. Transforming our biology: our ecosystem - do we support a malignancy, or do we inhibit cancer growth? Comprehensive blood & tissue testing necessary to measure individual markers of cancer resilience.


14. This is why Integrative Oncology is a must in cancer treatment. Mapping patients - obtaining markers from cancer patients to help focus in on individualized cancer treatments. There are NO TWO PATIENTS WITH THE IDENTICAL DISEASE. Treatments of the disease are very dependent on the biochemical markers & tissue testing, genomic related biomarkers - very different story from one patient to another. Playing piano chords on patients let's play a symphony not a cacophony.


15. Assessments in biobehavioral aspects: psychological & emotional profiling. False hope over false hopelessness - the latter creates the biology that supports the disease.


16. Your Muscle mass - critical to cancer prevention & recovery


17. Circadian health - so much more than getting enough sleep. Known as a critical factor in health biology to kill cancer.


18. An anti inflammatory environment - basics of cancer prevention. Inflammatory biochemistry is a tumor promoting toxic soup. Again, diet & exercise - huge here. A cancer prevention diet, not a fad diet, a very specific cancer prevention diet that protects us from all chronic diseases.


19. Vitamin D - Unfortunately our RDIs have not targeted this number for cancer prevention. Look into Vitamin D as part of a complete lifestyle modification program & transforming our biology.


20. Chronomodulated chemotherapy - Both cancer cells & cancer drugs are time dependent - Each drug has a personality of its own and better given at certain times of day, at different rates. This technique provides up to an 87% reduction in toxicity of the drugs - very often the drug is the limiting factor in treatment because of drug tolerance. Making it through a treatment is paramount to cancer recovery.


21. Summarizing tips: Eat a plant based diet as much as possible, smaller cold water fish, a variety of exercise, sleep in a blacked out room (don't suppress those melatonin levels!), don't fall asleep to TV, stress management, meditation or prayer twice per day to calm & focus. "You can't build a strong foundation on top of quicksand"


22. Please, if facing cancer, insist on an integrative approach - but caution is necessary- there are ranges of integrative oncology. I hope this article guided you to recognizing a true integrative cancer treatment program. Much of this cancer prevention & management information comes from Dr. Keith Block, in a recent interview.