My Mom's Story - Cancer & Sugar

Shortly before my dad died of cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile duct) which metastasized (spread) to his liver, my mom entered into the chemo phase of the treatment for her own colon cancer.  She was still in recovery from the cancer resection (surgery to remove the tumor & surrounding lymph nodes to check for metastasis) and quite frail.  Her cancer was stage three, meaning that some of her lymph nodes were positive for cancer cells, i.e. the cancer was spreading.  Having seen how quickly my dad's cancer had progressed and the kind of horrible pain that it wrought, when the doctor gave her a choice of going forward with chemo then or delaying until she felt stronger, I encouraged her not to wait. 

The recommended chemo was evidently not as strong as say treatment for leukemia (cancer of the blood), but still the side effects were wearing and got progressively worse with successive rounds of chemo.  Having been a pediatric oncology nurse herself, my mom knew the importance of making efforts to eat although one's appetite takes a nosedive and side effects like a bad taste in the mouth made food choices limited.  My sister-in-law was an invaluable help to my mom as this time, preparing favorite ethnic dishes in an effort to tempt her to eat.

Shortly after my mom completed her last round of chemo & was declared cancer free, I discovered that cancer loves sugar.  The manner in which cancer cells use sugar is different than the way normal body cells do; basically, they ferment the sugar in order to get a quick jolt of energy.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycolysis  It's a wasteful process; instead of getting the full amount of potential energy that resides in the sugar, cancer cells carry out anaerobic respiration even in the presence of oxygen.  Normal body cells carry out aerobic respiration.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobic_respiration  But then everything about the way cancer works is a waste.  Cancer cells have a special ability to hijack a body's resources and channel everything toward themselves in such a way that the cancer's host will eventually starve to death or be squashed by the overgrowth of the abnormal cells. 

So cancer loves sugar.  Most cancer cells need glucose to perform anaerobic respiration because their mitochondria (cellular power plants) are malfunctioning.  This is called the Warburg Effect.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warburg_effect  It was discovered by the Nobel Prize winner Otto Heinrich Warburg who formulated the Warburg Hypothesis on the origins of cancer in 1924.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warburg_hypothesis  There is in fact research going on today where cancer is being treated with a low carbohydrate-high fat ketogenic diet.   http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1662484,00.html  Basically, one's body cells can survive on energy derived from fat.  And the byproducts of fat metabolism are  ketone bodies.  Previously, ketogenic diets have been used to treat some pediatric epilepsy.  For an in depth discussion of the topic, check out: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/66/18/8927.full.pdf

It also turns out that high blood sugar increases one's risk of developing 24 different forms of cancer: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100521/Researchers-study-correlation-between-type-2-diabetes-and-increased-risk-of-cancer.aspx  Further, high blood sugar is a predictor of mortality for those with some cancers: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/159/12/1160.abstract

If you are so inclined to read more scholarly articles, here are some links that attest to the negative relationship between high blood sugar, hyperinsulinemia (high blood levels of insulin either from over secretion due to insulin resistance or the chronic use of insulin to reduce high blood sugar), and cancer. 

• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/msj.20167/abstract
• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/caac.20078/pdf
• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1097-0142(195611/12)9:6%3C1127::AID-CNCR2820090610%3E3.0.CO;2-4/abstract  (this one is particularly interesting because it states that in 1885 cancer patients were observed to have high blood sugar)

So, out of concern and with the notion that it can't hurt to cover all one's bases, I began to nag my mom about reducing her refined carbohydrate intake in case there were any rouge cancer cells floating around trying to get another foothold within her body.  To my utter surprise, she listened and asked me how to go about reducing her carbs!  My mom is very independent and private, not one to be told what to do, and Asian, i.e. she eats white rice three times a day.  Hence, it was flabbergasting that she wanted to hear more. 

About a month & a half ago, I learned why she was so compliant.  My mom revealed to me that she too is diabetic.  I understood in that moment that this must have been crushing to my mom because I distinctly remember her telling me when I was about seven years old (30+ years ago) that she dreaded ever becoming diabetic after doing some private duty assisting a diabetic patient.  From what my mom told me, her doctor said that her case is not severe, that if she controlled her diet, she would not have to go on any medications.

So, we went grocery shopping together, and I showed her which products we frequently used and how to calculate net carbs from the nutritional information on prepared food containers.  After 70+ years of eating white rice daily, my mom does not partake anymore and does not even have cravings for it.  She snacks on nuts, cheeses, & sugar free sweets (such as Power Crunch protein bars and baked goods that I prepare & share with her), and she's substituted vegetables, low carb bread, & shiratake noodles for the rice she used to eat.  I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but let me testify that my mom is aging in reverse; she is glowing again and stronger.  She is resuming daily exercise which includes walking & resistance training.  You would not know from looking at her that she had been so very ill less than a year ago.  I pray to God that the cancer is gone for good and that she can enjoy the remainder of her years with vigor and joy.  Amen!