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Anticancer: A New Way of Life - Book & Talk

Hi everyone,

I had the privilege yesterday of attending a talk at UCSF by Dr. David Servan-Shrieber, author of the book entitled "Anticancer: A New Way of Life". Dr. Servan-Shrieber is a two-time brain tumor survivor (17 years out), co-founder of Doctor Without Borders in the US, a leading researcher in psychiatry, and an all-together amazing man, contributing so much to the anti-cancer cause.

I had gotten his book (in Portuguese) as a gift from my parents, when they came over last year from Brazil to help me during chemo. At the time when I read it (I got through most of it, but never finished it), I was somewhat overwhelmed and feeling guilty that I could have somehow controlled this and avoided getting cancer. The guilty feelings were made worse by comments and all the things that people say, like it must have been your diet, it must have been your stress, and on and on. I heard it all in the beginning and it was a little too much to handle. But I digress. I've come a long way and no longer think that getting cancer was my fault.

In any case, his book is full of supporting data and evidence for doing all the right things that we hear about - avoid sugar, change the omega-6s/omega-3s balance in your body and so on. Keeping in mind he's not an oncologist, but a psychiatrist and 17-year survivor of a brain tumor, here's a summary of some main points I was able to write down on my iPhone during his talk:

We all carry cancer cells in our body. Cancer is a natural part of our human biology. We're all exposed to cancer promoters in our lives - 1/4 of people will succumb to it, the other 3/4 will be protected from it by the body's own natural defenses. Our natural defenses must therefore be strenghtened for both prevention and recurrence avoidance purposes. Classical oncology: destroy tumor. Integrative oncology: also strengthen terrain.
Cancer promoters he talked about: sugar, trans fats and omega-6s/omega-3s balance favoring the omega-6s, chemical exposure, sedentary lifestyle, lack of social support, lack of sun exposure and vitamin D
He showed a study linking a high glycemic load to ER+/PR- breast cancers
Avoid soy oil (the one widely used in Brazil for cooking for example), meat that is not grass-fed (grass is very rich in omega-3s, if cows don't eat grass and eat corn they only get omega-6s), eggs today have 20 times more omega-6s than omega-3s so when eating non-organic eggs avoid the yolk and try to get farm-fresh, cage-free, organic eggs, avoid atrazine pesticides (prohibited in Europe but not in the US), air out dry cleaning to prevent the chemicals from being stuck inside the plastic bag and impregnating the clothes, avoid BPA of heated plastics, avoid pesticides and inseticides, avoid chemical cleaning products, avoid skin contact with aluminum
Vitamin D is crucial for everyone, he suggested 60 ng/ml for cancer patients (Lappe 2007 study - 1100 UI a day reduced risk in 78% in the studied population)
Studies that he mentioned validating the power of diet, exercise, and stress management: Ohio State study by Andersen (2008) showing a 68% reduction in mortality, Cancer maganize/journal (I'll look it up when I have a chance and post it here); Pierce (2007, Jnl of Clin Oncology) - exercise and dietary changes by themselves do not show an impact on survival, but when combined they do; Surth 2003 study published on Nature
The power of green tea: Zhang 2009 Int. J. Cancer study - 89% reduction in breast cancer rate with mushrooms (have to check the study to find out what kind) 2-3 times a week and green tea 3 cups a days
The anticancer plate: 80% vegetables (add turmeric powder, garlic, onions, thyme, oregano, marjoram, rosemary), the rest whole grains and small fish (sardines in olive oil are great), a fruit or some squares of 70% dark chocolate for dessert is ok (Yay, I'm a chocolohic and find it hard to give it up)
Stress by itself does not cause cancer (Lillberg 2001 Int. J. Cancer study with Finish women, Visintainer Seligman 1982 Science study on stress in rats)
Do not understimate the power of a good support network of friends and family (Kroenket US nurses study); hooray for this group!
Mobile phones and blood brain barrier study (Salford 2003) - especially for children under 12. When talking on a cell phone, use a blutooth device and headphones and keep it away from your head
In short, cancer=loss of equilibrium between the cancer promoters and the cancer inhibitors. Promoters: sugar, tobacco, alcohol, omega-6s, chemical pollution, sedentary lifestyle, powerlessness without social support, lack of sunshine. Inhibitors: anticancer phytochemicas, omega-3s, detox phytochemicals, physical activity, social support network, sunshine/vitamin D.

As you can see, it was a talk packed full of information (although it may not be all new to some of you). They said they'll make it available online at some point and I'll post the link here when they do. While I'm not following all of his guidelines by any means (for example, I just ate a bite of a chocolate chip waffle that I made for my kids and a sleepover friend today), I'm trying to adapt myself to them as soon as possible (had canned mackerel on olive oil with beets for dinner last night), I'll read his book again and recommend it for anyone who believes on an integrative approach to fighting the disease.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Marcia (bejuce)