The Foods Cancer Loves

By David Seaman, DC, MS, DABCN

How is a normal cell transformed into a cancerous one? Normal cells should die off; however, they instead go through changes, creating cancerous cells that proliferate and do not die. Interestingly, one of the chemicals that pushes the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells is called prostaglandin E2, which is derived from arachidonic acid.

We eat an excess of linoleic acid from refined foods, fast foods, and packaged foods. Some of the worst culprits are French fries and the various chips that have been cooked in linoleic acid-rich oils (corn, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed).

Our bodies convert linoleic acid into arachidonic acid. We also eat arachidonic acid in excessively in excessively fatty meats and farmed-raised fish, such as tilapia and catfish, which have subsisted almost exclusively on feed that contain linoleic acid. Arachidonic acid from the various sources is then converted into PGE2 by the COX1 and COX2 enzymes in the human body.

The bottom line is that an excess consumption of linoleic acid and arachidonic acid represents the pursuit of cancer because cancer transformation, in part, requires PGE2. And it is well-known that modern man consumes excessive levels of omega-6 fatty acids. In fact, over 20 percent of our calories come from omega-6-rich refined oils and obese meat, which means that the modern diet is really the "PGE2/cancer diet."

It is also well-known that modern man consumes excessive amounts of refined carbohydrates with high glycemic indexes/loads. Approximately 20 percent of our calories come from sugar and another 20 percent from refined flour. Research has demonstrated that cancer cells actually survive on sugar.

Sixty percent of calories in the current modern diet come from refined omega-6 oils, sugar, and flour, all of which feed the cancerous process. This means that the average American is pursuing cancer as a dietary goal. We need to stop feeding cancer and other chronic diseases the food they love.

This type of information is no longer relegated to conspiracy theorists in health food stores; research is proving it to be correct. Additionally, and surprisingly, even the mainstream media is reporting that sugar is a driver of cancer and stimulates the same "addiction pathways" in the brain as cocaine.

David Seaman, MS, DC, DACBN, is the author of Clinical Nutrition for Pain, Inflammation and Tissue Healing. He has a master's degree in nutrition from the University of Bridgeport, Conn., and lectures on nutrition.