For years, scientists have been trying to find a cure for cancer – the disease responsible for 8.2 million deaths in 2012. According to the World Health Organisation, the number of new cases is expected to rise by 70% over the next two decades.

But what if we had the solution for preventing and reversing cancer all along? Scientist John Sammut, author of Eat Your Way Out of Cancer, believes that it is all depends on the food we eat – and shifting to a plant-based diet can reduce one’s chances of developing cancer by a high percentage.

“One has more chance of surviving cancer with a plant-based diet rather than with the conventional treatment. We have known that chemotherapy doesn’t work for years – it destroys the foundation of what is trying to heal you - the immune system.  A healthy immune system can fight off cancer,” he tells The Malta Independent. “Most cancer patients do not die from their tumours, but from malnutrition, toxaemia, opportunistic infections and despair.”

“We need to focus on detoxing the body and boosting the immune system with nutrients. Then slowly, the cancer will shrink. Patients being diagnosed with cancer are not being well-informed on the importance of a healthy diet, and this is because nutrition is not part of doctors’ studies, or if it, only the minimum amount of hours is allocated to it. I do not intend to criticise the hospital – the team offers a great service, but I strongly believe there needs to be more focus on nutrition,” he says.

So if there is a cure to cancer, why has the public remained uninformed? “Research papers on the link between diet and cancer are being surpassed – and the reason is purely money. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the biggest in the world – and quite frankly, investors do not want you to get better, they want to keep feeding you drugs. All they care about is making profit,” Mr Sammut says.

 

Westernised diet toxic to the body

Over the years, Malta has shifted from consuming a Mediterranean diet, one including a high amount of vegetables, to a westernised one – including meat, dairy products and refined sugars.

“The underlying cause of cancer is toxicity. We eat three times a day and the preservatives and refined sugars in the food we eat is not helping our immune system – it is destroying it. Research has shown that high amount of animal protein increases cancer growth. Meat and dairy products are full of saturated fat – cholesterol. What about sugar? Cancer feeds off sugar, because there are additional receptors on cancer’s cell membranes.

“The issue is, such foods do not kill you straight away, so people do not think they are the cause for disease and death. Cancer is slow-growing – you can have cancer at 15, but it is large enough to be detected when you’re 30. Therefore, your body is giving you enough time to make a change,” he says.

Medical scientists first realised that there could be a link between cancer and diet when they noticed that Asian populations had the lowest rates of cancer. These differences are not due to genetics or something in the soil, air or water, but the food. Asians eat whole-grain rice including mushrooms, soy produce, green tea, seaweeds and large amounts of vegetables and fruits.

“With meat, the only compound which damages the arteries is the one you don’t get in vegetables – cholesterol, but can get all other nutrients from alternatives. The liver makes enough- one does not need more cholesterol. Fibre does remove cholesterol, but not if it’s in high amounts.

“It is not in the genes – if your father had cancer, you have more chance of developing cancer- but if you eat the same food he ate! It is not because it’s in our genes. Occurrences of cancer have increased over the years – but our genes have not.  In 1920, one in twenty people will die of cancer – that number is far higher today. Why? Because we have changed what we eat.”

 

Shifting to alternative sources of nutrients

Mr Sammut stresses that one can get all the necessary nutrients on a plant-based diet, by including the five essential plant food groups - vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. A healthy diet can help reduce the initiation, the promotion and the spread of cancer. It can also prevent developing diabetes or heart diseases. If possible, he says, one should stay away from any processed food.

“Humans are the only species drinking cow’s milk – because we have been brainwashed by dairy companies - calcium can be obtained from sesame seeds and many other vegetables. Of course when it comes to babies, breast milk is the best option.”

Vitamin B17 and Vitamin C fights off cancer cells without damaging the good cells in the body. Such treatments should be integrated with nutrition.

A healthy diet needs to be accompanied by good exercise and low stress levels.

 “Patients at Boffa are being fed potatoes, meat and only a small portion of vegetables. Is that a good anti-cancer diet,” Mr Sammut argues. “Change does take time – but what doesn’t? Allocating time for your health is long-term investment in yourself.”

Eat Your Way out of Cancer is available at all Agenda bookstores as well as BDL book store in San Gwann. Alternatively, you can order it online on www.eatyourwayoutofcancer.com

Photographs: James Bianchi