Beware the Candy Monster: Reduce Sugar Consumption to Reduce Cancer

When it comes to treating cancer, the best strategy is an integrative approach, which begins by identifying the underlying causes. One cause is too much sugar – cane sugar, beet sugar, corn syrup. Other causes include nutritional deficiencies, immune deficiencies, environmental toxins and a lack of physical exercise, sleep or hydration. Once identified, many of these issues can be addressed by improving diet and digestive health. Nutrition is the key to reclaiming health, and reducing consumption of sugar and simple carbohydrates is a perfect place to start. Sugar lacks vitamins and nutrients, and it literally feeds cancer. This is one of many topics Dean Fachon explores in his book DIPG: Eternal Hope Versus Terminal Corruption. Here are two excerpts from the book:

March 23rd was the day Neil had his first appointment with Dr. Jody Noé, the naturopathic oncologist recommended by Mary Blue. It was sunny and warm outside, and we eagerly piled into the car for the drive to Pawcatuck, Connecticut, just over the state line from Westerly, Rhode Island.

Dr. Noé had a country doctor’s office in the basement of an old New England home. We descended the steps to a reception window, and Neil checked in. Then, we were escorted to a cozily decorated waiting area. As we sat, Wendy picked up a large book off a shelf full of reading material. The book was a tome written by Dr. Noé herself, called the “Textbook of Naturopathic Integrative Oncology (Fundamentals of Naturopathic Medicine).”

* * * * *

“Good nutrition isn’t difficult science,” Dr. Noé continued, “yet you’d be amazed at how little training conventional oncologists ever get.”

“Oh,” Wendy shook her head with chagrin, “we’ve seen posters hawking candy in some of their waiting rooms – — for patients to ‘keep up their strength.’ ”

“It’s hard to fathom,” Neil scowled. “Everything I read says cancer loves sugar!”

Recently, I found an interesting article that explains how sugar feeds cancer: Researchers Discover New Mechanism Linking Diet and Cancer Risk (The Epoch Times, May 29-June 4, 2024). The mechanism is a chemical, methylglyoxal (MGO), which is released whenever the body breaks down glucose. MGO temporarily turns off a cancer-preventive gene known as BRCA2.

BRCA2 repairs damaged DNA and helps make a protein that suppresses tumor growth and cell proliferation. People with a faulty copy of BRCA2 are more susceptible to MGO. For both cancer prevention and supporting cancer treatment, the best doctors recommend reducing or eliminating sugar, high fructose corn syrup and other simple carbohydrates. This means avoiding consumption of soda, baked goods, bread and pasta; cereals and fruit juices (especially with sugar added); candy and even ketchup. If sugar is one of the ingredients listed on the product label, think twice before purchasing. Also beware of sugar substitutes, which can present other products.

FACT: In 1915, the average sugar consumption per person was 17.5 pounds. As of 2011, the number rose to 150 pounds of sugar per person annually.

FACT: The current average sugar consumption per day is 25.28 teaspoons.

FACT: In 2016, the U.S. government has recommended a person’s daily added-sugars intake to 10% of a day’s total calories intake (That means for a 2,000 calories diet, a person should consume no more than 13.3 teaspoons of sugar in a day). THIS IS STILL WAY TOO MUCH!

These facts were pulled from an article titled “45 Alarming Statistics on American’s Sugar Consumption and the Effects of Sugar on Americans’ Health” on The Diabetes Council website – well worth a complete read. Sugar consumption has become a serious addiction, and dealing in sugar is a multi-billion dollar industry. Sugar addictions begin in early childhood, with an overindulgence in sweet foods and drinks. Reducing sugar consumption takes will power, however, removing the temptation of sugar from your kitchen will pay off big time in terms of out-of-pocket health expenses and your family’s overall well being. Ice cream, cookies and soda are a special treat and should be dispensed in moderation.

“Imagine yourself conquering life and beating your fears. The act of imagining can help to make it reality.” — Neil Fachon

Inspirational quote from DIPG: Eternal Hope Versus Terminal Corruption.

What is “Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma?”

Read the following excerpt from DIPG by Dean Fachon, and imagine yourself in the mind and body of a DIPG patient:

It’s “diffuse,” because the cancer spreads in and around healthy tissue; “intrinsic,” because the cancer is so intertwined it’s impossible to tease it apart from healthy tissue; “pontine,” because the cancer specifically takes up residence in the pons, the base of the brain (brain-stem) which controls many crucial bodily functions (many autonomic); and “glioma,” because the cancer invades “glial” cells, the cells which, as irony would have it, form the protective cushion which surrounds healthy neurons. As “Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma” grows, it stretches synaptic-connections and squeezes neurons, slowly degrading their ability to relay signals until those signals are completely cut off. DIPG for short.

DIPG is quick, and it’s stealthy. At first its symptoms are so imperceptible they could easily be ignored, all the more-so because DIPG’s victims are often very small children who can’t articulate what they’re feeling. Even then, a pediatrician might chalk symptoms up to sleep-loss or fighting a low-grade infection: “Fill this prescription and make sure she gets enough rest.”

Until one day the victim’s eyes cross or her movements become fumbled. Then the alarm bells go off and tests are ordered. By then, the prognosis is bleak. In the latter stages of disease, symptoms range from increasing difficulty with swallowing to being unable to take a deep breath. The progressive loss of autonomic functions and motor-control is akin to beheading the victim one nerve-strand at a time. Death by any combination of critical-system failures usually occurs within less than a year of diagnosis.

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed the DIPG Pediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Resolution, recognizing May 17 (today) as DIPG Pediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Day. Concurrently, my husband Dean is publishing our son’s story, DIPG: Eternal Hope vs. Terminal Corruption, to build awareness around DIPG, pediatric brain tumors and navigating the medical care with a rare disease. This unique book will place you in the shoes of a family that must manage a truly daunting diagnosis. While we had hoped to have copies available for purchase this month, a well-published book takes time, and we plan for DIPG to be available by July 2024. In the mean time, please visit our web page, dig into its supplemental content, share this blog, and help us grow awareness.

What is a rare cancer?

In 2016, our son, Neil, was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a “rare cancer.” With DIPG Awareness Day coming tomorrow, I got to wondering what “rare” means in this context. Here is what I found on the National Cancer Institute (NIH) website – MyPart:

“Rare cancers are those that affect fewer than 40,000 people per year in the U.S. As a group, they make up just over a quarter of all cancers. Because rates of cancer in children are very low, all children’s cancers are considered rare. A quarter of all cancer deaths each year are due to rare cancers. Although new treatments are always being developed, finding new treatments for rare cancers is very hard for many reasons.”

Over a quarter of all cancers are rare. So, then I got to wondering, how many rare “brain cancers” are there? Here is what I read on the NCI website – NCI-Connect:

“There are over 130 different central nervous system (CNS) tumor types. However, they account for less than two percent of all cancers diagnosed each year in the United States. Because primary CNS cancers are so rare, disease information, support, and expert care can be hard to find. NCI-CONNECT started with 12 select tumor types, each with fewer than 2,000 people diagnosed per year in the United States.”

DIPG is among the rarest and deadliest of these cancers, with only about 300 children diagnosed per year. For a 19-year-old to be diagnosed with DIPG is beyond rare; it’s unique.

The MyPart page explains what a “rare” diagnosis means for patients:

It often takes a long time from the time you think something is wrong to the time when doctors know that you have a rare cancer and what kind of cancer it is.
It is hard to find doctors who know a lot about your cancer and how to treat it.
It is hard to know what to do when doctors don’t agree on how to treat your cancer.
You may need to travel far from your home and family to get treatment for your rare cancer.

It took five months from the onset of initial symptoms for doctors to arrive at a cancer diagnosis. From the moment our son was told that he had a “rare” brain stem tumor, we had to contend with the other three challenges. When the oncologist went on to say that the cancer was aggressive, inoperable and incurable, and Neil had maybe only three months left to live, we understood all to well what “rare” and “deadly” meant.

Cancer is but one category of “rare” diseases. So how many “rare” diseases are known to exist and how many people can relate to our situation? The National Library of Science website reports:

Regulators, scientists, clinicians and patient advocacy groups often cite ~7,000 as the number of rare diseases, or between 5,000 and 8,000 depending on the source.

To date, approximately 300 million people live with “rare” diseases, according to The Lancet, which means pretty much everyone knows someone and can relate. Treating a rare disease requires personalized therapy, yet our rigidly-controlled medical system, with its overbearing clinical trial drug approval process, prevents this from happening. Our conventional system is completely dysfunctional when it comes to helping people diagnosed with rare diseases. Is there anything we can do to challenge the current system and improve how we come to understand and treat rare diseases?

Yes! My husband, Dean, is publishing our son’s story, DIPG: Eternal Hope vs. Terminal Corruption to help people begin to explore and discuss this topic. Available by July 2024, our family’s personal narrative offers a compelling illustration. Please visit our web page and share this blog, which can serve as a forum for readers to exchange their thoughts, experiences and suggestions. Together, we could create one heck of a virtual book club. Refer the “Suggested Reading” list we provide. The first book on that list is Defeat Cancer. If you are interested in joining a “rare” book club, please contact us.

Spotlight on Medical Marijauna

When the Rhode Island Natural Awakenings publisher asked me to write a spotlight on the Summit Medical Compassion Center, I eagerly complied, because the integration of medicinal cannabis in treating life-threatening diseases is becoming more noteworthy.

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) was discovered in 1992 by scientists studying how cannabis interacts with the brain. This previously unknown molecular signaling system is involved in regulating a broad range of biological functions and maintaining homeostasis, a healthy equilibrium, within the body. Scientists realized that the ECS allows the body to send signals back and forth, rather than just one direction, allowing the body to communicate with itself, so that it could fix itself.

When our son Neil was diagnosed with cancer, we learned about the beneficial effects of CBD and THC, two key chemical compounds produced by the cannabis plant that are compatible with receptors in the ECS. While CBD and THC do not comprise a proven cure to cancer, they can help fight against the disease. They have demonstrated abilities to prevent cancer cells from reproducing, to prevent the formation of new blood vessels needed by a tumor to grow, to prevent cancer from spreading to other organs and to cause cancerous cells to kill themselves. There are documented cases of cannabis oil sending cancer patients into remission and cases of patients who took cannabis oil and still succumbed to the disease.

Due to his terminal condition, Neil’s medical marijuana card application was expedited and the compassion center he visited gave him some different products to try. Use is individualized and complex, and the process is exploratory. I wish there had been more hard research to guide us, because we sensed so much possibility in integrating cannabis with cancer therapy. This is why I felt so compelled to write about the topic now.

One of the gems I picked up while doing research for the medical marijuana article was this: Cannabis can prevent opioid use and can alleviate symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal. Award-winning neuroscientist, Adie Poe, explains how cannabis can help with opioid detox and replacement: “The evidence suggests it’s the opposite of a gateway drug. It’s an exit drug. This is one of the most exciting frontiers we have in cannabis science at the moment.”

A second gem is that Autism patients will be able to access medical marijuana here in Rhode Island. A third gem is the emergence of cannabis training for nurses.

Read the full article.