Summary....
I made this post at the top of a new thread because the one on the same topic
below this did not point out some simple facts. The fact that the study
found that fructose (with no qualification) causes pancreatic tumor cells to
"divide and proliferate." That is a factual statement from the
study. It also pointed out that these same cells also feed on
glucose/sugar.
I erroneously inserted the nitrate issue, and I should not have done
so. I should have stuck to the fructose issue.
I personally believe that this is a watershed study which for the very first
time ties fructose to cancer and that those in the alternative field (of which I
am one) should be shouting and waving and stomping their feet and using this as
a starting point to get the FDA to ban HFCS! Yet it seems to be the
position of some who have responded on this thread that they wish to dig in
their heels because the study included plain old ordinary fructose which is also
used as a food additive. DQ - though we disagree on the historical
significance of fructose, I do agree that in its natural form for some people it
may be beneficial. That brings up something that is very relative to me at
this point and that is that no two people on the planet are the same. You
may benefit by fresh fruits - but the guy sitting next to you might not.
One of the problems that most allopathic medicine has is that they have a one
solution fits all approach. Unfortunately there are those in the
alternative field that do exactly the same thing.
I have on my shelf a book I read many years ago and one that some in the
alternative field have picked up on and convoluted, yet some agree with
it. That is The Pulse Test by Dr. Coca an eminent immunologist who's
resume includes significant years in cancer research as well as
immunology. His resume would put 99% of the MDs to shame with his
education and research background. I read this book many years and found
that I was "allergic" to refined carbohydrates as in bread as well as
starchy carbos in potatoes and other vegetables. I tried to follow what my
pulse told me, but it was very difficult and I didn't - until I created health
problems. I now generally follow what I first discovered many years ago
regarding my food allergies. Dr. Coca points out that not everyone is
allergic the things that most of the population are allergic to. He points
out that some people can rub poison ivy and poison oak all over their bodies
while the majority of the population has to avoid it. Coca also made the
point that 5% of the population are not allergic to tobacco and tobacco
products. Case in point. Eubie Blake, a famous jazz musician and
musical producer began smoking at age six. He was interviewed on 60
Minutes about a week before his hundredth birthday and during the interview he
said "I know I'm not supposed to do this...." and then he pulled out a
cigarette and lit up. Yes he only lived to a hundred. Point is that
food is the same way and Coca makes that very clear. In his medical
practice he used the pulse test (fasting before eating and taking pulse, then
waiting 30 minutes after eating and checking pulse again and if it was more than
10 - 12 beats higher, you had an allergy to what you ate) on his allergy
patients and the positive results were amazing. One person may be able to
live on the USDA "balanced" diet (I doubt it), while others may
benefit more on one end of the McDougall spectrum (that just made me fat and
diabetic) to the other end of the Atkins spectrum with the majority somewhere in
between. There is no diet that fits everyone. Dr. Coca's book is
free on-line and available here.
http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020108.coca.pdf
Along those lines, if you read The Seven Daughters of Eve by a leading
geneticist, you will learn how our Cro-Magnon ancestors lived and what they ate
- and it was very little fruit. The majority of the those in the USA come
from the Cro-Magnon ancestry. If you take the 6,000 year approach to our
history, I can't help you. I myself am an emphatic creationist and I see
no conflict between Genesis and the "evolution" that science is
discovering. I have read some of Carl Sagan's works on evolution and how
he can make the statements and analysis that he does without seeing the hand of
God in the middle of it - is beyond me.
I think that at this point outside of pancreatic cancer the affect of
fructose and glucose certainly isn't clear, but in the research study by UCLA -
a major medical research center, it is very clear. To try and create a
scattergram of cancer relative to diet is rather pointless. The single
most correlating factor for cancer that science has discovered is latitude -
better known as lack of vitamin D.
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/vitamin-d-vitamin-a-and-cancer.shtml
Those With Highest Vitamin D Levels Live Longer
Remember, studies of vitamin D levels and subsequent risk of cancer are
only one type of epidemiological study. Studies
of latitude and cancer are quite clear, the less sunshine the higher the cancer
risk. Studies of dietary vitamin D intake and cancer are also mostly
supportive but such studies are limited by the tiny doses people get in their
diets.
Chris - regarding the Gerson protocol, you imply it is heavily oriented to
fructose. It is not. I have read a great book (you probably have
too) written by a fellow at Oxford Michael one Gearin-Tosh - "Living Proof,
a Medical Mutiny." He was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, probably
the most deadly form of cancer on the planet. He was given six months to
live, investigated several different alternative methods and finally contacted
Dr. Gerson's daughter (can't remember her name off the top of my head) and had
several telephone conversations with her before finally flying to meet her in
Texas, I believe where it was. His protocol was not apple juice and carrot
juice and a coffee enema, it went way beyond that. On page 259 of he book
he summarizes his protocol and that was "...twelve freshly made vegetable
juices each day with supplements of potassium solution, iodine, thyroid, niacin
and pancreatin and a daily injection of liver juice and vitamin B12. Dr.
Gerson (i.e., Gerson's daughter) prescribed four or more coffee enemas each day:
I managed three on a good day. A castor oil enema every other
day." Unfortunately, some people have grabbed onto the Gerson
protocol and bastardized that one too. He goes on to describe his routine
as eliminating all salt and sugar and talks about how difficult it was
for him to maintain that diet. In addition to the Gerson protocol
he took other supplements including 9 grams per day of vitamin C. He also
visited an acupuncturist from time to time. And lastly, every day he spent
an hour practicing the Chinese breathing technique of breathing through his toes
and up through each and every bone in his body. He did stop his
cancer. Did he "cure" it? It is doubtful. He has
shown his personal protocol to doctor's and a Dr./professor Robert Kyle from the
Mayo Clinic made rather long comments (in the book) regarding his treatment and
in his opinion the cancer is stable (Gearin-Tosh survived for eight years on
that daily regimen - more on that later) and attributed most of Gearin-Tosh's
success primarily to the vitamin C. In reading the book I did get an appreciation
of the Gerson protocol and were I to be in a dire situation regarding cancer I'd
probably give it a try. But you know what? Like so many who get onto
an alternative route he lived for eight years with stabilized bone marrow cancer
continuing his protocol until the day he died, but he died from - guess what, a
tooth infection!!!! He rejected antibiotics because he obviously thought
he could beat anything with his protocol. I think many of us, myself
included, when we get on a particular kick we sometimes ignore reality.
Several in the main stream media are finally reporting this study:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/02/AR20100802047...
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/health/ucla-study-pancreatic-cancer-l/
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-headlines-august-4-2010-165896.aspx
IN THE NEWS:
Fructose Fuels Cancer Growth
A study led by Dr. Anthony Heaney, associate professor of endocrinology and
medical director of the UCLA Pituitary Tumor and Neuroendocrine Program,
showing that pancreatic cancers use the fructose, which is commonly found in
food and beverage sweeteners, to fuel their growth was highlighted Monday by
KABC-Channel 7; Tuesday by
AOL
News, the
Huffington
Post and San Francisco's KTVU-Channel 2; and today by
Asian
News International, a
San
Francisco Chronicle blog, a
CBS
News blog, the website of Florida's
WJXX-Channel
25, and a numerous other health and science blogs. Heaney was quoted in
the coverage.
Of course the powers that be deny the study results:
http://topnews.co.uk/210517-corn-lobby-group-denied-findings-fructose-can-lea...
Sayonara.