Better Nutrition – July 2019

(^44) • JULY  ­
asktheN UTRITIONIST/ANSWERS TO YOUR FOOD QUESTIONS
Have Cancer? Start Here
Begin by making a plan to remove toxins from your diet, and
instead load your body with cancer-fi ghting foods /// BY MELISSA DIANE SMITH
Melissa Diane
Smith is an
internationally
known journalist and
holistic nutritionist who
has more than 20 years of
clinical nutrition experience
and specializes in using
food as medicine. She is
the cutting-edge author
of Going Against GMOs,
Going Against the Grain,
and Gluten Free
Throughout the Year,
and the coauthor of
Syndrome X. To learn
about her books,
long-distance consultations,
nutrition coaching programs,
or speaking, visit her
websites:
melissadianesmith.com
and againstthegrain-
nutrition.com.
:I have been diagnosed with skin cancer. I tried chemotherapy and other conventional
treatments, but I simply can’t tolerate them. Trying to figure out what to do next
is overwhelming—the amount of holistic treatments out there is mind-boggling!
If I can’t tolerate conventional cancer treatments and want to pursue alternative
treatments, where is the first place to begin? —Tanya W., Madison, Wis.
a:
Many people have overcome
cancer by using natural treatments
or a combination of natural and conven-
tional treatments. One place to begin
searching for benefi cial treatments is to
look at how other people have
successfully overcome cancer using
natural therapies. One such person is
James Templeton, author of the new
book, I Used to Have Cancer: How I
Found My Own Way Back to Health
(Square One Publishers, 2019).
More than three decades ago, at age
32, Templeton was diagnosed with stage
4 melanoma. He had surgery and started
chemotherapy and an experimental
treatment to combat the cancer, but
they didn’t work well, and he couldn’t
tolerate the treatments. He then began
a journey of healing that involved
following a macrobiotic diet
(based primarily on locally
and organically grown whole
grains, vegetables, beans, and
wild-caught fi sh), supple-
menting with vitamin C, and
engaging in regular exercise
and meditation. His healing
path also led him to author and
nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman,
who fi rst helped him learn that he had
parasites and how to treat them, and later,
became his life partner.
Templeton extensively studied natural
treatments for cancer for years, and
recently created the Templeton Wellness
Foundation (templetonwellness.com) as a
source of information
for breakthrough strategies
and tools to help beat and
prevent cancer. With this background,
he acknowledges that his unique path to
healing might not necessarily be yours.
Cancer is a complex, multifactorial disease,
and the pathology and best treatments
likely vary from individual to individual—
even among people who have been
diagnosed with the same type of cancer.
Cancer-Fighting Diet Basics
Improving your diet, the cornerstone of any
good healing plan, is an excellent place to
start in pursuing natural treatments for cancer.
Unfortunately, one diet does not fi t all.
One person may boost their immune
system best on a vegan diet; another may
do so on a high-fat, low-carb, ketogenic
diet; and others on still other types of
diets. Finding the right eating plan may
take some experimenting.
Healthy
Tip!
A diet packed with
cancer-fighting foods is
a crucial component
of any treatment
regimen.
BN0719_D_AsktheNutritionist_JS.indd 44 5/30/19 1:55 PM