Why I Believe Sugar Feeds Cancer…

…And Why I Think You Should Believe it Too

Fitness Friday!

A Romance Author’s Quest to Get Fit on the Cheap

I first discovered the sugar-cancer connection when my dad was diagnosed with ‘cancer of unknown origins’ in 2002. Given the symptoms, and where the cancer was located, it was likely Mesothelioma, but people in the medical field – at least then – didn’t like to open that can of worms.

Dad was given six months to a year, even with chemo and radiation. He lived thirteen months, so we got a little bonus there. During that time, he craved sweets like mad. Based on the countless hours of research my sister and I did, it became obvious why that happened.

Fast Forward to 2020 and My Surprise Cancer Diagnosis

Technically, I was diagnosed with two different kinds of cancer within two weeks. Skin and colon. Thank God they found mine much earlier than my father’s. I didn’t need chemo or radiation – for which I’ll be forever grateful.

I’ll also be doing everything in my power to make sure I don’t have a recurrence – or any other kind of cancer. At least as much as it’s in my power to prevent it. Hence, my renewed focus on diet and health, with that focus being largely on a low carb, low glycemic, gluten free lifestyle.

So Why DO I Believe in the Sugar-Cancer Connection?

For many reasons. Many studies. Studies many traditional scoff at. So, for today’s purposes, I’ll focus on a single reason. And that is the protocol for having a PET scan to try and detect cancer. Click here for the Henry Ford Health System PET scan instructions.

In a nutshell, you eat a low carb/keto diet the day before the scan, and then nothing but maybe a couple of saltine crackers, if you need to take a medication with food. Your blood glucose level will be tested. If it’s too high, your scan will likely be rescheduled. If it’s fine, you’ll be injected with … “radioactive sugar.”

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Did you know my novel, Holding Out for Love deals with cancer? So does A Fine Mess, which I wrote as a kind of ‘what if’ based on my dad. Though I did make the mother in that story the cancer patient. It would have been too hard emotionally if I’d made the heroine’s dad the sick one. Click the titles to check them out! (these links are affiliate links, learn more about them by clicking here)

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Why a Low Carb Diet – Followed by Radio Active Sugar?

Based on all of the research I did in 2002/03, and then since my cancer ‘adventure,’ I believe it’s because cancer does thrive on sugar/glucose. That’s why patients are instructed to avoid all foods that make glucose in the body the day of (and the full day before) the PET scan. The cancer cells need to be starving for the fuel they need to grow and spread. That way, when the radioactive sugar is injected, the hungry cancer cells will suck it up before most healthy cells can.

This is why I’m determined to make low carb my permanent lifestyle. The Trim Healthy Mama (aka THM) (another affiliate link) low carb diet, to be specific. I never want a repeat. It took more than two years since the last surgery (to reverse the colostomy I needed for four months after the cancer was removed) before I committed to low carb 100%. But now that I am – 111 days into it now – it’s normal.

The foods I can have make me happy. The foods I can’t have? Most of the time, I’m fine with it. The cravings are mostly gone. Every now and then though, I get an annoying craving for macaroni and cheese. But, I never give in. And as with most things I love, I will find a satisfying substitute.

Why Did I Share This With You Today?

First, my dad died on August 30, 2003 – Labor Day weekend that year. So … memories. Then, there’s the fact that we all know people who have lived – or died – with cancer. And, finally, the diet/cancer connection made the news again this week (click here for one article).

Like the old saying goes, ‘forewarned is forearmed.’ So if you’re reading this and thinking maybe you’d like to eat a healthier, cancer-UNfriendly diet, or learn more about it, please feel free to share in the comments section of this (and future) blog posts. We can cheer one another on!

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