Why Cancer Kills (and How to Keep It from Killing You)

November 17, 2008

Ironic as it seems, for many years cancer specialists had no idea why cancer killed patients. In some cases, major blood vessels were blocked by the tumor, or the heart was compressed. In most cases, though, the cause defied explanation. Then researchers concluded that death was caused by starvation; that is, the cancer was stealing nutrients from the rest of the body and the patients literally starved to death. Most have seen the emaciated condition of terminal cancer patients. They look like people found in Stalin's gulag.

Armed with this new knowledge, doctors were still hesitant to feed the patients higher levels of nutrients, fearing it would also feed the cancer and make it grow faster. Finally, a few intrepid researchers tried high-nutrition feeding of terminal cancer patients and discovered two things.

One, they lived longer and two, their tumors did not grow any faster. A great number of studies have confirmed this finding.

Yet, animal studies found that certain nutrients could make tumors grow faster and make them more likely to metastasize. These nutrients included processed sugars and omega-6 oils. In fact, in some animals with transplanted human tumors, the tumors do not metastasize unless the animals are fed corn oil, which is an omega-6 oil.

I checked the diets being recommended by a number of cancer centers. To my astonishment, I found that they were recommending that their cancer patients eat doughnuts, cakes, pies, cheesecake, breads and a number of other sources of refined sugar. I remember in one instance, a cancer patient told me she was told her to eat anything she wanted . . . and that the important thing was not to lose weight. Incredible!

In 1994, I wrote a book entitled "Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills," on the harmful effects glutamate and aspartame additives cause to the brain. (For more information, go to my Web site www.russellblaylockmd.com.) Since then, scientists have discovered that a great number of glutamate receptors, the site where glutamate interacts with the cell, are found with some cancers.

Stimulating these receptors can make many common cancers grow much faster, become highly invasive, and much more deadly. This was first discovered with brain cancers (glioblastoma multiforme). When these tumors secreted a lot of glutamate, they grew 14 times faster than those that didn't. Adding glutamate to the tumors made them suddenly invade the surrounding brain.

We now know that breast, prostate, melanoma, colorectal, lung, ovarian, rhabdomyosarcoma, pancreatic, and head and neck cancers all have glutamate receptors. Stimulating these receptors causes tumors to grow and invade surrounding tissue. Blocking the glutamate receptors can suddenly make the resistant cancer sensitive to chemotherapy.

The irony here is that glutamate additives are common in our foods. Processed foods frequently have several forms of glutamate additives added in high concentrations. Why? They are only used because they enhance the taste of foods.

No one is telling cancer patients that these additives enhance the growth of their cancers, interfere with conventional treatments, and stimulate tumor invasion and metastasis. To learn more about glutamate additives and how to avoid them, go here for information on how to get my special report "The Great Cancer Lie."

Although glutamate additives aid the development and growth of cancer, many natural products, including quercetin and curcumin, protect against its development and spread. All are found in vegetables, and many can be purchased as supplement extracts. Learn more about the life-extending properties of supplements by reading my report "Key Vitamins that Save Your Heart, Prevent Cancer, and Keep You Living Long." Go here for further information.

The bottom line is there are many things you can use to prevent and defeat cancer which I discuss in my special report "Prevent Cancer Before It's Too Late." Go here for more information. Editor's Notes:

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