Dietary Guidelines

Although we highly recommend you visit a clinic that has experience in reversing cancers naturally, this may not be possible for some. If this is the case, you should purchase a copy of The Rave Diet & Lifestyle book as this will provide you with the dietary foundations you need to know. The information contained in the book should be supplemented with the guidelines outlined below. These guidelines should be taken within the context of both the book and the Healing Cancer From Inside Out film.

Far and away, the most effective cancer reversal diets are 100% plant-based. The Rave Diet is a 100% whole foods, plant-based diet and recommends that at least 50 percent of your food be uncooked. When the book says 'try' to eat as much organic food as you can, translate that to mean all of your food must be organic because organic plant foods have much higher levels of cancer-fighting micro-nutrients than conventionally grown food. There are some 'transitional' foods (e.g., refined plant foods such as various soy or rice-based products, e.g., soy milk) that are recommended for people who may want to slowly transition to the full Rave Diet. When battling cancer, there is no transition so you must eliminate all transition foods and follow the full Rave Diet to the letter. Pay particular attention to the "Essential Tips and Tricks" section of the book, especially the first five.

Dietary sugar is an enemy of the cancer patient because cancer cells are sugar-feeders, e.g., cancer cells consume 18 times more sugar (glucose) than normal cells. The higher your blood sugar, as a result of your diet, the more you are feeding (and growing) the cancer. An oncologist friend was at a conference in Europe recently where there was a culture of cancer cells in a Petri dish. They added glucose to the culture and within 24 hours the cancer cells had doubled! PET scans are also based on detecting 'hot spots' where cancer cells are feeding on high levels of glucose.

One of the best things any cancer patient can do is severely limit or eliminate sweet foods from their diet, including sweet fruits. Fruits, by definition, are any food with a seed. Thus, tomatoes and avocados are fruits, but they not sweet fruits. Peaches, strawberries, etc., on the other hand, are sweet fruits. You can tell if they are sweet by simply tasting them. Sweet fruits score high on the glycemic index. The glycemic index has major flaws for diabetics and should not be used as a guide for food choices for diabetes (the reasons are given in the book), but it is a valuable guide for the cancer patient because foods high on the glycemic index will feed the cancer. Following a strict Rave Diet will automatically provide you with foods that are low on the glycemic index. In addition to sweet fruits, you should also severely limit or eliminate white potatoes (not to mention alcohol, which should be obvious). Sweet fruits and white potatoes are the most popular foods that are high on the index. If you have a question about a specific food, you can look it up at the Glycemic Index web site. In addition to sweet foods, you should eliminate all high-fat foods, such as nuts and nut butters, avocados, etc.

The next thing you should do is increase your consumption of green leafy vegetables. A salad a day keeps the doctor away and greens should be an integral part of every meal. Green blending (smoothies) and green juicing are also excellent ways to get more green vegetables into your diet. The basic difference between the two is that you keep everything in foods when you blend them, particularly the fiber. This is important because fiber regulates the absorption of sugar into the blood stream. Juicing, on the other hand, eliminates most of the fiber. Green juicing, however, is an excellent way to get concentrated nutrients into your system because without the fiber, you can actually consume more nutrients. There are trade-offs between the two and both should be used. Juicing should be used as the primary method of supplementing your diet, whereas blending can be part of your diet. Because green blending and juicing are very concentrated, you can add small amounts of semi-sweet vegetables to them, such as carrots, beets or tomatoes, in order to make them more palatable. A good example of a great green smoothie can be found here.

An optional green food that can be juiced is wheatgrass, which provides great dietary supplementation. You can have it juiced for you at most natural foods markets and juice bars. It is very strong-smelling due to the chlorophyll, but goes down easier than it smells. Until you get used to it, take an ounce a day, then increase that to two ounces a day. If you want to grow and juice your own wheatgrass, visit the Sproutman web site. Women who are pregnant or breast feeding should not use wheatgrass.

Two of the foundation foods used in certain treatment centers are Rejuvalac and Energy Soup, both made famous by Ann Wigmore. They are a bit complicated to make and have an acquired taste, but once you acquire the taste, you will be going back for more.

The idea behind nutritional strategies is to give your body a concentrated boost of nutrients. Key to this is the ability to fully digest the foods you are eating, so you get the most nutrients from them. This is where enzymes come into play because enzymes help your body fully digest food. The first step you can take to increase enzyme activity is to chew food very thoroughly because the saliva in your mouth contains enzymes that will break down food and make it more digestible. A good rule of thumb is that your food should be close to liquid before you swallow it, i.e., you should 'drink your food'. The next place you can get enzymes is by eating uncooked and sprouted foods. When food is cooked, digestive enzymes are destroyed and so too is the ability to get the most nutrients from foods. Eating raw, uncooked food retains the natural enzymes in foods and thus your ability to fully absorb their nutrients.

Again, there are many other nutritional rules you should follow and they are discussed in the Rave Diet & Lifestyle. Read the book and simply modify the Rave Diet, as discussed on this page.

Soy

There has been a lot of controversy over soy and breast cancer. Studies which claim soy increases the risk of breast cancer are based on looking at refined soy products and many of these studies are very questionable in the first place. There is no credible evidence linking the whole organic soy bean (endamame) with increased breast (or other) cancer risks. In fact, studies point to decreased cancer risks when consuming whole soy beans. But if you have a problem with soy, there’s a very simple solution: completely eliminate it from your diet. It’s as simple as that. There are many other foods to choose from on a plant-based diet.
 

Prescription Drugs

Assuming you're following the Rave Diet or another healthy diet, sleeping well, exercising and tending to your relationships, the next healthy step you can take is to avoid prescription drugs. All prescription drugs - without exception - are toxic to the body and have side effects. The most common cause of side effects is the simple fact that prescription drugs are highly concentrated and usually not found in nature, so they’re hard on the liver. Once your liver is chronically stressed by taking a drug every day, any other stress you put on it, such as exposure to everyday toxins (e.g., car exhaust, paint fumes, pesticides, excess alcohol, etc.) can compromise your health by increasing the level of toxins in your body. The liver is key to detoxifying your body and strengthening your immune system. Prescription drugs will prevent that detoxification.

If you are taking drugs for a chronic disease, a true anti-cancer diet will also heal those diseases while it fights cancer, so you can wean yourself off the drugs as your condition improves. Work with your physician on this and tell him or her about your change in diet. If your physician does not support your change in diet, get one who does. If you do not know of one, consult this list for assistance in finding one.

Detoxification

Many clinics employ colon cleansing as a way to clean out your body and speed up the detoxification process. The basic reason is that most of our colons are full of hard, toxic sludge that has been in there for decades. During one colon cleanse, half of a crayon came out of a 70 year old man - a crayon the man had swallowed as a child! The build-up of toxic material in your colon takes away resources from your immune system because the immune system is literally fighting this self-poisoning. By cleaning out the colon, you free-up immune system resources which have better things to do, like fight cancer. If you think colon cleansing may be right for you, you can find a Colon Hydrotherapist near you through this link.

Support

It is important that you get support from like-minded people. A good friend is often the best support system you can have. There are also cancer support groups which can offer support. Even though most will be undergoing conventional treatments, they will offer you all the support they can and will probably be very interested in your alternative approach. You can find a support group near you through the Wellness Community, which specializes in offering cancer support. If you cannot find a center nearby, call them and they will be probably be able to refer you to one in your location, or contact any of the national cancer organizations.

A good online support group is CancerCare.org, which is available 24/7. Other resources can be found on our Resources page. Just click on Cancer at the top of the page, as well as Health Care Professionals and Resources. For several testimonials on cancer reversals, click on Personal Experiences - Diet & Disease.

Miscellaneous

To be on the safe side, you should avoid all known or possible carcinogenic substances you might come across, as best you can. This would include environmental carcinogens, microwaves and microwaved food, food and water stored in plastic containers (use glass or ceramic), as well as synthetic clothing and bedding (due to the chemicals used in synthetics). Stick to natural fibers. Also invest in a good water filter for both drinking and showering. The idea is to lower the toxic burden in your body and free up immune system resources so it can fight the cancer.