Is sugar going to finish us patients off?

Was I a cancer patient because of sugar or will sugar be the final blow to my efforts as a cancer patient desperately trying to survive – these are my experiences, thoughts, and findings.

Is there a common sense middle ground to the subject of sugar and health, or is it simply black and white – eat it and die, or don’t eat it and live? or will it remain an open argument that benefits the different dollar agendas?

Before cancer, I had what I believed was a health-conscious mindset, and I was certainly open to any good health story especially if backed by a study delivered by someone who seemed to be an expert.

When I was diagnosed with cancer that open-minded mindset quickly became an open fertile bed for other people’s best intentions and the realities they had adopted to fuel them.

As a patient you are severely impeded physically and mentally by cancer, you do not have the full capacity to research, learn and act on what you learn. Instead, you become dependent on those closest to you. This then opens a doorway to a potential problem as it allows the “Best intent Trojan Horse” into your trusted space of reason.

Best intent can in itself become another cancer, a devastating blow to an already vulnerable cancer patient.

As I quickly learned the most dangerous threat to my hopeful outcomes was to allow other people’s unqualified best-tended advice free passage into my mind. Their degree of knowledge and expertise was typically adopted from well-scripted commercially driven agendas and dollars.

Healthy Eating and Cancer are very sensitive and inflammatory subjects, open to everyone’s interpretation and agenda. When sugar is added to this discussion mix it is akin to pouring petrol onto a fire and as a patient, it is just so difficult to follow or know what or who to believe.

Who to believe and what to trust? My reality is mine and yours is yours, trust yours over mine. I have walked my talk and you can take from my words what your gut is telling you.

By sharing my experiences and the views that have risen up from them as a cancer patient, may provide something that resonates with your gut reasoning, and help you move forward.

Prior to my cancer diagnosis, I was fit, healthy, and realistically careful in what I ate and thought to be healthy. So for me, it was safe to assume that sugar was not the culprit but that is not based on fact.

Before cancer, I would have easily been convinced that sugar causes cancer. But having walked through that valley of death I now hold an opposite view.

The sugar debate is a nonsensical distraction that only serves to add more undue pressure on a patient’s ability to mount an effective and robust response to something that is relentlessly trying to take their life.

Healthy eating is most definitely defined within the eye of its beholder, and there are many beholders and many driving agendas fueled by financial rewards.

Well, that’s my view and of course, I have simplified this to suit my own purpose.

As patients (and loving supporters of a patient), we do not know what we do not know when we are suddenly plunged into a position of fighting for our lives.

We want to believe that we can eat our way out of trouble, it’s the easiest concept to believe in, but it also makes us incredibly vulnerable to a good story.

Eating is in itself an incredibly important component for cancer patients to maintain the strength and energy needed to keep them going. Food is energy and energy is a critical component of survival. Sugar is also food.

Most cancer patients progressively struggle to consume the necessary calorie intake to sustain their effort, especially once under the impacts of interventional drugs and of course the overhang of serious operations. It is at this time that diets of any kind become dangerous and are irrelevant to the effort. The one caveat at this point is I am not referring to any food regimes prescribed by the treating doctors.

Most patients will fall into new food paradigms and routines, only able to eat certain or limited types of foods.

This was my own personal experience and as I have since witnessed it is also the same for the majority of my fellow patient warriors. “Healthy Eating” for a cancer patient is often eating anything that provides the necessary calories required to keep going. Healthy eating by those not impacted by cancer is a different pair of shoes, as patients, we do not have the luxury of strong views without substance or proof.

To tie this all up and summarize

“Best intent” is a dangerous threat to a cancer patient’s capacity to effectively respond. There is literally an avalanche of well-intended yet dangerously misinformed advice just waiting to engulf you as a patient. The problem we all have is those closest to us, those who have the right of passage into the inner sanctums of our minds. When we leave that door open unchecked we are allowing in the army of “Best Intent” trojan horses who will seize and overload your ability to own your own reality.

I strongly believe that you must quickly build a relationship with your own gut instinct. This is what I learned to do and it did save my life literally.

At my deepest darkest of times, I ate only high-sugar food, I did not want to, but that was all I could tolerate. Yes, I was scared from hearing all those death-by-sugar cancer stories and studies. But now with the benefit of experience and time to put it all into the correct context, those stories and studies have been pitched emotively to fit agendas and dollars. As for the studies that back them, they need to be read and acted on within the right context.

That’s my view based on surviving the death by sugar avalanche All the best Steve

Sugar is a natural carbohydrate that provides our bodies with energy. It is found in many foods, including fruits, vegetables, and grains, and is also added to many processed foods as a sweetener. While consuming too much added sugar can lead to health problems, moderate consumption of naturally occurring sugars can be beneficial for our bodies.

One benefit of sugar is that it helps to fuel our brain and muscles during physical activity. Carbohydrates, of which sugar is a type, are the body’s preferred source of energy for exercise. Consuming sugar before or during physical activity can help to improve athletic performance.

Sugar can also play a role in maintaining a healthy weight. Carbohydrates, including sugar, are necessary for the body to function properly and when consumed in moderation, they can help to regulate appetite and prevent overeating.

In addition, naturally occurring sugars in fruits and vegetables provide important vitamins and minerals that are essential for good health. For example, fruits are high in vitamin C, which helps to boost the immune system and protect against disease.

Overall, while consuming too much added sugar can be harmful to our health, moderate consumption of naturally occurring sugars can provide important benefits for our bodies. It is important to pay attention to the amount and source of sugar in our diets, and to choose whole foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.

One opposing argument to the statement “sugar feeds cancer” is that sugar itself is not a direct cause of cancer. Cancer is a complex disease that is influenced by a variety of factors, including genetics, lifestyle, and environmental exposures. While it is true that high levels of blood sugar can contribute to the development of certain types of cancer, it is not accurate to say that sugar directly “feeds” cancer.

Additionally, it is important to note that not all sugars are created equal. There are natural sugars found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that provide important nutrients and can be part of a healthy diet. On the other hand, added sugars found in processed foods and beverages are often high in calories and low in nutrients and can contribute to weight gain and other health problems.

Another argument is that cancer cells have already developed, and their energy requirements are different from normal cells. Cancer cells are known to have different metabolic pathways and they are able to use different types of nutrients, such as glucose and amino acids, and in the process generate lactic acid which can cause the acidity of the tumor microenvironment. But this doesn’t mean that sugar directly “feeds” cancer, it’s just that cancer cells can use different types of nutrients, including glucose, to grow.

It’s important to note that cancer is a complex disease, and there is still much that researchers do not understand about the relationship between sugar and cancer. While it is important to be mindful of added sugar intake, it is not accurate to say that sugar directly “feeds” cancer.

Final word (s)
This article was constructed off my hard-earned and mostly unwilling experiences, plus a lot of sugar learning.

I think the sugar argument loses shape when the teacher is actually more of a preacher, and not walking in the shoes as I do. I did not have the luxury of indulging in loosely arranged facts that were never accountable to my actual outcomes and survival expectations, I suspect most if not all my fellow patient warriors are in the same position.

Until next time
Steve