SHORT ANSWER: ABSOLUTELY YES.

This is a deep and exhaustive subject and has been a topic of debate for centuries. The so-called “Father of Modern Medicine”, Hippocrates, born approximately 2,500 years ago, is well known for his famous quote:

“Let Food By Thy Medicine and Let Medicine Be Thy Food.”

His prescient understanding of how food impacts our health was remarkable, given the lack of analytical testing mechanisms (blood work and other medical-diagnostic tools) at his disposal. He was at the forefront of in-depth clinical observation and documentation. Today, an abundance of evidence strongly suggests that the inclusion of certain foods and the exclusion of other foods can have a major effect upon cancer. I will keep this article brief and expand upon it in future articles, but provide you, herein, with some “food for thought.”

SHORT ANSWER: UNEQUIVOCALLY NO, IT IS NOT EQUIVALENT TO A DEATH SENTENCE.

FACT: There are many people who have been given a terminal cancer diagnosis who are thriving today, many years later. More people have “beaten the odds” than you think. I have personally met hundreds who were given short “time frames,” such as: 3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year to live. They have been afflicted with all kinds of cancer including: brain cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, non-hodgkins lymphoma, kidney cancer and others. I personally know many cancer doctors, in the integrative and alternative worlds, whose clinical work and recommendations have engendered extraordinary long-term outcomes for patients after receiving veritable “death sentences” from their prior cancer doctors.

“You Are in Remission, You are Cancer Free.”

These seem to be wonderful, comforting words, spoken by our trusted cancer doctors. They tell us that their diagnostic tools cannot see or detect the presence of any cancer cells or tumor(s). Sometimes they will utter these words after a patient is 5 years into remission, hoping the cancer will not recur again.

This provides patient with some form of “peace of mind” regarding the stress, high anxiety, and fears they may harbor about a cancer recurrence. The doctor may say words like: Go home and enjoy your life; do whatever you want … 

CONVENTIONAL

Most conventional cancer therapies, which are prescribed and directed by mainstream doctors, are comprised of what is known as the “standard of care.” In today’s world, standard of care is generally defined as: surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. These are the primary modalities used in conventional cancer therapy, however, there are others, including hormonal and, more recently, novel immunotherapies. We are at the dawn of the immunotherapeutic age and this is not a perfected therapy, but there appears to be new hope and progress in this treatment realm. In fact, there is “no perfect therapy” for all cancers and cancer patients. But, there are many therapeutic paths that can provide great benefit, and that includes therapies that “are not” strictly standard of care therapies.

In the conventional cancer world, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) testing procedure generally known as – “the gold standard” – prevails as the barometer to prove the safety and effectiveness of drugs, treatments and therapies. In brief, this standard revolves around: large, randomized, placebo based, double-blind research studies. They often take 10-15 years to complete, from start to finish. They assess and evaluate drugs and therapies beginning with the evaluation of cancer cell lines, then proceeding to preclinical studies (animal studies, frequently mice). Animal studies are followed by phase 1 trials consisting of small groups of people (approximately, 20 to 80), then phase 2 (approximately, several dozens to 300), followed by phase 3 trials which are comprised of even larger groups of people (approximately several hundred to 3,000). Each succeeding phase continues, subject to safe and effective results being demonstrated in the preceding phase.