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Originally Posted by EatRealFoo
I'm really confused
My aunt was diagnosed with terminal liver and pancreatic cancer, carcinoma. She started itching and her skin became yellow and they thought she suffered with icterus but eventually found the cancer and the metastasis.
She is the fourth member of my family who develop cancer and like the other one she has always been an heavy meat eater with a special dislike for bread, rice and most veggies. She grew eating grilled meat and lot of steak.
My parents are now feeding her vegetables juices and fresh fruits and her health, in spite of their condition, is improving since eating only plants.
I started searching "cancer survivors" and "diet" or "alternative therapies" on the net and I found only references to eating more plants and less meat.
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First off, so sorry. My heart goes out to you and your family.
2 points.
First point, liver cancers are sometimes the result of viruses, such as hepatitis. In fact people who have had even a mild bout, in the past, mild enough not even to cause symptoms, can get liver cancer years later.
Second point: We are all different. Our bodies react differently to the same foods. Some of us are allergic or intolerant to stuff that others eat without a care in the world.
I think it's hard when arguing statistics, because there are always the "outliers" who prove the opposite point. Outliers don't disprove something, they merely illustrate that not everyone will follow the same statistical curve.
So when something is outside of expectations, you need to look at whether there is a significant group of outliers that say can't deal with protein or an significant group of outliers that can't cope with carbs.
I used to believe the business about vegetarians being healthier. Then one day a long time 7th Day Adventist vegetarian friend died of breast cancer. She ate low fat, high in veggies, no extra sugars, no huge amounts of fruit and got her proteins from legumes, and consumed whole grains. She shopped at the health food store for crying out loud. Organic, expeller pressed stuff! But she died! It shocked me.
Then some years later I tried going vegetarian, doing vegan part of the time. I ended up with a severe allergy to soy, my thyroid swelled into a goiter and I got Hashimotos. I've had half of it out. I cut the soy and other legumes out but the damage was done. I have struggled with auto immune issues since.
Unfortunately I was looking at the stats I had available to me at the time, and forgetting about individual differences. Stats are great for large numbers of the population, but not for outliers.
A better way for me would have been to go with what made me feel better (low carb, high fat, moderate protein and NO trans fats or vegetable oils beyond coconut and olive oil)
But I was scared. I was an RN, and I had years of propaganda telling me to ignore my body and eat more veggies, especially soy.
I hope your aunt beats this, and if she goes with whatever makes her feel better, then who cares about the stats.
Stats treat populations in groups of thousands. They don't see individuals. Best of luck