Fighting cancer with common sense

A small swelling constantly reminds Radhika Singh of what is she up against — breast cancer. But the 51-year-old isn't on medication; she's trying to fight cancer by making changes to her lifestyle and eating healthy.

"There's no guarantee that the cancer won't come back after chemotherapy so I didn't want to go through it and deal with the side effects," says Singh, who moved from Delhi to Mashobra in Himachal Pradesh to be in a cleaner environment. Since 2010 when she got her cancerous lump removed, she's been on a strict diet of organic fruit and vegetables, which she grows herself, and avoids dairy and gluten (wheat and wheat products).

While Singh might have taken a drastic route by saying no to chemo, for other survivors, a cancer diagnosis offers a bittersweet opportunity to make lifestyle changes that may ultimately save their lives. The changes are simple: cut the crap (no smoking, drinking, processed food and sugars), exercise, and eat food that's free of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and growth hormones.

There's no clear scientific evidence to show that lifestyle and diet can cure cancer, but patients point out that there are no guarantees in life — all one can do is maximize your chances with healthy habits.

Amit Vaidya came to India from the US in 2012 after doctors told him that he didn't have long to live as his gastric cancer had returned after being in remission since 2009. He had undergone 70 rounds of chemo, and radiation therapy. "My decision to come to India was to get palliative care. As part of that plan, I changed my lifestyle and diet, and underwent cow therapy. To my surprise, I started getting better and stronger," he says.

He documented his experiences in the book 'Holy Cancer: How a cow saved my life'. Vaidya wakes up at 4.30am every day, meditates and does yoga, and walks 10km. He chews raw tulsi and neem leaves, and drinks a glass of warm water with organic honey before breakfast. He says it is very important to know where his food is coming from, and he lives close to the source of the food. "I only consume ghee and milk of desi cows, which have not been fed on a diet of hormones," says Vaidya, 38, who lives on Vypeen, an island off Kochi in Kerala. He says the lifestyle changes are life-long and cannot be abandoned if cancer goes into remission.

Delhi-based nutritionist Ishi Khosla says people with cancer often seek her help to manage their symptoms with diet. While it doesn't work in every case, Khosla says "most people do feel some difference".

Anjali Sapra, an artist based in Delhi, says eating right can make a difference even while undergoing chemo. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, Sapra underwent surgery and chemo, which left her sense of taste and smell compromised, thus affecting her appetite. "It's important to eat well during chemo as it boosts your immunity. But most patients are unable to because of the side-effects of chemo. Even, carers, often, don't know what to cook for the patient," explains Sapra.

Dr Ramesh Sarin, senior oncologist at Apollo Hospitals in Delhi, says there's no well-controlled study to support any diet that prevents cancer. "While some studies indicate sugar is bad for cancer, there's no solid study to say cut sugar completely from the diet. Similarly, we know that some insecticides have been shown to cause cancer but not all. So while eating organic is good, we cannot say eating non-organic food is bad," says Dr Sarin. Overall, oncologists encourage patients to cut down on refined sugar, consume fruit and vegetables, and avoid red meat.

Mumbai's The Health Awareness Centre (THAC), an institution that promotes healthy eating and living, sees about five people with cancer every day. Started by nutritionist Dr Vijaya Venkta, THAC recently conducted a small study in collaboration with Tata Memorial Hospital on the effect of diet and lifestyle on managing cancer.

During the study, five palliative cancer patients in Bhakti Vedanta Hospital (Mira Road), were exposed to a corrective diet and corrected exposure to sunlight for 14 days. At the end of the period, four patients reported no symptoms, one had reduced symptoms and all were on reduced dosage of morphine. "We have seen patients benefiting from such changes. In some cases, tumours have reduced, in some the size has remained the same...how much each person improves is different. But, clearly, food seems to the pharmacy now," says Anju Venkat, nutritionist at THAC.