What I Wish More People Knew About Battling Cancer (and Preventing It)

Chronic ConditionsFood & NutritionMetabolic Health

Feb 22

Estimated Read Time: 6 minutes

When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I quickly learned something that changed the course of my healing. It wasn’t just what was happening in my body that mattered, but also what was going on in my mind, environment, and daily choices.

Cancer isn't simply a genetic accident. Much more often, it's the result of years of metabolic stress, immune suppression, toxicity, inflammation, and hopelessness built up.

I've walked through that valley myself, and by the grace of God, I came out the other side. Since then, I have spoken with thousands of people facing cancer, and the same patterns keep appearing.

Here is what I wish more people truly understood about preventing and conquering cancer.

Death and Life Are in the Power of the Tongue

Scripture tells us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). I believe this is far more literal than most people realize.

In my experience, a large portion of cancer patients do not die from the tumor alone but from fear, despair, and the story they tell themselves.

I have seen people receive a diagnosis and mentally collapse within weeks. They picture the worst-case scenario. They Google survival rates, imagine their funeral, and as a result, their nervous system locks into fight-or-flight mode, and their immune system shuts down.

I believe that as many as 30 out of 100 people (30%) diagnosed with cancer could die within six months simply because they mentally surrender to it.

When you tell yourself it's over, and there's no hope, anxiety, hopelessness, and chronic stress flood your body with cortisol and inflammatory chemicals. This suppresses natural killer cells, the very immune cells that identify and destroy cancer.

Research suggests that how a person interprets their cancer diagnosis affects both their emotional and physical recovery. People who see their illness as something they can influence or work through tend to have a better quality of life, while those who view it as overwhelming or hopeless often experience worse outcomes.

Words and thought patterns matter.

That is why I'd never say “I’m dying from cancer” or “I’m suffering from cancer.” I would much sooner say “I am battling cancer” or “I am overcoming cancer.”

Remember: your brain hears everything you say—and what it hears communicates to your immune system.

The Importance of Your Environment

One of the biggest mistakes people make is focusing only on what they eat, while ignoring everything else that they put in and on their bodies.

What you cook with, what you wash with and apply to your body, what you sleep on, and what you breathe in matter just as much as the foods you eat. All of these come into contact with your body, and many even enter your body, where they have a big impact.

Your “toxic load,” meaning the total burden of chemicals, pollutants, and irritants your body must process each day, comes from:

Your water (including showers and dishwashing)
The air in your home
Cleaning products
Furniture and carpets
Detergents and fragrances
Plastics and food packaging
Cookware
Skincare and cosmetics
Synthetic clothing fibers

Recent studies show that, on average, Americans are exposed to hundreds of chemicals every day.

These products release chemicals such as endocrine disruptors, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals that can damage DNA, disrupt hormone signaling, and weaken the immune system’s ability to identify and destroy abnormal cells.

Each exposure might just be a drop in the bucket. One drop might not tip the scale, but enough drops eventually overflow the bucket (which in this case is your immune system).

Over time, this constant low-level exposure creates inflammation, oxidative stress, and cellular instability, all of which increase the risk of cancer development.

Sometimes the Best Way to Fight Cancer Is Not to Eat

One of the most powerful anti-cancer tools is something that most doctors today rarely embrace or recommend: fasting.

When you stop eating, your body enters a state called autophagy, which literally means “self-eating.” This is your body’s cellular cleanup mode, during which old, damaged, and abnormal cells are broken down and recycled.

Cancer cells depend on constant fuel. Fasting "starves" them while strengthening healthy cells.

Fasting methods like:

Time-restricted eating (TRE)
Intermittent fasting
Water fasting

…can dramatically lower insulin, reduce inflammation, and activate the immune system’s natural cleanup crew. For example, one review found that fasting could play a key role in cancer treatment by fostering conditions that limit cancer cells' adaptability, survival, and proliferation.

Remove Sugar (It Feeds Cancer)

Sugar creates the exact internal environment that cancer needs to grow.

Cancer cells are dependent on glucose for energy, using a pathway called aerobic glycolysis (or the Warburg effect), which allows tumors to grow rapidly even when oxygen is present.

Not only do high blood sugar and frequent insulin spikes provide fuel for cancer cells, but they also send growth signals throughout the body that tell abnormal cells to divide and spread.

At the same time, excess sugar weakens immune surveillance, making it harder for your body to recognize and destroy cancerous cells. This explains why studies show that simple sugar intake, especially from sugary drinks, is associated with an increased risk of overall cancer incidence and mortality and all-cause mortality.

If you are battling cancer, sugar has no place in your diet, because chronically elevated blood sugar:

Raises insulin and IGF-1, two hormones that stimulate tumor growth
Feeds harmful gut microbes, increasing inflammation and immune suppression
Disrupts the microbiome, where much of your immune system resides
Creates oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling that helps cancer thrive
Weakens white blood cell activity, reducing your body’s natural ability to fight disease

Removing sugar is a simple way to cut empty calories from your diet while at the same time cutting off cancer’s preferred fuel source, while restoring the immune system’s ability to protect you.

Fat Is Your Friend When You're Not Fasting

When you're in your "eating window," fat is your ally. A high-fat, very low-carb ketogenic diet (keto) shifts your body from burning sugar to burning fat and ketones.

This is important because healthy cells can use ketones for energy—but cancer cells cannot.

The keto diet, which results in you being in the metabolic state called ketosis, creates a metabolic trap where:

Healthy cells thrive
But cancer cells starve

According to recent studies, the keto diet appears to be a promising and powerful option for adjuvant therapy for a range of cancers, and a longer continuation of the diet (more than one year) can help improve the prognosis of advanced cancer patients.

A ketogenic approach also:

Lowers insulin and supports mitochondrial function
Reduces inflammation
Strengthens immune signaling

This is why fat-rich foods like olive oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter, ghee, avocado, and animal fats are so important during healing.

Cancer-Fighting Foods from God’s Garden

Nature is filled with powerful anti-cancer compounds, many of them found in the very foods that help to sustain life, especially fruits, herbs, leaves, seeds, and roots.

These plants contain bioactive compounds that communicate directly with your cells, telling them how to repair, protect, and renew themselves.

Some of my favorite cancer-fighting foods include:

Walnuts, rich in ellagic acid, a powerful polyphenol that helps inhibit cancer cell growth and protect DNA from oxidative damage

Green tea, high in catechins like EGCG, compounds that may help suppress tumor signaling and reduce inflammation

Fruit tree leaves, which are rich in flavonoids and chlorophyll, natural detoxifiers that support immune surveillance and cellular repair

Onions, high in sulfur compounds and quercetin, which support liver detoxification and help trigger cancer cell death

Oat leaves, rich in polyphenols and quercetin, a potent anti-inflammatory flavonoid that stabilizes immune cells and inhibits tumor-promoting pathways

Pomegranates, raspberries, and figs, which are full of antioxidants that neutralize free radicals and help prevent DNA damage

Based on recent research, other foods that build defenses against cancer include cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and kale; turmeric and ginger; all types of berries; tomatoes; garlic; various teas; mushrooms; sea vegetables like kelp; and leafy greens like spinach, Swiss chard, and collards.

These foods are rich in beneficial compounds like flavonoids, tannins, and other antioxidants that work at a cellular level to create an environment where cancer struggles to survive.

My Cancer Philosophy & Key Takeaways on How to Fight Cancer at the Root

Cancer is not something to fear, but to outgrow. Your body is designed to regenerate—but to help it do so, you need to remove what poisons it and provide what nourishes it.

I am living proof of that. And you (or your loved ones who may be battling cancer) can be too.

Here is what I want every person to remember: