Healthy Eating with Maggie Jones, Certified Holistic Nutritionist

The very first weekend after I was diagnosed, I started frantically reading and researching everything I could about cancer and complementary treatment. I discovered the nutritional therapies that have helped so many along with emerging metabolic therapies. I was diagnosed with cancer on a Tuesday. That Sunday, I started my first fast and I resolved that, once I resumed eating, everything I put in my body would be something that actively made cancer weaker and my healthy cells stronger.

My research intensified and I started reaching out directly to scientists and leading practitioners to learn more. I attended conferences and read pre-publication studies. Not only did I lose 50 pounds of fat while implementing these strategies, but, one year after my diagnosis, I was miraculously cancer free.

I'm now dedicated to sharing the evidence-based nutrition and metabolic therapies that helped save my life and countless others at cancerV.me. 

My practice is focused on helping people navigate their cancer journey. Most of my clients are looking to survive their late stage cancer diagnoses and have stumbled on the metabolic approach to cancer. I also work with them as a coach, listening to their experiences, coordinating with their medical team, and sharing research on both conventional and complementary treatments relevant to their cancer. 

For over 5 years before my diagnosis I had a "healthy eating" blog. I was pescatarian and cooked at home according to how I thought people should eat: lean meat, low-fat dairy, whole grains...  I was nevertheless overweight, almost obese, which I attributed to a sedentary lifestyle and bottle-a-night wine habit.

My experience with cancer gave me tools to get control of my metabolic health.  I eliminated all alcohol, sugar, processed food, dairy, and grain as they fed my cancer. I was already pescatarian but would have eliminated meat if had been in my diet. I continued to eat wild-caught, fatty fish on rare occasion. I focused on the provenance and quality of my food, treating it as medicine. 

I learned that the frequency of meals is as important as their content. Spending time in a fasted or deeply ketogenic state was paramount to my metabolic therapy and, after one year cancer free, my husband and I still enjoy intermittent fasting and an extended, 3-4 day fast each month.

I fast in the mornings and enjoy green tea, lots of water and a little apple cider vinegar in water.

For lunch I eat a large salad. My favorite that I have around twice a week is made from dark, leafy greens and broccoli sprouts dressed in a vinaigrette made from flax seed oil, apple cider vinaigrette, raw garlic and mustard, topped with cucumbers, flax seeds, homemade sauerkraut, walnuts, and any other vegetables lurking around. I usually snack on a piece of fruit after lunch before taking a short walk to aid digestion.

Dinner is a giant tray of roasted vegetables or a heavily-spiced vegetable curry followed by a pot of chia seed pudding or fruit before another short walk.

I've found that the degree of difficulty for lifestyle change depends completely on the individual. What is most impactful, however, is to completely eliminate the factory foods that are engineered to make us crave even as they destroy our health. I generally don't like diets that require eliminating wholesale categories of food as too restrictive, but these products aren't food. No doctor will tell you that you need more sugar and processed food in your diet. Processed meats are classified by the World Health Organization as a class 1 carcinogen, the same as cigarette smoke. Eating a hot dog is as damaging as smoking. 

Any plant food in its whole form is beneficial for the body. My five favorite cancer fighters are:

- Garlic. Especially raw.  

- Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale and Bok choy.

- Spices like turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, cumin and chili.

- Dark,leafy greens like spinach, kale, dandelion greens, and collard greens.

- Flax and chia seeds, which are especially high in omega-3 fatty acids.

Replace processed factory foods with real, whole plants. The results will feel like magic.

I'm very excited to see more positive attention being given to fasting. The benefits are so well-documented that it makes me crazy more doctors don't prescribe it to their patients. I'm hoping to shifting cultural attitudes will help more people feel more comfortable not eating for longer periods of time.

Nutritional deficiencies become a risk for "dirty vegans" living off fritos and oreos. They can eventually be resolved by eating a wide variety of real, whole vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. The exceptions are Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D which may need to be supplemented.

While I always recommend whole foods, any means of getting plants inside you are beneficial. One animal study published in 2013 in Food and Chemical Toxicology found that chlorophyll reduced the incidence of liver tumors by 29 to 63 percent and stomach tumors by 24 to 45 percent. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3486520/]

I'm a major fan of medicinal mushroom. While eating the whole plant is optimal, you can't always find whole turkey tail, reishi, or cordyceps mushrooms at the market. Powders, extracts and even capsules still have enormous immune-strengthening benefits.

A great place to start for information about the health benefits of plant food is Dr. Michael Greger's How Not to Die. For a cancer-focused approach, I strongly recommend The Metabolic Approach to Cancer by Dr. Nasha Winters and Jess Higgins Kelley. My own book, Your Metabolic Cancer Therapy Action Plan, is scheduled for release January 2021.