Russell Blaylock, who is best known for his work regarding neurotoxic substances and his book Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, has currently focused his efforts on providing a timely, well-researched compilation of information for cancer patients and their families. A number of factors can alter the nutritional status of the cancer patient, including the metabolic demands of the disease process itself and the shunting of vital nutrients from healthy tissue, increased immune activity, as well as altered taste perception, nausea, and decreased appetite caused by conventional cancer therapeutics. In Natural Strategies For Cancer Patients, Dr. Blaylock offers a wealth of dietary and nutritional supplementation strategies for cancer patients to address these issues and more.
Blaylock points out that most cancer patients who die succumb to either the toxic effects of the conventional therapy or from malnutrition/starvation, and cancer patients who begin conventional treatments well nourished live longer as a result of their initial nutritional status. Unfortunately, these patients are often given nutritional advice from oncologists and dieticians that may be counterproductive; i.e., high caloric foods laden with trans fatty acids, sugars, and devoid of essential omega-3 fatty acids. The author offers a great deal of information on nutrition, food preparation, and nutritional supplementation for the cancer patient, and presents his case in easy-to-understand terms. He also provides a substantial amount of information on the cancer disease process, conventional therapies, and how to combat the side effects of these therapies with nutrition.
An important component of this book is the section in which Blaylock dispels the conventional oncologist's myth that supplementation with antioxidants will interfere with conventional cancer therapeutics. In fact, he presents a convincing argument, backed with numerous studies, that not only do antioxidants NOT interfere with radiation and chemotherapy, in most cases antioxidants enhance the effectiveness of these therapies, prevent damage to normal cells, and help the patient avoid many common side effects of these therapies.
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