By Kirsten Chick, nutritional therapist, cancer survivor, and now Nutrition Lead for Yes to Life.
As a nutritional therapist and cancer survivor, and now Nutrition Lead for cancer charity Yes to Life, I’ve immersed myself in cancer nutrition for over 20 years. In that time, I’ve seen a lot of changes within oncology nutrition, particularly in the realms of testing and research.
Testing
The fundamental principles of nutritional therapy remain the same as ever: support and nourish the terrain. This includes tissue, fluids and organs, hormones and nerves, the microbiome and immune system, emotional wellbeing… in fact, all the interconnected systems that make up the whole being. This is because nothing happens in isolation in the body. Disease, including cancer, even when isolated to just a tiny area, can be impacted by and have an impact on everything else. A naturopathic approach to nutrition therefore looks at the whole person, and addresses whatever might help to bring everything back into harmony.
Often there are patterns which suggest some aspects are a priority need for support, and how we assess this has developed. New research, and more sophisticated tests, have added incredibly useful layers to the methods we use to figure out the best way forwards for the people we work with.
We can test the blood for things like vitamin D levels and inflammation markers, the urine for metabolites of chemical processes, and stools for microbe balance, parasites, and markers of gut health and integrity. We can even test DNA to assess our potential ability to absorb, transport and convert various nutrients, as well as a potential increased need for certain types of nutrition.
With testing, we can now get deeper insights than ever into:
These are all important because they have the potential to be part of the disease process – and because the tests can also highlight what nutritional and lifestyle support might be helpful in each case.
All these tests and more can give us detailed snapshots into aspects of our biochemistry, providing clever pieces of the jigsaw puzzle we use to build up a picture of what’s going on. Once we put those jigsaw pieces into the overall picture of your case history – which is essentially everything you can tell us about what’s going on right now, from athlete’s foot to brain fog, plus your medical history and family history – we can make sense of them and put a useful programme together for you.
Retesting can then give an indication of whether a programme is working, or if you need additional support or to change tack.
Pitfalls of testing
Without a skilled assessment of test results in the context of your case history, however, the path forward may be confusing and full of red herrings. One test might indicate, for example, that you potentially have a greater need for vitamin B12, but then when you get a blood test, your B12 levels are sound. Another test might indicate your blood serum levels of magnesium are in range, but you may have symptoms that suggest levels elsewhere in your body may be low.
A nutritional programme also needs to be sensitive to what’s appropriate for you. If testing suggests you need to increase your L-arginine intake, but you have a nut allergy, then adding nuts won’t be the right advice for you! If a test suggests you should substantially increase your plant-based fibre intake, but that gives you a great deal of digestive discomfort and wind, then we would need to figure out if you are sensitive to certain plant-based foods, and work with that rather than ignore it and push on regardless.
Testing can also be expensive and overwhelming. It’s important to know that it’s still possible to work sensitively and accurately with just the case history, and perhaps some basic blood tests your GP may be able to do for free.
Nutrition research
Nutrition research has been growing and becoming more focussed in recent years, too, although there is always so much more to learn. This comes with the territory: your body is complicated, dynamic and unique, and so is the environment that influences it from moment to moment. So there are always going to be challenges with finding out what kind of diet and which nutrients are most helpful for different people at different times.
Cancer research currently relies on many years of pre-clinical research, largely involving mice and artificially cultivated cancer tissue, most of which then fails when trialled on humans. This protocol is followed not just for medical treatments, but also dietary interventions and food supplements. It’s a costly, lengthy and resource-thirsty process. I have great hopes for developments in computer modelling and artificial intelligence being able to process huge amounts of information much more quickly, and in a way that is much more relevant to humans. The eventual aim is for human clinical trials to then happen more quickly and more successfully.
As research develops, so does our understanding of how to interpret test results and how best to apply that knowledge to give the best nutritional advice.
Wisdom and intuition
Having said that, science has an uncanny knack for revealing the wisdom in ancient traditions and approaches. Pulses have traditionally been soaked and often fermented, and we now understand more about how that improves digestibility. Another example is barbecued meat: while it is well known that cooking meat over charcoal produces carcinogenic PAHs, several studies have now shown how traditional marinades reduce PAH production. This does not mean that regular or excessive intake of barbecued meat is harmless, but both these examples remind us that we figured out how to feed ourselves long before nutrition was scientifically studied.
So does that mean we should trust our instincts with food? I believe it does – as long as we can can distinguish this from the traps we can get stuck in craving ultra-processed and highly refined foods.
I remember being particularly drawn to green leafy vegetables, seaweed and mushrooms when I was recovering. This was over 25 years ago when there was little guidance available, and my own nutrition knowledge was limited. When I trained a few years later, and during the course of my research and experience since, I’ve have grown to value these three foods for their ability to support immunity, tissue health and so much more. The anti-cancer properties of mushrooms in particular have a growing body of research behind them.
I also remember urgently buying specific chocolate bars over and over again in my teens and twenties – not polyphenol-rich, low-sugar dark chocolate, but the more popular sort with extra sugar and processed, sugary fillings. In certain situations I would crave them like a cigarette. And for at least a few minutes, this chocolate bar made me feel good: an intense burst of sweetness, with an instant hit of energy and endorphins.
My instinct, when I really settled into it, very much knew the difference. I didn’t understand what was going on, but I knew that one felt nourishing, and the other felt like a trap. A huge part of my learning was around why it was happening, and what I needed to do to no longer crave the chocolate bars. It was never about willpower or restricting life’s pleasures, it was more about adding in the nourishment and support I needed at the time.
A powerful combination
This is why when I work with people nutritionally, as well as when I’m working on myself, I listen carefully to all the clues available: clues coming from symptoms, from intuition, and from testing. When combined with the new insights that scientific research brings each week, old wisdom from established traditions, and the knowledge and humility that comes from years of listening and paying attention, the picture that emerges can be really clear.
It’s exciting how much new research and accessibility to more sophisticated testing is bringing to that table, and how much cancer nutrition is developing as a result. None of this is useful, however, if nobody knows about it or can access it. For that, I am deeply grateful to Yes to Life for their commitment to bringing confidence in integrative oncology to both patients and medical practitioners alike, and for helping to make it all accessible. Their tireless work in connecting, supporting and empowering everyone involved in cancer care continues to have a remarkable impact, and I am proud to now be an official part of the team.
Kirsten Chick
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