The author Dr. Nasha Winters, has an interesting perspective. As both a naturopathic integrative oncologist and a cancer survivor, she has professional and personal experience with the disease that is ravaging more and more people each year.
To craft the nutrition-based treatment outlined in this book, Dr. Winters teamed up with nutritional therapist Jess Higgins Kelley. Together, they present their “optimal Terrain Ten protocol to reboot cellular health,” which aims at the prevention and ongoing treatment of cancer.
“The Metabolic Approach to Cancer explains why medicine has failed to find a single cure for cancer. Read this important book to learn how cancer is an environmental, metabolic disease with many small causes that stack up and what you can do to prevent or even reverse it. Taking control of your environment and your food gives you control over cancer! You’ll never look at sugar the same way again.”
—Dave Asprey, New York Times bestselling author of The Bulletproof Diet; creator, Bulletproof Coffee
“The Metabolic Approach to Cancer is a powerhouse of detailed information on how to prevent, manage, and treat cancer. How refreshing to see such a compilation of insight, structure, and sweeping scope, one that centers on the health of the entire individual, not just killing cancer cells alone. It is written in an intimate conversation style that comes from decades of deep personal experience, research, and genuine passion. It’s time to welcome a new gem to the universe of books on cancer.”
—Travis Christofferson, author of Tripping over the Truth
“Dr. Nasha Winters and Jess Higgins Kelley have written an important book, The Metabolic Approach to Cancer, that can help cancer patients better manage their disease. Most cancers, regardless of cell or tissue origin, are now recognized as a single metabolic disease that feeds on fermentable fuels like the sugar glucose and the amino acid glutamine. Winters and Kelley provide cancer patients with logical, nontoxic, therapeutic strategies for starving cancer cells of their prime fuels while enhancing overall patient health. This book will be a valuable resource for all cancer patients and their oncologists.”
—Thomas N. Seyfried, PhD, author of Cancer as a Metabolic Disease
“The Metabolic Approach to Cancer is the book I have been yearning for since my cancer diagnosis in 1989. I have been managing my cancer with nutrition and lifestyle, but my research has led to confusing and sometimes contradictory information. This book has everything I need to know in one place. I feel empowered with knowledge about what I can do and why it will make a difference. I want everyone touched by cancer to read this book.”
—Jan Adrian, MSW, founder and director, Healing Journeys
“In The Metabolic Approach to Cancer, Dr. Nasha Winters and Jess Higgins Kelley take the adage ‘knowledge is power’ to a new level. The book is packed with science-backed, practical, and highly relevant information that could easily overwhelm the reader. But rest assured, in a very caring way the two authors make sure you learn how to set priorities, address the main areas of concern first, and make step-by-step improvements to your well-being. This book has the power to truly transform your health!”
—Patricia Daly, author of The Ketogenic Kitchen
“The Metabolic Approach to Cancer is a terrific resource for anyone interested in treating cancer with natural therapies. This book is delightful and full of valuable information.”
—Ann Fonfa, president, Annie Appleseed Project
“In The Metabolic Approach to Cancer, Dr. Nasha Winters and nutritionist Jess Higgins Kelley expose the inadequacies inherent in the entrenched model of conventional cancer care. Looking beyond the manifestations of a body out of balance, they open the reader’s eyes to the underlying epigenetic changes that contribute to the development and progression of this devastating disease. Also included here is a set of tools—including nutrition, lifestyle, and metabolic therapies—that address the root cause of the problem. This integrated approach offers an opportunity to bring body and mind back into balance.”
—Miriam Kalamian, author of Keto for Cancer
An Alternative Perspective on Treating Cancer
The Metabolic Approach to Cancer starts out by setting the stage, reminding us that cancer directly affects almost half the US population, and by the end of each and every day, approximately 1,600 cancer patients die. It then explores the two conflicting points of view on treating cancer: conventional versus holistic treatment. But the crux of the book, and Winters’ perspective, is best summed up by this Hippocrates quote, referenced in the book:
Illnesses do not come upon us out of the blue. They are developed from small daily sins against Nature. When enough sins have accumulated, illnesses will suddenly appear.
Dr. Winters considers the body as one interrelated, integrated system and believes cancer comes from the body being neglected at some level via nourishment, physical stress, psychological stress, or a combination of those stressors. She explores the following widely accepted 10 hallmarks of cancer to make the distinction between how cancer is viewed and treated by western medicine versus her naturopathic protocol.
The Ten Hallmarks of Cancer
- Sustained proliferation: cancer cells stimulate their own growth
- Insensitivity to antigrowth signals: cancer cells resist signals telling them to stop their own growth
- Evasion of apoptosis (cell suicide): they resist cell death
- Limitless replicative potential: they multiply almost limitlessly
- Sustained angiogenesis: they stimulate the body to supply nutrients to itself
- Ability to metastasize: able to spread throughout the body
- Reprogramming of energy metabolism: able to switch from normal respiration to aerobic glycolysis
- Avoidance of immune destruction: difficulty being destroyed
- Tumor-promoting inflammation: uses inflammation to promote development and growth
- Genome instability and mutation: the cancer cells evolve
Western medicine treats cancer once it’s already within a body (chemo, surgery, radiation). Despite years and billions of dollars invested in quests for cures, very little progress has been made. In fact, cancer is on the rise. Dr. Winters believes cancer is not a single “thing” but instead a cumulation of many issues that lead to the formation of cancer in the body. Thus, she believes in treating the body as a whole, identifying and addressing the physiological and emotional elements (think stress, diet, and pre-existing medical conditions) that require balance and optimization in order to halt or even prevent the cancer process. She calls this protocol The Terrain Ten.
Traditional Medical Perspective
Dr. Nasha Winters provides plenty of citation to support her beliefs and treatment protocols, and the integration of naturopathic medicine is slowly gaining ground in traditional medicine. But there are still many clinicians who focus on treating the disease instead of the cause.
Summary
The Metabolic Approach to Cancer is a thought-provoking book that helps you understand why cancer and its treatment are not a one-size-fits-all, not to mention how lifestyle choices play an integral part in our health and sickness. It emphasizes how to lead a healthy lifestyle and arm your body with the tools it needs to avoid or fight off illness, rather than just suffer from it. So, if you’re interested in exploring the healing powers of nutrition or are looking to turn over every stone as you explore cancer-treatment options, you’ll get a lot of proverbial food for thought from this book and its cited literature, research, and real-life anecdotes.
