My brother was watching me make our coffee and when I used two sugars he said I should refrain from sugar. Is he correct? He said something about acidity or something....?

Good question. I've heard that rumor floating around. Story that I heard was that glucose is used as a seeker in bonding with cancer in enhanced scans, therefore, sugar feeds cancer cells?? Who knows, I guess again that moderation is the key. Hope all is well Petey. Please give an update to the board when you have one. All my best.
Rob J.

Don't know the answer to that question, but I can remember a comment that John's Oncologist\surgeon made when he was losing so much weight- it was
" well, you are starving the cancer cells at least". Amy in the Ozarks

Hi Petey,
Mike and I heard that it is not true about the sugar. This was second hand information that we got from the oncology pharmacist where Mike got his treatment.
Mike was in for lab work for his 6 month follow up apppointment. The oncology pharmacist stopped to visit with him and while they were talking, Mike brought up the sugar question. The pharmacist said it was funny that he brought that up, 'cus just a few days before, the Radiology Doctor was talking to all the lab and pharmacy employees about that subject. The doctor told them sugar from your diet would not feed cancer.

Unlike most others on this board, Mike has a big craving for chocolate. It is one of the things he can taste well and enjoy. I was starting to nag him about it, I thought it was true about sugar and cancer. Information on this site concerning pet/ct scans and light ups that are subject to interpretation, glucose and the behavior of cancer cells on a molecular level.... well..., concluding sugar is bad is what I came to.

I suppose, not having the education to interpret the doctor's statement fully, I should conclude that moderation is called for. As long as a balanced diet is being consumed, some sweet stuff is mabey ok in moderation.

So, now I can only partially nag at Mike. A Moderate Nag. Hmmm...now that's a challenge!

Take care,
Ginny
C/G to Mike

Old wives tales. Please do a search on this topic. Gary has answered this in detail and with elegance in a past thread.

All I can say is that I eat chocolate EVERY SINGLE DAY, and not just a little of it. The Hersey Kisses that are called "Hugs" are one of the very few things that I am able to pop in my mouth and eat normally. They melt in my mouth, no need for chewing. I can eat them anywhere and even have a conversation while doing it, so, I eat them alot. It's been four years and all that sugar has done no more then keep a few pounds on me that I need I suspect!
I trust Brian, as always, and believe this to be an old wives tale.

I haven't heard of that either but I do keep my consumption of sugar to a minimum level as I am diabetic. Another point is eating sugar is harmful to my teeth as they decay faster without the necessary saliva protecting them. But occasionally, I can't resist the temptation of chocolate and dessert and will take some to satisfy my desire.

Karen

Whether you eat it or not, your body is going to convert other foods to blood sugar...it's how you are wired and what makes things work. Dietary sugar is irrevelant in the world of cancer.

I had two specialists tell me "Cancer is hungry for sugar." One was the person administering the PET scan... sugar is how it works. They put a radioactive isotope in glucose, inject it into your veins, and within 45 minutes the cancer has gobbled it all up, isolating the radioactive isotope into the cancerous areas. My radiation technician at the clinic said the same thing. I would say that if you don't need the sugar, try to wean yourself off of it.

We were told the same thing when husband got his PET scan, but the oncologist said he has seen no medical studies that prove this. Pete had stayed away from his sweet tea and cokes due to this. Don't know who was right, but all he drinks now is water..not taking any chances.

Brian is correct. Your body will convert food into sugar whether you want this or not and whether you eat sugars or not.
Blood glucose levels are normally tightly controlled. Also, before you jump to the conclusion that glucose is bad, recall that glucose is the primary source of energy for your cells! You NEED glucose in your blood.

It might not be the best idea to consume a lot of sugar because of dental problems. The PET scan story is interesting, but please remember. FIRST you are made to starve so that your glucose level is quite low. In fact if the glucose level is not low enough they will not do the PET scan. Then you are give a radioactive sugar analogue. This accumulates in metabolically active tissues (i.e cancer etc) which you then see.

You need to read up on why a PET scan works - it has been discussed here before, but I'll do it again briefly. ALL cells burn sugars. Cells that are working harder than normal (inflammation, infection etc.) burn it faster than normal, they have a faster metabolism. Cancer cells burn it very rapidly as they have the highest metabolism.

They inject you with a radioactive glucose formula and you lay around for an hour so that the cells in your body can have time to absorb it. Those that absorb the most of it show up on the scans. These MAY be cancer cells or they may be an area that is healing or inflamed for other reasons, hence the high rate of false positives with PET scans right after treatments. My annual PET shows my hips, knees and other areas of chronic inflammation from beating myself up over the years as hot spots. Last PET I also had some nodes in my chest light up but that was determined to be aspiration pneumonia

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Reduce simple sugar intake

Simple sugars enter the bloodstream quickly and cause a rise in insulin and other growth-promoting hormones. Research shows that high levels of these hormones may increase the growth of cancer cells. The key to reducing these hormones is reducing your intake of simple sugars. Complex carbohydrates do not affect insulin the same as simple sugars, and thousands of research studies have shown that they actually reduce the risk of cancer. [paste]---

This is an interesting topic as I have read several other places that cancer feeds off of sugar. As a diabetic that really spooked me as I know how many many foods are turn into sugar naturally by the body and how many many things in this day of age are made with sugar. I also know how much the body needs sugar. I decided to just keep intake to a minimum and also use as natural sugars as I can ie fruit, breads, brown sugar. Wheather or not it makes a difference or not it makes me feel better that I am making some sort of effort and difference to the sugars in my body

Do a search for sugar on the boards. We have discussed this before at length, and people who do not understand that even if you don't eat sugar, your body will make it, don't get some very basic biology. Malignant cells have a higher metabolic rate than normal ones, so yeah, in the simplest sense of the idea, they feed off of sugar, but so does every other cell in your body. It does not matter whether or not the sugars you eat are simple, natural, or whatever. Your body is going to covert it. Sugar is sugar.